I began this woodturning adventure because of a good natured gift from my brother-in-law. While strolling through the Park City (Utah) art festival in about the year 2000 I saw Rex Burningham's booth full of beautiful woodwork and said something like "that's cool stuff...I'd like to try that sometime". My brother-in-law coincidentally had a brand new Ridgid tube lathe, unassembled and still in the box that he said he would probably never use. He dropped it off in my driveway the next day. With that and a sharpened craftsman flat screwdriver I made my first "shavings". It's gone downhill from there. Thousands of dollars and I can't guess how many cubic yards of shavings later I'm still at it. It has been and still is as enjoyable and fulfilling as anything I've done. Not to mention all the great people I've met along the way.
- Curt Fuller