My grandfather, who was a wood pattern maker by trade, introduced me to woodworking at a young age. When I was in junior high in the mid-1960s (yes that makes me OLD), I was exposed to woodturning for the first time, and that was the beginning of my turning adventure.
I am one of those turners that rarely turns the same thing twice, and I truly enjoy the mental process of dreaming up something new and figuring out how to turn it. Like most turners, my first exposure to resin turning was pen making but, things took a turn when I was given a copy of Keith Lackner’s book, Woodturning with Resin. Combining resin and woods like the Australian Mallee burls opened up a whole new world.
I started with pieces that incorporated opaque resins but, I soon found myself wanting to see more of what was inside of the piece. That ment casting clear or translucent resin with NO bubbles or surface imperfections which involved a steep learning curve.
The next step was to look for ways to add interest to the inside, much like a ship in a bottle does. That is when I decided to try HO-scale figures. To my surprise, even seasoned woodturners experience a moment of puzzlement when they held a common object like a mason jar or wine bottle and see another world inside.
The next question usually is, “How did you do that?
Based on past experience the "What's Inside?" period will pass and I will be off turning something completely different that will involve learning and of course, NEW tools.
So much to explore and so little time.
Greg Whitaker,
A woodturner in training