Posted this a while back on another site…thought I’d share it here too…
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My father-in-law passed away and I inherited some things from his shop, including a couple turning tools. I'm comfortable in my own shop, but I've never turned wood before. But, I figured, he'd be disappointed in me if I didn't learn something…so I jumped in and bought a lathe…and, of course, gotta have a place to put it so….
The carcass is plywood that I had lying about. Assembled with pocket screws and some dadoed joints, as is my convention. I try to finish all my shop furniture differently so I can learn from it. I'm usually a clear finish guy, but I did this one with General Finishes milk paint. The drawer fronts are are walnut, with some epoxy inlay, and finished with Odies.
I installed my 8" slow speed grinder on the end, and bought a Wolverine sharpening jig…because I'm lazy and enjoy accuracy! After a few quick trial turns, I've found I surely need a near-at-hand tool rack to hang some tools on for a given project, so I'll add that at some point, I want to do some practice first, but I intend for my first 'live' project to be a set of drawer pulls to finish out the cabinet.
Already I can see the appeal to turning, I'm very much looking forward to working on the skills to bring it into a useful part of my shop. This one's for you Glenn…I'll make good on it.