Are there any woodturning clubs / woodworking groups in South East Michigan (Detroit / Livonia / Downriver)?
I'm a newbie hoping to hook up with locals in order to speed my woodturning education.
Bill
BTW, I'll be watching the group for a reply as the email address above is absolutely useless.
Thanks George ... I'm sorry for all the mean things I said about you now, (sniff, sniff).
:-) Bill
Not a problem. We above the Mac want to keep all you trolls happy down there, so you'll stay there.
Are you SURE?
No. I'm no longer sure. I think I may have been right to start with if possibly a bit understated. George is probably okay ... so long as he stays north of the bridge and keeps his electronic tether on. ;)
Since I'm new to this newsgroup I should probably introduce myself.
My name is Bill and that's all you need to know about me.
However, I'm Irish and can't leave well enough alone.
I don't know what the heck I'm doing with a lathe,but I've got a pocket full of tiny little pieces of bark (some sort of hickory, I think) and when I'm at my branny new Harbor Freight lathe (the $179, 177 pound, #2 MT special) I'm standing on about 3" of wood shavings. I'm having a blast. When I'm not out in my garden making a mess, I'm in my basement making a mess. Life is very, very good at the moment.
The only thing I don't like about this lathe (so far) is that it has a minimum speed of 600 rpm and I think that will make the initial turning of larger outboard pieces a bit more exciting than I might like. I had intended on turning some large platters but a 2' diameter at 600 rpm results in a speed of about 62 Ft/s and I'm not sure I want an unbalanced glued-up hunk of wood coming at me traveling at that speed. I don't think I could outrun it.
So far, I've figured out how to make spirals with a gouge and splinters with a skew. Pretty good, eh? I've also begun breaking my wife in to the idea that I'll be boiling wood in the kitchen (more pieces of that hickory log) until we can arrange for my shop area to be pretty nicely equipped. :-)
I'm 52 years old now and the last time I turned wood was in 7th grade. I'm pleased to report that all of my skill with woodturning tools has returned just like I had never stopped woodturning (but had also managed never to get any better).
I'll be reading this newsgroup pretty frequently and commenting as soon as I have a single clue what's going on. That may take a while. You've reached me at a very critical time in my wood turning career; the beginning, while I'm still gullible and pretty much have to take your word for things.
I'm not afraid of the machine. I expect to pay for mistakes but I'm not afraid to make them along the way to gaining the skills that will let me exhibit alongside some of you guys. I look forward to a long and fruitful association with you. And maybe a couple dollars somewhere down the line when I am turning out work that makes people want to own it.
Bill
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