Well, it only took 2 weekends to get two new members (Don-my dad and Duncan-one of my sons) of the group. Two weeks ago, I brought dad (donmac334) and Duncan (duncanmac)to the Midwest Penturners Gathering and saw them both start to understand why I love this hobby so much. They talked the whole way home about the things they saw and how cool each of the presentations were.
Last weekend, we were invited to present at the Maker Faire here in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. We not only had a table showing my pens and scroll saw work, but we also had a scroll saw and lathe set up in the woodworking room. All day, Duncan worked the table and was able to talk up the pens and get people excited to come back and watch me turn new pens. My father, Don, was in the room with me and was able to talk people through the whole process of making blanks to polishing a pen while I could focus on the turning.
Last night, my father called me to come over and make him a shopping list for a starter penturning kit (lathe, mandrel, turning tools, sandpaper, etc.) so he can get started. It all should be shipping on Monday. I have the pressure pot, he is looking at vacuum systems to do stabilizing, and I think there may be some polymer clay coming soon. Now, if I can convince him we need some triple-start taps and dies, life will be good...
Since dad got his own lathe coming, that means my starter lathe is going to go down to Duncan to use. He spent hours in the garage making a space for him to set up 'his' lathe. As soon as I can get mine off there (motor blew up at the maker faire - new one is scheduled to be here Monday), he is planning to get his set up and going.
I'm not sure if this is good or not. It will be great to have some others to work with, but now I need to share my tools and supplies. :frown:
Last weekend, we were invited to present at the Maker Faire here in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. We not only had a table showing my pens and scroll saw work, but we also had a scroll saw and lathe set up in the woodworking room. All day, Duncan worked the table and was able to talk up the pens and get people excited to come back and watch me turn new pens. My father, Don, was in the room with me and was able to talk people through the whole process of making blanks to polishing a pen while I could focus on the turning.
Last night, my father called me to come over and make him a shopping list for a starter penturning kit (lathe, mandrel, turning tools, sandpaper, etc.) so he can get started. It all should be shipping on Monday. I have the pressure pot, he is looking at vacuum systems to do stabilizing, and I think there may be some polymer clay coming soon. Now, if I can convince him we need some triple-start taps and dies, life will be good...
Since dad got his own lathe coming, that means my starter lathe is going to go down to Duncan to use. He spent hours in the garage making a space for him to set up 'his' lathe. As soon as I can get mine off there (motor blew up at the maker faire - new one is scheduled to be here Monday), he is planning to get his set up and going.
I'm not sure if this is good or not. It will be great to have some others to work with, but now I need to share my tools and supplies. :frown:
