— by Ron Bahm

Years ago (probably 35) I was intrigued with this craft so I bought a book “The Craftsman Woodturner” by Peter Child. He was a British woodturner of prominence so reading the book was a great inspiration for me. Realize this was before names like Nish, Raffan, Lacer, etc. They were probably turning but had not “made their name”. Because of my interest, my wife bought me a bench top Craftsman lathe for a birthday! Wow, now I could try this stuff. Next I got a short log from our Kansas farm and mounted it on the lathe. What I did not realize was that the log was Osage Orange. My “less than sharp” tools, no variable speed and the out of balance of this difficult wood caused me to chase that lathe around my garage. Those days are only a humorous memory but I was fortunate the turning did not fly off.

Even though I might have given up, I persisted in turning and have found it to be a great time of mental relaxation and concentration on something that takes you away from the pressures of life. I am sure all of us had some early days of frustration by trying to learn this new skill on our own.

BUT in about 1994, I heard of a woodturning group and thought I may gain skills from association with other woodturners. The rest is history because I found the NMWT to be filled with people eager to share their skills with anyone. Now after being at a national symposium and 3 regional turning events, I have found all woodturners to have this sharing characteristic.