I've been a woodworker practically my entire life. More precisely I should say I've been around woodworking practically my entire life. My dad was a patternmaker who owned his own business and my first job at about age 12 was to clean the shop. Sawdust is in my blood. Well, not really, but I've certainly had enough in my hair, eyes, nose, throat... even in my lunch. "That's fiber... It's good for you!"
After all the years of precision plans and meticulous attention to dimensions the "do it by eye" freedom of woodturning is an exhilarating change of pace. I never know what magic shapes, patterns and textures lie undiscovered inside that next piece of lumber.
When building furniture a piece cut too short goes back into the scrap bin. In woodturning that becomes a "design opportunity." Only when that doesn't work out does it become "designer firewood."
I am a member of the Lancaster Designer Craftsmen chapter of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen and the Lancaster Area Woodturners chapter of the American Association of Woodturners.
From my perspective I get to spend too little time in the woodshop. The problem is I have too many dependents (GMAC Motor Financing, PP&L, Giant Foods, Fulton Bank, etc) always looking to me for $$. So to pay the bills and maintain peace in the household I have to hold down a "real" job as a Database Administrator and software designer for our local county government.
When I'm not in the shop or slaving away at SQL or coding in Delphi I am sometimes found doing lead guitar and vocals for the Kracker Beez, a local classic rock band.
