I just got into turning. The best kind of hobby is one that your spouse gets something out of. So the first thing I started making are conducting batons for my wife who is an orchestra teacher. So far I have made them out of purpleheart, ceylon satinwood, curly maple, purple dyed curly maple (school color), acrylic and most recently purple ebonite.
She has also started giving them as birthday presents to her fellow orchestra teachers. The first person who received one was particularly fun because she is a young teacher who had only ever had cheap plastic "chinesium" batons. Good batons typically start around $75-100, not something a young public school teacher is likely to spend money on. So she was particularly excited to get a high quality baton that was properly balanced. The baton should balance right in front of the handle. The only way to achieve this is to add a weight inside of the handle.
I have been into woodworking for a long time, but had never gotten around to buying a lathe. I have to say, these are the most expensive woodworking tools there are! Not because of the price of the lathe itself, but because then you "have to" buy all the accessories. Everyone warns you... but you don't listen. I got a midi lathe because I didn't want to give up a bunch of space in my shop for it, but now I'm looking at getting more storage to hold all the chucks, collets, various tailstock attachments etc.. I now know that I should never buy a vertical mill. I obviously don't have enough self control to own something like that.
She has also started giving them as birthday presents to her fellow orchestra teachers. The first person who received one was particularly fun because she is a young teacher who had only ever had cheap plastic "chinesium" batons. Good batons typically start around $75-100, not something a young public school teacher is likely to spend money on. So she was particularly excited to get a high quality baton that was properly balanced. The baton should balance right in front of the handle. The only way to achieve this is to add a weight inside of the handle.
I have been into woodworking for a long time, but had never gotten around to buying a lathe. I have to say, these are the most expensive woodworking tools there are! Not because of the price of the lathe itself, but because then you "have to" buy all the accessories. Everyone warns you... but you don't listen. I got a midi lathe because I didn't want to give up a bunch of space in my shop for it, but now I'm looking at getting more storage to hold all the chucks, collets, various tailstock attachments etc.. I now know that I should never buy a vertical mill. I obviously don't have enough self control to own something like that.
