Checking It Twice 

Mike, my SO (Significant Other), made a Christmas list and I’m checking it twice.

Hurricane high speed steel ½-inch bowl gougers, 40/40 grind set up block, and a Savannah tool turning angle gauge topped his list with segments of birdseye maple, spalted blackwood, and mansonia as minor players.

I’m checking it twice because I wouldn’t know a bowl gouger or blackwood (spalted or not) if a sponsored ad for it froze on my screen while I shopped Amazon.

Listening And Understanding 85%

Mike was a carpenter contractor who spoke in carpenter contactor jargon when I asked about his day. Flashing and facia and trusses peppered his reply. Then he’d report about an unplanned Home Depot trip to secure a power saw that cut through cement or steel or titanium. I forgot which. 

I listened and learned about how flashing prevented leaks, how a fascia was different than a soffit, and that trusses were preconstructed whereas rafters were built on site. I don’t remember the name of the cement cutting saw except it wasn’t called “the cement cutting saw.”

After a decade of carpenter contractor dinner conversation, I confidently understood about 85% of the dialogue, visualized trusses heaved into the air, and could determine when a wall anchor was needed (if the picture frame was over five pounds).

Then Mike retired.

He retired to the garage.

In the garage was a lathe.

Woodturning Talk

A lathe spun hunks of wood at rapid speeds to which the woodturner (in this case, Mike) pressed other tools into it that would shave curls from the spinning wood hunk rendering a candlestick or bowl or goblet. Mike gathered fallen tree branches and logs from the side of the road. At times we followed tree trimming crews and rescued any manageably sized logs before the wood chipper reduced them to mulch. 

Friends and neighbors log spotted for Mike, contacting him after a storm downed an oak or cottonwood or willow. When Mike turned a neighbor’s discarded baluster (Think spindle on a staircase.) into a Christmas ornament for them (a snowman with a jaunty red scarf) I knew that Mike the carpenter metamorphosized into Mike the woodturner.

And he’s a talented woodturner. 

Now when I ask Mike about his day, he answers in woodturner lingo. Shine juice, high-speed gougers, and grind set up blocks pepper his reply. Then he’ll share a video featuring an especially creative woodturning project (a bundle of colored pencils glued into a column and turned into a vase). 

Everyday Epiphany

I’m not at the 85% woodturning comprehension level yet, (Tell me again how to arrange the spalted blackwood segmented pieces so it results in a diamond pattern.) but I’ll keep at it. 

Woodturning is important to Mike and Mike is important to me.

Understanding his “woodturning world” helps me understand Mike.

Right now I need to understand it well enough to order his Christmas presents.