I spent 28 years in the TV and Radio news biz, followed by 18 years in computer systems and software. I never really gave much thought to what I would do after I retired, and on a whim, decided to give woodworking a try a couple of years before retiring.
I was just starting a class on furniture building at a tech school when duty called and I was out of town on business for a week. When I returned, I had no plans or materials, and the instructor told me I couldn’t just stand around with my hands in my pockets. I asked if he had any suggestions, and he responded “Have you ever turned wood?”. I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about but decided to go for it. He set me up on a lathe, gave me about 10 minutes of instruction, and I whiled away the evening turning coves and beads on a chunk of 4×4 from the scrap bin. I was smitten!
I gave up flat work, bought a lathe, and fell straight into the vortex. That was 14 years ago. Since then, I have discovered the challenges and rewards in segmented turning, joined the Segmented Woodturners chapter of AAW, attended two SWT symposiums, graduated from a 2 year woodturning program at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (NWTC), and have served as a part-time instructor in the woodturning program at NWTC’s Artisan Center for the past 6 years. My favorite class to teach: Segmented Woodturning!