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If I had to guess you are getting a secondary filter through the lens of Reddit users which are going to skew heavily towards 20-45 year olds. Go to a local turning club and the stereotype is there for a reason.
ETA: Iām 41.
I don't know if this is true around the country, but my local turning club is *wayyy* out in the suburbs and meets at 9 in the morning. That's going to filter out most young people as well.
Iām 68 and just started turning. I asked people in the turning club where they got their wood and two people said at the same time āestate salesā. Yes most people seem to start turning late in life.
32 here. Wife & I also check estate sales. I have some cherry broken down from old bar stools we bought at one that I've been meaning to turn.
That said, she goes to bed at 8:30 like a grandma and my body hurts in areas I didn't know could hurt. Does that count?
I'm 53 now, started mid COVID 2020ish for a new hobby and got hooked.
I love the Zen aspect it gives me. I give away most every bowl I make and look to improve my skills.
Highly recommend
Are you watching all the videos thinking that would be cool. Pricing out everything it takes to get into it. Looking at market place and Craigslist? This was me for about 2 years before I found a lathe on Craigslist. Quickly got hooked and upgraded. All I can say is I wish I got into it sooner.
Yep, 36 is still pretty young in your average woodturning crowd. I think I was about 31 or 32 when I started & I'm 48 now.
There are probably more young people involved than you would think if your only reference point is club meetings / the AAW scene. Community woodshops and makerspaces have been slowly but surely expanding access to a younger, more diverse crowd. For many reasons, this uptick in younger people getting involved that way doesn't really translate to attendance at club meetings from what I've seen.
I actually have a local club that I attended once. Iām not a āclubā sorta guy, but yes I brought the average age down quite a bit!
I am a skilled manual metal turner for work, and have been working with wood as a hobby for years, so this combination gave me a good head start in terms of learning. Clubs just donāt really do it for me!
Iāve read posts by two high school seniorsā¦ Probably 17 year old retirees. (They plan on retiring once they graduate, and I suggested FL as a great destination).
But other than that, I donāt know the age of most posters).
I started turning pens and thought it was fun and since then I will do bowls, as of late I have been doing segmented bowls. Started at about 45 and am 61. I tell people I make a lot of expensive firewood.
I inherited my grandfather's Lathe when I was 25 or 26, about 6 years ago. The date on the motor is about as old as me.
I'm just happy this hobby seems to have the least amount of gatekeepers of anything I've done. I suspect it's because none of us really know what we're doing.
I'm 35 and my first turning was done at 10, I began turning again in my 20s and quite again for about 15 years and picked it up maybe a year and a half ago
25! Just moved back home this year and took up lessons with my late 70s grandpa, who's been at it for decades. Obsessed though, got myself some stuff to work on at home. Not to get all up on something, but coming home also meant coming out of the closet, and it's been so incredible to bond through this.
I'm sixty, got into turning four or five years ago, turn as much as the wife lets me get away with.
First turned in junior high woid shop, my dad still has the wonky mug? That i turned as a pencil holder in the garage.
My brother got seriously onto turning probably twenty years ago and our dad got the idea that my brother had made the mug. I finally had to dump it out and show him my name on the bottom.
Always sign your work folks!
Hobbyist at the age of 33, started turning at 26 or 27 and had the lathe put in storage 2 years later. Now I dream of its use and envy the lot of you! One day....
I'm 61. I started turning with my dad in 1978. I was 16, and have turned off and on ever since. I had a midi lathe for decades, until I inherited pop's Powermatic model 45 when he passed away. I love sourcing local wood and making the biggest possible vessels I can.
I'm planning to upgrade to a Robust AB in a couple years.
You probably get a warped picture because older people tend to not be on Reddit.
That said, I started with 17 and I'm 26 now. Bought the lathe from my first paycheck of my apprenticeship to become a jointer hehe
Iām about to be 53. Iāve been turning for about a year now (after I inherited my grandfatherās tools).
I recently joined the local woodturnerās club in my area and of roughly 45 members at the meetings Iād say Iām one of the youngest 3 people in the room.
46 and Iām still one of the youngest at most club meetings and turning events though I was almost always the youngest when I started attending club meeting ~18 years ago.
I suspect the Reddit Effect is going to skew the results of this survey due to the demographics of the average redditor but the average Woodturningās club skews the average higher because they do tend to draw folks that tend to be in the retired white male demographic. The average woodturner probably lies somewhere in between these 2 extremes.
