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| Wipe Out Published On 10-27-2008 , 8:59 PM OMG! Is my Karma payoff finally clearing the bank or what? 1. I get an unbelievable deal on the best lathe on the planet, thanks to my folks. 2. Had a great show, passed out tons of cards, got some great pieces of walnut, made 3 new pieces and won an award. 3. An order for some pyrography pens/tools, which I thought was lost finally showed up; mangled but unharmed after a month of floating around the Canadian border. 4. Cha CHING!!!! A further result from the show and continued enthusiasm from a dedicated follower, I just received a massive order! 13 items! I knew 13 was my lucky number! Say farewell to the following pieces:              These babies, some of my favorites, will now reside as mere memories in my portfolio. Once I get my Stubby setup I need to get crackin' to replace my depleted inventory. Fear not, Intertubes, I have wood and sharp tools. I shall recover from this and be better for it! Besides, the sale is paying my way to a 3 day hands on workshop with David Ellsworth in 2 weeks! Comments | ||
| Momma Brings Home the Bacon! Published On 10-26-2008 , 7:58 PM  The show is over, we spent 2.5 days completely immersed in wood.My 2 days of live demonstrations got lots of attention; I turned 3 bowls (Box Elder, Birch & Curly Cherry) and gave tours/details of my full table of turnings and my holiday tree. I gave out about 200 business cards and had several requests to buy pieces on the spot. Many of the show goers said I was the best attraction. The kids really enjoyed playing with all the ribbons of wet wood I made. The icing on the sawdust cake? I got a Judges Commendation award for my "Award Winning" ornaments. A comment was made that I need to raise the prices now  Sanjay and I enjoy the woodworking group and our two turning groups so much. I really urge anyone with an interest in woodworking to hook up with a local group, you gain such a massive wealth of experience, friendship and knowledge. What a fabulous bunch of folks. I'm bone tired, back and feet are screaming, but so revved up I want to jump right back in. There was a vendor called the Wood Miser and they sale portable saw mills. They milled tree after tree, fresh cut. We got some beautiful walnut I can't wait to play with. Sanjay came home with a fabulous scrollsaw that he's wanted for a long time. We got a great deal on it. I do hope he enjoys it. This will be a hectic week. We will be spending every night cleaning the garage in preparation for next Saturday when my new Stubby arrives. Even with my back problems, the last few weeks have really been up beat. I've got several new pieces to get up on the site, so give me a bit of time to catch my breath and get the photos taken and processed. Comments (2) | ||
| Dreams do come true! Published On 10-22-2008 , 2:07 PM  I've dreamt (fantasized, lusted, or otherwise day dreamed) of owning a Stubby 750 for as long as I've been a serious turner. I got to play on Cindy Drozda's Stubby while I was out in Boulder and I loved it. I'm sure my drool left rust on it. To the non-turner it may seem ridiculous to spend so much on a "tool" but the difference between my current (though quite serviceable) lathe and a Stubby can be compared to the difference of driving a rusting bucket with square wheels over driving a Rolls Royce. Stubby is made by Omega Tools in Australia. There is only one importer and just a handful of distributors for Stubby in the USA. The Stubby 750 is extremely versatile, the bed swings to any angle, there is an auxiliary bed and two banjos. The lathe also allows for a large swing without having to turn "outboard" style as the bed does not run all the way up to the headstock. Another key feature of this beauty is it gives you all this flexibility on a relatively small footprint. It is no larger, lengthwise, than my current lathe. This is a big selling feature when your "shop" is crammed into the corner of the garage! I've posted in several forums of my desire to own one of these puppies and someone actually responded! This is a picture of my new baby! It is unfortunate that my "win" is someone else's "loss" and that he found himself in a position where he had to sell it. But, I promise to take very good care of it. I do hope that Karma will be kind to him so that he can get back to turning soon. He certainly deserves good Karma; in addition to letting me adopt his baby, he is actually delivering it and helping me set it up. So, Thanks, Andy, for reaching out to me, and thanks to Mom & Dad for your assistance in making this lathe mine! Now I need to come up a name for my new baby. Anything this special needs a name of course. I used to spin wool & named my wheel Whurly Girl, perhaps that name will fit, not sure. I may give her a schnazzy paint job too, but we'll have to see. It will be delivered on Nov. 1. Looks like I need to clear a path in the garage after the show this weekend! Comments (2) | ||
| Rumors of my alien abduction are true! Published On 10-20-2008 , 10:31 AM But they had no trees and their Intertubes was borked so I came home!   I've been up & down with back issues, going for another spinal injection on Thursday trying to ward off another back surgery (#3).When my back is cooperating I've been in the shop working like a demon getting ready for a show this weekend. The Long Island Woodworkers is holding its 13th annual show on October 25 & 26 at 631 Pulaski Rd., Greenlawn, NY (Moose lodge). Anyone local to Long Island should come. The image at right will take you to a coupon that will get you $2 off admission. I plan on having over 20 items on display, including a decked out holiday tree with ornaments. Several new pieces will be on display; I haven't had time to photograph them and add them to the site but will do so once the show is over. I need to do a little bit of bragging here: The American Association of Woodturners held a contest on their website. I entered it and won! The contest was to create a piece based on a technique from their fall issue of American Woodturner. I was so enthralled with the idea I had to give it a try. You can read the results of contest by clicking on the link. These pieces will be among those at the show and will be up on my site shortly thereafter. Back to work for me. Look for a site update as soon as I recover from the show. UPDATE: AAW updated their homepage! My leaf is now at the top of the page! Comments | ||
