A TURNING PASSION James Odom Woodturnerjamesodom1@mac.com Atlanta Georgia

ALL OF MY WORK IS ONE OF A KIND & ORIGINAL. BEAUTIFULLY WOODTURNED PIECES. MY PLEASURE TO SERVE YOU. To all who are interested, My name is James Odom and I have been turning wood since 2007. In 2006 I began working with wood in an attempt to make a wooden chess set for my wife, a chess set that was never completed, like so many of my projects. However, I did become fascinated with wood and working with it, and thus began my first forays into the world of wood. After buying a few machines brand new and at much cost, I discovered that they could be purchased much cheaper second hand, and would still suit my purpose. It was on a trip to buy such a second hand machine that I encountered what would be my very first lathe, an old Sears Craftsman pipe type lathe. I purchased it along with some other tools that day, and the fellow I got them from seemed to have special sentiment for the lathe, a sentiment I was later to be affected with, although on a much larger scale. Working with that Sears lathe was to spark a flame that would grow into an inferno of obsession, frustration, and back pain. After that first lathe I bought a Grizzly stand alone midi lathe that I still hate, even though I rid myself of it. Then I bought a benchtop Jet mini lathe, which is quite decent and which I still in fact own and work with for small stuff. Then, in 2008 I made the buy of a lifetime, my very own Oneway 2436, the number based on the swing over bed and bed length, respectively. This wonderful machine allowed me to really fall in love with woodturning and with the machine itself. I know it may sound odd to say that I love a machine but there you have it, I love my lathe. I also love wood and the beautiful things that I can make out of it, which you may have seen or will see. I hope that they bring you as much joy as they bring me. Anyway, most of my training has been from books, dvds, and hours and hours of back breaking trial and error. I have however had tremendous help from other woodturners, and I would be remiss if I were not to write of them, and of the help that they gave me. First of all, let me mention Mark Sillay, whose technical skill is amazing, and whose friendliness and kindness are overwhelming. Although I have never taken formal classes from him, and indeed have never given him a dime, he has helped me time and again with all kinds of questions with a sincere and joyful enthusiasm, may God bless him. Another woodturner, under whom I have received formal training, is Mark Gardener. He taught that class at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, in Rockport Maine. He was the one who taught me how to properly use a spindle gouge, without messing up my piece too badly. He is a great turner who has been featured in woodtuning magazines, and is a nice and personable fellow to boot. Another turner who was a teacher of mine is Steve Sinner, who tried to teach me so much in one class that I was unable to retain all of it. What I did retain has helped me enormously, such as how to make deep hollow vessels and how to embellish them. Steve has a lot of great stuff that he has made, along with a dynamite work ethic. He would be in the shop as late as we wanted, which in my case was usually 11 pm, and never said boo about it. Lastly, I would be remiss not to mention Sydney at Highland Hardware, who has alway been there with a big smile and words that inflated my ego because they were sincere.