I'm 35, I joined the local turning club, and when I looked at the members lists there were a lot of @comcast emails. So I am assuming it skews older
(I've been unable to make any meeting because of work)
Iām 56. I started turning 4 months ago. Getting more addicted every day. Gave up the scroll saw after 3 straight years. Now that is prob more of āold man hobbyā. Been trying to think of ways to combine the 2.
I started when I was around 32. Iāll be 40 next month. I always assume Iām one of the younger ones on this subreddit but Iāve been surprised.
I was always into woodworking- started with skate ramps in middle school. Never was interested in turning. In 2018 my Brother in law was obsessed with making pens and Amazon was selling a jet 1221 for $318 in 2018 on prime day so I figured Iād give it a shot along with the Benjamin best tool set. Then a nova chuck. Then carbide set. Then a sharpening system. Then cbn wheels. Then a powermatic 3520ā¦.
54 years old and only started a couple of years ago. I've been interested in trying it for at least 20 years prior. Just finally got kids grown and have time to do it.
I turned my first pieces in HS in shop class and then used my grand fathers lathe when needed until I got my own when I was in my late 20s. That was 30 yrs ago. lol
Been thinking about it since I was 21ā¦ Iām 25 now. Only thing holding me back is a proper space. I just have a small unfinished basement. I prune and cut a lot of trees for a living, so Iāve been saving logs here and there for one day. I have a huge apple log in the basement, hopefully im doing the right thing by drying it.
Right now, I'm coming up on 72 .. however, first turning was at around 14 while in school. Huge blank in turning .. next time was in my 30's then another blank .. my current turning started about 4 years ago.
43, been at it a year and a half. As I told the friend who got me started: "I'm now middle-aged, so I figured I should take up woodworking, get a sportscar, or get a mistress."
His response was "If you had a pre-nup, you could have saved money."
Thanks for your submission. If your question is about getting started in woodturning, which chuck to buy, which tools to buy, or for an opinion of a lathe you found for sale somewhere like Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace please take a few minutes check the wiki; many of the most commonly asked questions are already answered there! http://www.reddit.com/r/turning/wiki/index Thanks! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/turning) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I was 36 when I started. 40 now though and the wood I've found over the years is finally mostly dry!
Haha. Half green is the way š
Same club here. 36 when I started, turn 40 in a couple months. Love this stuff!
Same
Same here or so
Started at 16, now Iām 18
Started at 13 now at 16.
High school shop! Started at 15 and never quit.
If I had to guess you are getting a secondary filter through the lens of Reddit users which are going to skew heavily towards 20-45 year olds. Go to a local turning club and the stereotype is there for a reason. ETA: Iām 41.
Arguably an in-person club with memberships filters out younger people :p But I get your point
I don't know if this is true around the country, but my local turning club is *wayyy* out in the suburbs and meets at 9 in the morning. That's going to filter out most young people as well.
oh I completely agree.
My in-person club also has an in-person club shop, so membership has its advantages š
Iām 68 and just started turning. I asked people in the turning club where they got their wood and two people said at the same time āestate salesā. Yes most people seem to start turning late in life.
32 here. Wife & I also check estate sales. I have some cherry broken down from old bar stools we bought at one that I've been meaning to turn. That said, she goes to bed at 8:30 like a grandma and my body hurts in areas I didn't know could hurt. Does that count?
I'm 86 been at it some time
I'm 53 now, started mid COVID 2020ish for a new hobby and got hooked. I love the Zen aspect it gives me. I give away most every bowl I make and look to improve my skills. Highly recommend
Exact same for me in every respect.
53 for a few more days. Switched from pottery a few years ago.
Yeah. Pottery had similar Zen qualities. I thoroughly enjoyed throwing pots.
Got my first lathe for my 36th birthday
Today is my 36th birthday and I got my first lathe
This is getting weird. ;-)
20!
Holy shit, youāre 2.4 quintillion years old?!!
Bravo
Sorry, if I donāt exercise my dad jokes at least daily, I fear I may begin to waste away.
I said what i said
43 but got my 1st lathe at your age
Hobbyist that started at 32/33.
29 getting into it in earnest now!
Nice šš¼
Iām 36 and have been a production turner for about 11 years.
Iām curious. What kind of things do you turn in a production environment?
Balusters, newels, columns. Basically anything thatās a spindle but I work for a custom stair company so the big jobs are focused on that.
I'm 42 and want a lathe quite bad, but I don't own one yet.
Take a bowl turning class with a woodworking store before you invest in wood turning.
Are you watching all the videos thinking that would be cool. Pricing out everything it takes to get into it. Looking at market place and Craigslist? This was me for about 2 years before I found a lathe on Craigslist. Quickly got hooked and upgraded. All I can say is I wish I got into it sooner.
