Doug:
There may be a method in her madness. Flatwork requires a fair amount of stationary equiptment which, in turn, require a fair amount of floor space. Then there are all the hand held power tools AND hand held hand tools. And flatwork requires a lot more wood than turned work (she apparently isn't aware of the need for piles and piles of drying logs and logettes and "turned green waiting to dry for final turning) - along with space to store it. Then there's the noise and sawdust issue - turning is quiet - relatively speaking (turn on a planer or router).
You'll soon discover that turning is the Crack Cocaine of woodworking
- relatively inexpensive, almost instant rush (relative to making a dresser or credenza), an infinite number of possibilities. So coat your other stationary tools with cosmoline because, other than your table saw a miter saw, they're going to be sitting unused for a while. And that 4/4 and 3/4" maple, mahogany, ash, beech etc. wide boards you've got stashed away. They'll get cut up for turning blanks and segments of segmented pieces.
Be prepared to justify a second, third and fourth scroll chuck - AND all the "extra - when your bride asks "You've already got a chuck. WHY do you need another one?" And be prepared to answer her other question "You've already got more turning gouges and chisel than any person would ever need - so WHY do you "need" another one?".
Now if she's already asking "Why are you starting another project when my coffee table isn't done yet?" expect her to ask similar questions about all those "turned green and drying" pieces sitting on shelves everywhere and the piece you're working on at the moment.
Oh - and if she was less than pleased with all the sawdust and chips flat work generates - she's gonna love the copious quantities of chips and curlies that turning generates. With flat work maybe 10 percent of what you started with ends up as scraps and sawdust. With turning, 90 to 95 percent ends up - all over hell.
If she's already noting finish and stain stains on your shop clothes, she's REALLY going to notice them once you start finishing your turnings. Finishing with the piece turning at 500 to 1000 rpms can fling the finish a LONG ways - all over hell.
I'm betting that with flatwork, you've never glued two or more of your fingers/thumbs together. That will change once you start using CA/Super Glue. Try and look helpless and pitiful when you do that. Better to go for sympathy than ridicule / hysterical laughter.
Woodworking has so many slippery slopes. Turning is the steap, Teflon coated slippery slope. Enjoy the exhilerating ride - and know there is no bottom of this slope - it goes on FOREVER!
charlie b