After I retired from Law Enforcement it didn’t take long to realize I would need something more to do with some of my time. I’ve been involved with woodworking since middle school, and started putting my own woodshop together in 1980, shortly after getting out of the military. Over the past 10 years or so, I have been fortunate enough to be able to afford to look at upgrades to many tools in my shop. As much as I loved turning wood as a teenager, I must admit this aspect of my woodworking had been neglected until last year. I had the opportunity to make a purchase of another craftsman’s small craft shop in which I acquired a number of pen kits. He didn’t have a lathe, and mine was very old tech, and had gone unused for decades just taking up precious shop space.
I started looking at pen making for the first time, and woodturning in general with a new eye toward what others were doing with it today. I was amazed and quite intrigued with it. I decided to upgrade my lathe. I thought I would start with a mini lathe after a bit of research and attended a woodworking show at our local Woodcraft store here in Eugene. As I watched a gentleman from Sorby demo his tools I couldn’t help, but admire the lathe he was using. He was working with a Nova DVR XP. It’s a full sized lathe and one of the more expensive tools in the store. Of course I had to have it and ended up spending quite a bit more than I had planned. I ended up diving head first back into woodturning and learning pen making. Like any new woodcraft, there are a number of specialty tools involved, and I have since acquired most of them as I continued to improve my craft.
This has been fun, and is a great way to pass the time in retirement. I have very much enjoyed sharing my work, and have discovered there is a demand for it as many have inquired about purchasing my pens and other projects. I have had special requests from friends to produce pens I had yet to try, with special attention to wood selection. I have found it is fun to work with someone to produce a chosen pen style, in a wood of their personal choice.
I want to thank those, who have encouraged me as I put together a small business around what used to be my hobby. I am looking forward to watching this business grow, while keeping it manageable for one person. (I say one person, but those, who know me, also know how valuable the help I get from Kathleen is. Kathleen is another name for “quality control”)
I have taken my general woodworking to the next level and recently completed a new workbench to showcase what I’m capable of. I invite you to check it out on the “Other Projects” page of this website. As a result, I have expanded my offerings to full size furniture pieces and even copies of my bench. It is my design and if you would like one, or even one of a different design, I’m happy to work with you.