Range Rider Cowboy hat

I began turning when I was 8 years old. My father built a lathe out of wood, mounted a motor & tail stock on it and I immediately fell in love with it. Back then all I could do was to make square wood round but at 8 years old I was very proud of that. I started taking it more seriously when I got into high school where my teacher took me under his wing and really started showing me the correct way to turn. Then came a full time job, marriage and children which slowed down my turning time but I never gave it up. Whenever we visited my parents for family gatherings I could be found in my fathers shop turning on a Craftsman lathe which was upgraded from the wood one he made several years earlier. My parents eventually moved out of town and my turning pretty much came to a stop unless I was at a friends house who might let me use their lathe. When I was getting close to retirement I bought a lathe that was on sale, put it in my basement but never even opened the box for another 3 years. Retirement finally came and I put the lathe together. I turned it on and I think I forgot everything I had ever learned about turning, but I never gave up. I joined a turning club and started learning all over again. I eventually became the VP of the North Coast woodturners in Cleveland, program coordinator of Presque Isle woodturners in Erie PA and a member of two other clubs in Akron OH and Columbus OH. There were no clubs close to where I lived so I started yet another chapter of the AAW called the Lake Erie Woodturners in Ashtabula, OH where I am president. I have demonstrated at several clubs, craft shows & fairs, and many schools. I still demonstrate at elementary schools every year for career days and hope to get some younger people into the art of turning. It’s a passion that started for me over 60 years ago and now because I’m retired I can do full time. I built my 1000 square foot studio 5 years ago and now spend most of my day in there pursuing the hobby I always loved.

- Ron Tomasch