ABOUT

    I Just Make Stuff is a collection of unique products I have created. First let me start by saying

that I love to create. Woodworking has always been a passionate skill set for me. I have always

enjoyed making unique things. Now that I am retired, I finally have the time to do some of

these things. 

    As a young boy and playing in my father's shop I became very intrigued with a lathe that he

had made out of wood. I was never really very good but I was able to make square wood round

and at eight years old I felt that I had really accomplished something. 

    As I got older and went to junior and then high school, I took all of the woodshop, metal

shop and mechanical drawing classes I could take. In high school they had a lathe and I spent

as much time as I could on that one piece of equipment. It was there that I was able to perfect

my turning skills with the guidance and instruction of my shop teacher, Mr. Bill Smith. For

many years after leaving school because of my work schedule and family I was forced to

abandon my passion for woodturning. 

    I now belong to the AAW, (American Association of Woodturners) and four turning clubs. I

have recently started a local chapter of the AAW in my community. 

    I have demonstrated at several schools for career days and we always draw a large group

of kids that really seem interested in woodturning. I have demonstrated at several turning

clubs and turning functions. I have been published in an online magazine which included a

video of my work, (ashtabulawave.org). I was interviewed and videotaped for Fox8 TV's, "New

Day Cleveland" show. My pieces are displayed at the, "Bridge Street Art Works" an art store in the Ashtabula Harbor.

    Wood turning on a lathe is a fun hobby and can be very rewarding. Once you make the initial investment for the lathe and some of the tools you'll need, it is a relatively inexpensive hobby, especially if you don't mind going into the woods and cutting down your own trees. 

        The wood you need just grows on trees and it's all free, or as free as it can get.

I have also found that if you check the internet you can often find people giving wood away for free as long as you'll haul it away. I also stop at sites that I see being cleared for construction and ask if I can cut up some of the wood and take it with me.

    If you join a club in your local area, you can learn a lot from other turners and gain many friends along the way that are interested in the same thing as you. The knowledge you can gain from other turners at a turning club is priceless.