Enjoy it Scott. It's a kick. There's times I wish I had a small band mill too, to cut smaller wood. There's so much wood that goes to waste for lack of a sawmill or someone willing to cut it. Are neighbors tree going to be safe? Is that a red maple next door? Hmmm.
With the size of wood that you use for turning a whole new world will open.
As a aside, many years ago I lived in a small Wyoming town that had an older gentleman that made bar tops. He used poured resin and little cookies cut from sage brush and sanded smooth. He was getting some god awful price per foot of bar. From sage brush! It's basically a weed and a big fire hazard. Big sage brush though.
Made a pencil tonight out of chestnut. First effort. Blew a small chip out of the wood right at the top of the pencil where the clip would have covered it had I put the clip on right. Too much pressure from me or defect in the wood. I'll blame the wood. Finished with lacquer that I had around the house. Didn't quite get the size right to match the inserts. It's not a seller but at least I've got a "show and tell" now that I made.
