The Roots Up Story
A Forty Five Year Love Affair
I first experienced the wonder of woodturning my junior (and first) year at boarding school. I learned watching the weathered hands of the shop teacher who had instructed my father 30 years prior. Palmer Sharpless was a renown and respected wood turner and teacher. I was enamored immediately.
After graduating, it would be 20 years before I would again have access to a lathe. A membership woodshop opened across from the climbing gym I managed in NJ. That lasted a year before going out of business in 2005. Having moved to Mammoth in 2009, I’ve long dreamt of having a lathe studio.
I struck up a conversation with John Rea at a Village Fest in Mammoth. He was selling large slabs of Sierra pine and simple furniture. He explained that he had a sawmill and shop. After a short chat, we agreed he would host a lathe in his shop. It took two years, but I finally got the lathe and put in his somewhat ramshackle wood shop. Immediately John suggested I built a more suitable shop. He’d supply the lumber and knowhow, I’d supply the muscle and time. Over the course of 6 months on what days I could afford, I slowly learned the art of carpentry. After installing the solar and flipping the switch, my love of wood turning was ignited once again.