My first entrance into woodturning was candidly because my mouth said I could do it before my head engaged fully. Oh, I heard myself say it alright… But I was too stubborn to admit I had even the slightest bit of concern that I could create some 60 wine bottle stoppers in a period of 10 months when I had never done any woodworking in my life and I was stuck in a pretty rigorous work and wedding prep schedule. My thought process was this- 1) they don’t all have to be the same, 2) if I started immediately I would only need to do a few a month, and 3) if everything went to heck in a hand basket I could fall on my sword and hide behind the old addage “it’s the thought that counts”.
So, the lathe. For this initial project I got a Fox mini lathe. I actually use it for pen turning and other small projects and it’s worked really well. The thing with bottle stoppers, and actually with any beginning wood turning, is to get a “feel” for the process. I don’t really know of a shortcut here- you just have to do it, and practice, and practice some more. I used to view practice with the goal of creating something. Not here. Here the goal needs to be to get a feel for the wood, for the tools, for the speed of the lathe, and for the control you need to create a finished project- whatever the type.
The biggest obstacle was actually the finishing. There are a million recommendations on how to do it with the best results- I’ve finally decided that I’m finding my own workflow and process- one that I like and feels comfortable- and I’m trying not to get into a rut. Oh, and those Bandaids? Yea, so Becky changed her shopping habits at least for those first months to buying “super size me” packages at Costco! Gotta love it…
Here are some of the finished products- the very first ones I did were judged, um, a bit indecent to include or to give away LOL!
Love how you have reconstructed your website! You both write with such a wry wit!