NGLJ
Member
I have been a woodworker off and on since I retired 15 years ago, regularly over the past 3 years. I started out making boxes thinking small would be easy 
. That was my first mistake but it sure helped to hone my skills. Then about 9 months ago I bought a lathe. Boy I wish that I had done that sooner. I made the decision at the outset to only use carbide tools which allowed me to get up the learning curve quickly. I don't doubt that the traditional turners are cringing at that! I soon became fascinated with segmented turning and recently tried my first open segment bowls. I was trying to think of ways to use the valuable scraps from making bowls when I came across an introductory article on pen making, which I printed out. My wife found the article and read it. "So you can make pens" she said. That was my next mistake! So I investigated further and discovered no doubt like all of the people here that it is a fascinating subject like most aspects of woodworking. Over the past month I purchased some basic pen making kit and have thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a good complement to my bowl work, though I can easily see that it might become a fairly large share of my time . So, that is what brought me here eager to learn from those with way more experience than I.
. That was my first mistake but it sure helped to hone my skills. Then about 9 months ago I bought a lathe. Boy I wish that I had done that sooner. I made the decision at the outset to only use carbide tools which allowed me to get up the learning curve quickly. I don't doubt that the traditional turners are cringing at that! I soon became fascinated with segmented turning and recently tried my first open segment bowls. I was trying to think of ways to use the valuable scraps from making bowls when I came across an introductory article on pen making, which I printed out. My wife found the article and read it. "So you can make pens" she said. That was my next mistake! So I investigated further and discovered no doubt like all of the people here that it is a fascinating subject like most aspects of woodworking. Over the past month I purchased some basic pen making kit and have thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a good complement to my bowl work, though I can easily see that it might become a fairly large share of my time . So, that is what brought me here eager to learn from those with way more experience than I.
for things they can ge5 you 