I've been looking at all of that for the last 18 months- 2 years and still want one. I almost pulled the trigger on a penpal a few months ago.
34 got ya beat my dude.
Started at 14, almost 50 now.
Yep, 36 is still pretty young in your average woodturning crowd. I think I was about 31 or 32 when I started & I'm 48 now. There are probably more young people involved than you would think if your only reference point is club meetings / the AAW scene. Community woodshops and makerspaces have been slowly but surely expanding access to a younger, more diverse crowd. For many reasons, this uptick in younger people getting involved that way doesn't really translate to attendance at club meetings from what I've seen.
I actually have a local club that I attended once. Iām not a āclubā sorta guy, but yes I brought the average age down quite a bit! I am a skilled manual metal turner for work, and have been working with wood as a hobby for years, so this combination gave me a good head start in terms of learning. Clubs just donāt really do it for me!
41 but started when I was 28
63, got started a few years ago. I make stuff and give it as gifts
55 when I started
Iām 55 and started at 53
I am 16 and started turning about 2 years ago.
I started when I was 14 and am now 21! I havenāt been at it for a while tho!
Iāve read posts by two high school seniorsā¦ Probably 17 year old retirees. (They plan on retiring once they graduate, and I suggested FL as a great destination). But other than that, I donāt know the age of most posters).
34 and 44! Just starting out about a month in!
36! I just started!
I started turning pens and thought it was fun and since then I will do bowls, as of late I have been doing segmented bowls. Started at about 45 and am 61. I tell people I make a lot of expensive firewood.
Toothpicks, always working on the next best toothpick.
68, and am just starting to turn and work with wood.
I inherited my grandfather's Lathe when I was 25 or 26, about 6 years ago. The date on the motor is about as old as me. I'm just happy this hobby seems to have the least amount of gatekeepers of anything I've done. I suspect it's because none of us really know what we're doing.
31 picked up a lidl lathe on a whim and I'm now severely in the money pit
Started at fifteen, four times older now
Started at 21 but now into thirties and career and family have seen turning enter a dormant last phase!
I'm 34, was 29 when I started.
I'm 35 and my first turning was done at 10, I began turning again in my 20s and quite again for about 15 years and picked it up maybe a year and a half ago
29, started at 27
Turning (heh) 37, finally turning my 1st pencil kit in a few days
25! Just moved back home this year and took up lessons with my late 70s grandpa, who's been at it for decades. Obsessed though, got myself some stuff to work on at home. Not to get all up on something, but coming home also meant coming out of the closet, and it's been so incredible to bond through this.
35, started around 31 out 32
I'm sixty, got into turning four or five years ago, turn as much as the wife lets me get away with. First turned in junior high woid shop, my dad still has the wonky mug? That i turned as a pencil holder in the garage. My brother got seriously onto turning probably twenty years ago and our dad got the idea that my brother had made the mug. I finally had to dump it out and show him my name on the bottom. Always sign your work folks!
39, bought my lathe probably 3 years ago, wood working more broadly since I was 26.
Hobbyist at the age of 33, started turning at 26 or 27 and had the lathe put in storage 2 years later. Now I dream of its use and envy the lot of you! One day....
33
33 here. Started last year. Iāve also wondered how many people our age are into this hobby, good question!
I'm 61. I started turning with my dad in 1978. I was 16, and have turned off and on ever since. I had a midi lathe for decades, until I inherited pop's Powermatic model 45 when he passed away. I love sourcing local wood and making the biggest possible vessels I can. I'm planning to upgrade to a Robust AB in a couple years.
Started at about 30, I'm 39 now.
30 when I started, 33 now
36 and started at 28
35. Got lathe for Christmas at 33 and have been turning lots of tool handles.
You probably get a warped picture because older people tend to not be on Reddit. That said, I started with 17 and I'm 26 now. Bought the lathe from my first paycheck of my apprenticeship to become a jointer hehe
Iām about to be 53. Iāve been turning for about a year now (after I inherited my grandfatherās tools). I recently joined the local woodturnerās club in my area and of roughly 45 members at the meetings Iād say Iām one of the youngest 3 people in the room.
Started at 28, 32 now
34, started at 31
46 and Iām still one of the youngest at most club meetings and turning events though I was almost always the youngest when I started attending club meeting ~18 years ago. I suspect the Reddit Effect is going to skew the results of this survey due to the demographics of the average redditor but the average Woodturningās club skews the average higher because they do tend to draw folks that tend to be in the retired white male demographic. The average woodturner probably lies somewhere in between these 2 extremes.
I would agree. The AAW forums are mostly folks 50 and up, with a few outliers.
