Hello from Arkansas

[pacer_3iii]

I'm Brent, and I'm in Jonesboro, Arkansas. I started out in late 2022 on a free (and very rusty) Craftsman tube lathe from I think 1981 that I restored and built a table for, then moved up to a Rikon 70-150vsr and I've loved every minute of both. I started with Christmas ornaments for my staff at work, then moved on to kitchen handles and finally tried a few pens when I found a starter kit at Rockler on a vacation to St. Louis, and I've been hooked ever since.

Jonesboro is a strange and eclectic community that doesn't really have much in the way of arts or crafts. I'm not even sure if there's any woodworking or turning groups around here. We have a Hobby Lobby and a Michael's, but as most everyone here knows, neither of those companies seems to be aware that you can make things on a lathe (which is both a blessing and a curse...no cheap competition, but also no readily available supplies.) The closest store to me that sells anything for woodworking or turning is in Memphis, and I don't go over there very much. In my search for online vendors and reviews on their service, I found IAP. Everything I know I learned from either trial/error, reddit, or youtube, so it's great to finally find a resource (the library) and knowledgeable and encouraging people.

 

[d_bondi]

Welcome from Utah.

 

[egnald]

Greetings from Nebraska and welcome to the IAP community. - Dave

 

[Kenny Durrant]

Welcome from Texas. It's a great hobby with a lot of rabbit trails. Have fun.

 

[Woodchipper]

Welcome. I bought your lathe's predecessor. Good purchase as it was on sale as a discontinued model.
Permit me to digress here. I was in grad school with a young lady from Arkansas. She said that there was a big sign on the Mississippi River in the early 1800s. The sign said, This way to Texas. The people who could read went to Texas. The others stayed in Arkansas.
While in sales, I used to cover Arkansas from Little Rock south to Louisiana. Beautiful state.

 

[pacer_3iii]

Welcome. I bought your lathe's predecessor. Good purchase as it was on sale as a discontinued model.
Permit me to digress here. I was in grad school with a young lady from Arkansas. She said that there was a big sign on the Mississippi River in the early 1800s. The sign said, This way to Texas. The people who could read went to Texas. The others stayed in Arkansas.
While in sales, I used to cover Arkansas from Little Rock south to Louisiana. Beautiful state.

I heard a similar story once. An Arkansas man won the lottery, and the news interviewed him from the front porch of his single-wide, asking what he was planning to do with the money, and he said "I reckon me an' maw are gonna hitch up some new tars to the trailer and move on down to Dallas. I hear they gots a good bit of stuff goin on down there". A few weeks later, he did just that, and the average IQ of both states went up.

I grew up in south Arkansas near the Louisiana border, and I also lived in the Dallas area for a couple years a decade ago. I really enjoyed my time there, lots of great people and my favorite fast food, In N Out. The ready availability of pretty much anything you could possibly want is a stark comparison to a 7 day Amazon Prime delivery window. South Arkansas is a dense pine forest, at least where I grew up, and I agree, it's beautiful.

Edit: I had to look up where Cleveland was, and it's in part of the best countryside in the world. If I could choose any location in the US to move to today, somewhere near Chattanooga would be my choice.

 

[Alan Morrison]

Welcome to the forum, Brett.
If you have found the library here then you have a heap of good info at your fingertips.
In my area I am the only one turning anything, so I had to learn myself, and this forum and youtube has been invaluable.

 

[pssherman]

Welcome neighbor,
I currently live in Paragould, but spent 34 years in Jonesboro from 1988 to 2022. I sold my Craftsman tube lathe, that was on a table, when I moved in 2022. Now I use a full size flat bed Craftsman lathe that I restored. I am considering getting a variable speed lathe that is a little smaller.

 

[its_virgil]

Welcome to this great place. Here is a link to woodturning clubs in Arkansas. Hopefully one is close to you.

arkansas woodturning clubs - Google Search

Do a good turn daily!
Don

 

[Jim15]

Welcome Brent.

 

[Fuzzy63]

Welcome from Indiana.

 

[leehljp]

Welcome Brent. I pass through Jonesboro 3 to 4 times a year on the way to Springfield, Missouri where my daughter lives. I know Springfield is rather far from you but they do have one of two Grizzly USA warehouses. I have a Grizzly lathe and a few other Grizzly tools. If you go there, Springfield has a much better choice/variety of wood than Memphis does - in addition to having the best of all Bass Pro shopping areas. O P Hardwoods and even Menards have a good choice of wood.

 

[tomtedesco]

Welcome from Colorado.

 

[Sataro]

Welcome from Texas! Recognize your town. Never been there but have a couple of cousins & their families living there.

 

[Lew]

Welcome from another Texan (it's a big state with a lot of woodturners obviously). Good luck in your woodworking adventures.

 

[amtechrs]

Welcome, Brent, from Oregon!

 

[sorcerertd]

Welcome from NC!

 

[mark james]

Welcome to IAP from Ohio. Have FUN!