Casa Verde: Nick Stagg's Turned, Reclaimed Wood Bowls
Woodworker Nick Stagg lives in rural Oregon, where he operates Moonraker Turning from his farm-based studio. Using reclaimed wood whenever possible, Nick shapes rough pieces of wood into beautiful, turned wood bowls, vessels, and vases. I recently had the chance to ask Nick about the craft of woodturning, and he explained the ins and outs of the craft. Also, check out his shop to order some of his beautiful turned wood pieces.
CasaSugar: When did you start woodturning?
Nick Stagg: I started woodturning in 2003 after seeing some turned tool handles in someone's shop and I thought that I could do that! I had an old, inferior lathe and poor tools, but was able to make some small oil-filled lamps for family members. Shortly after that I upgraded my lathe and slowly purchased better tools and continued to turn. I joined a woodturning club and checked out all the books and videos I could from the library and spent my spare time trying to improve. As time passed, I've hosted instructors from Engalnd and Australia in my shop to give classes to other turners. I'm now confident enough that I can offer help to beginning turners and, perhaps, make their journey into the woodturning arena less painful than mine!
To hear about how Nick makes his turned wood vessels,
The historic takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which could come as soon as this weekend, moved to the forefront of the presidential campaign Saturday.
In the arena that night, the whole last minute was drowned out by cheers — and then when the soaring music swelled, the confetti rained down as the harbinger of balloons and the hopeful first family took the stage, forget about it — it was a perfect end to a convention that last Monday, no one even knew if it would happen. But it did, and I'm so glad to have been there.
