leehljp
Member Liaison
Twenty years ago today I joined IAP. It has been a great journey and I have known some great people here. There have been arguments, discussions and lots of great encouragements. Thank you Jeff, and I send a thank you to some great friendships through the years.
I started my pen making in December 2004 not knowing what I was doing. I did have all the basic tools because of flatwork I had been doing since I was in ki5d in the 50's. I had used a lathe before but nothing this small. I was living in Japan at the time joined, and doing flat work there was difficult because it was crowded, houses were small and close together. It took an hour to get tools out and ready to make anything and an hour to put everything up. The desire to smell raw wood being made into something kept driving me. I had seen a few pen making tools since the late '80s or early 90's in ads and catalogs and never forgot them. So in 2004, I bought a small lathe (Taig) while back home in the states for Christmas. I put it in my suitcase and took to back to Japan in early January '05. I also logged onto IAP over Christmas and viewed it several times in January and then joined on February 6, 2005.
There were a few contentious people here at the time
but they were kind to me, and most everyone very nicely said my first few pens looked a little proud, or finish could use some work. I didn't take it as an insult, but took it as something to buckle down on and up my skill level on such tiny work. I learned to enjoy the journey making each pen, and when I needed to redo a pen two or three times, so be it. I made each pen to be the best I could and upped my skill level each time the best I could.
I never got into making them for sale or to see how many I could make in a certain amount of time. I enjoyed each part of each one in a similar way to the way I raised my girls. They are all individuals and each are different.
The way Jeff kept this forum going has been amazing. And the way that new users are treated here has been unique too. I can't tell you how many forums I have been on and read the words "this has been discussed many times before - Use the Search". There are few things that silence new users or send them away more quickly. This forum has been the training ground for many many people, and a number of them have become famous in pen making circles. Thank you Jeff.
I sure need to mention a number of people, and there have been MANY who have encouraged me and taught me new skills and how to understand a new idea. Even though I would like to make a never ending list of people here who have helped me, I will mention only one by name, and say Thank You to ALL.
John T (jttheclockman) joined the same month I did, just a few days after me. His skill always amazed me, and I have kept up with him since not long after he joined. Thanks John T for riding along this 20 years too! I am still jealous of your skew skills and still would love to learn to use a skew like you do. However, my essential tremors won't let me hold a lathe tool like I used to hold them without shaking. Thank you JT, Thank you IAP members, and thank you Jeff.
Thank you all for 20 wonderful years!
I started my pen making in December 2004 not knowing what I was doing. I did have all the basic tools because of flatwork I had been doing since I was in ki5d in the 50's. I had used a lathe before but nothing this small. I was living in Japan at the time joined, and doing flat work there was difficult because it was crowded, houses were small and close together. It took an hour to get tools out and ready to make anything and an hour to put everything up. The desire to smell raw wood being made into something kept driving me. I had seen a few pen making tools since the late '80s or early 90's in ads and catalogs and never forgot them. So in 2004, I bought a small lathe (Taig) while back home in the states for Christmas. I put it in my suitcase and took to back to Japan in early January '05. I also logged onto IAP over Christmas and viewed it several times in January and then joined on February 6, 2005.
There were a few contentious people here at the time
but they were kind to me, and most everyone very nicely said my first few pens looked a little proud, or finish could use some work. I didn't take it as an insult, but took it as something to buckle down on and up my skill level on such tiny work. I learned to enjoy the journey making each pen, and when I needed to redo a pen two or three times, so be it. I made each pen to be the best I could and upped my skill level each time the best I could.I never got into making them for sale or to see how many I could make in a certain amount of time. I enjoyed each part of each one in a similar way to the way I raised my girls. They are all individuals and each are different.
The way Jeff kept this forum going has been amazing. And the way that new users are treated here has been unique too. I can't tell you how many forums I have been on and read the words "this has been discussed many times before - Use the Search". There are few things that silence new users or send them away more quickly. This forum has been the training ground for many many people, and a number of them have become famous in pen making circles. Thank you Jeff.
I sure need to mention a number of people, and there have been MANY who have encouraged me and taught me new skills and how to understand a new idea. Even though I would like to make a never ending list of people here who have helped me, I will mention only one by name, and say Thank You to ALL.
John T (jttheclockman) joined the same month I did, just a few days after me. His skill always amazed me, and I have kept up with him since not long after he joined. Thanks John T for riding along this 20 years too! I am still jealous of your skew skills and still would love to learn to use a skew like you do. However, my essential tremors won't let me hold a lathe tool like I used to hold them without shaking. Thank you JT, Thank you IAP members, and thank you Jeff.
Thank you all for 20 wonderful years!
