January 31st was my granddaughter’s third birthday. As you might expect, she was very excited about the whole thing, with a lot of jumping up and down and “Is it time to open presents?” repeated many times.
My gift was three small tops that I turned on my lathe. Two were made from mahogany and one from ash lumber. They were not fancy or difficult to make, but they were well-received. In a house with two kids three and under, with two dogs and a couple of cats, I really do not think that all three tops will survive the year, but you never know. What I do know is that they made my grandkid happy, and I was happy for having made them.
That seems like a pretty good deal to me.
Rob Johnstone, Woodworker’s Journal
P.S. (If you want to turn some tops, too, check out this video of the process from Ernie Conover, the regular woodturning columnist for Woodworker’s Journal.)
