In the Beginning

In the beginning there was a yearning, a need for something creative, a need for a hobby, a need for something for me.  I had always had an interest in wood (i think I've said that before) but I needed a push.  My wife had been nagging me to get a hobby, but I had been putting it off. It was only after a trip to Tassie that I caught the bug (and it is a bug).  A trip to Strahan where I watched an experienced man turning wood and I smelt the Huon got the heart fluttering.

On return from that family holiday I scoured eBay looking for wood lathes.  Everyday I would log on and see what was new out there, but they all seemed expensive.  I didn't want to spend a lot of money, I didn't know if I would enjoy it, or be any good at it.  Then one day it was there.  It wasn't a great looking lathe.  It was a fairly common Chinese made lathe that seems to have been produced for GMC, Ryobi, Dynalink and many, many more (mine was Brook Crompton).

It was very simple.  Four speeds changed by a pulley, with a disc sander on the back of the headstock.  I loved this lathe for two reasons, it was local and came with some tools, plus it was cheap, I guess that's three things.

I paid about $150 for it which I thought was good, especially when I found it came with three Robert Sorby tools as well as a pack of cheap tools.  All I needed to learn and practise.  I bought some cheap pine to play with and I was off and running.

This was my first effort, its abstract but I just wanted to combine steel with wood and make shavings.
After a few months I had realised the limitations of the lathe without a chuck and bought one of those (I will review that later). Then it was a pen mandrel, and lots of pen parts!  But I needed to upgrade and after twelve months I did (I will review that to sometime).  This old machine went back on EBay, and sold minus a few of the tools for $100.  All in all I had found a hobby and a passion all for the bargain price of $50, I love bargain!

What was your first wood working toy?

Spindle master

Occassionally I read something other than a work manual or Tom Clancy book.  I was checking out a book on pen making the other day.  One of the tools used was a Spindle master.  I had never heard of a Spindle Master.  I guess that is not all together surprising as I have only been turning for a short time.  Anyway a quick google search, and there it was, the Spindle Master.

It is a cross between a gouge and a skew, two of my favourite pen turning tools.  The only manufacturer appeared to be Ropbert Sorby, whose tools I love.  I had thought of ordereing one to try but decided to put it in the to do basket for now.  That was until I was at the working with wood show and saw one.  I had cash left over, so I just HAD to buy one.

Keen to try it out I needed a project.  Luckily I had to turn eight pens for a friend so here was my oppurtinity.  I found it easy to use.  Depending on the angle you can get rapid wood removal or twist and it has great skew action.  I found it a little easier to use than the skew as it didnt dig in if I lost the correct angle.

The best part of it is how simple it is to sharpen.  All you need is to run the flat side over a sharpening stone and hey presto it is done!

I am waiting now to try it out on a bowl or other project, but for pens it is now my favourite finishing tool.