Thanks all! I did a very little bit of turning about 20 years ago on a borrowed Bonnie Klein micro lathe including some pen kits and a small lidded box. I've had my current lathe for a year or two, but can't say we've seen eye-to-eye up until now. It has spent a lot of hours in "time out" while I've studied YouTube videos to try and figure out how to get it to behave. I was about ready to throw in the towel after snapping so many spindles in half. I wouldn't say turning is like riding a bike...I felt like a total beginner (actually, it seemed much easier 20 years ago!).
Since I got this lathe, I've made a couple of finger tops that are spectacularly out of balance, two pens, a Russian-style spindle for spinning wool into yarn, and a bottle stopper that is shaped a lot like a spin top. And a lot of saw dust that thought it was something else entirely until I proved it wrong. It is getting easier, though, and making the top was a blast. I felt like I was in the zone or something. Anyway, I was inspired to buy the lathe by all the cool tops I saw here, so really excited to keep playing with it and really flattered by the compliments!