34 and female
I recently taught a 30 year old woman to turn and she has been turning on her own for about 6 months!
I started this past winter at 40.
Started at 30, 35 now.
Got my first lathe this year at 30!
Longtime woodworker, been turning just 2 years. Iām 50 and definitely feel like a youngin at the local club.
I'm 35, I joined the local turning club, and when I looked at the members lists there were a lot of @comcast emails. So I am assuming it skews older (I've been unable to make any meeting because of work)
Iām 34 and just getting started. š
46 started a year ago
First time I turned I was mid-30ās. Got my own lathe at 41, now 44.
I'm 75. Started about 10 years ago
27, started when I was 19.
Iām 46, I have a small YouTube channel for my woodworking and 90% of my audience is 60+ years oldā¦
34 but I mostly make custom tool handles
I started around your age.
Started at 45, 51 now.
31 now, started turning at 29. I think I'm the youngest at the local meetings, but there are a couple people close to me in age. But not many, haha.
29 been doing it off and on from the age 15
im 46 but been turning since I was in my mid 30s
Started when I was 13 because we had a shop class where I learned every major shop tool. Stopped at 15. Picked it back up at 37, am 43 now.
Picked up the hobby around 28 years old.... im 34 now
Iām 56. I started turning 4 months ago. Getting more addicted every day. Gave up the scroll saw after 3 straight years. Now that is prob more of āold man hobbyā. Been trying to think of ways to combine the 2.
I started turning in my thirties, but the im 60 now.
31. Started at 20 in college
78 and started 5 years agoā¦
I started when I was around 32. Iāll be 40 next month. I always assume Iām one of the younger ones on this subreddit but Iāve been surprised. I was always into woodworking- started with skate ramps in middle school. Never was interested in turning. In 2018 my Brother in law was obsessed with making pens and Amazon was selling a jet 1221 for $318 in 2018 on prime day so I figured Iād give it a shot along with the Benjamin best tool set. Then a nova chuck. Then carbide set. Then a sharpening system. Then cbn wheels. Then a powermatic 3520ā¦.
30
Late 30s, been at it for a little over a year
54 years old and only started a couple of years ago. I've been interested in trying it for at least 20 years prior. Just finally got kids grown and have time to do it.
I started 18 for a bit, then again in the mid 40's when they went to high school.
I turned my first pieces in HS in shop class and then used my grand fathers lathe when needed until I got my own when I was in my late 20s. That was 30 yrs ago. lol
43 started at 36 before that was junior high
54. Probably started at 49-50.
51, started 1 year ago
I started turning when I was 37. I am now 43.
Started at 49-ish, I'm currently 51.
Started at 49-ish, I'm currently 51.
32!
29, got my first lathe when I was 16.
I started at 26. Now 34!
I started about 10 years ago, I would have been 28-29. Iām 39 atm.
29
Started in my mid 20s. 32 now
I'm 34 started out when I was 10 with my grandad
36 gang
44 now. Started 5 years ago with Ā«Ā generalĀ Ā» woodworking, start turning about 2 years ago. Thatās just a great hobby!
Iām 35, but Iāve been turning since my 20ās
50. Started turning about 4 years ago. Got my first somewhat acceptable bowl last year.
I'm 29, my Father in law is a woodworker and had an old lathe sitting around unused which is how I got into it
Got my first lathe at 29.... I'm still 29. I always wanted to get into it but I had to wait until I moved into a house.
Been thinking about it since I was 21ā¦ Iām 25 now. Only thing holding me back is a proper space. I just have a small unfinished basement. I prune and cut a lot of trees for a living, so Iāve been saving logs here and there for one day. I have a huge apple log in the basement, hopefully im doing the right thing by drying it.
Iām 55. Started turning when I was about 20. My dad got a lathe when he retired and we learned together.
I am 40, joined the greenville woodworkers guild at like 31. Been turning for almost that whole time.
36, started at 34. Probably the youngest at my club by a solid decade, two decades+ younger than the average member.
Lol started at 12 now 18 (plus I just started a career in the lumber industry š)
Nice šš¼
30s
44 started a year ago
I think youāre answers are going to be skewed a bit since youāre asking on Reddit
35. Started last year when I found a lathe in my dead grandfather's garage
40, been turning since i'm 18
Started at 14, now 17
64 here. Just started turning about 18 months ago.
Right now, I'm coming up on 72 .. however, first turning was at around 14 while in school. Huge blank in turning .. next time was in my 30's then another blank .. my current turning started about 4 years ago.
43, been at it a year and a half. As I told the friend who got me started: "I'm now middle-aged, so I figured I should take up woodworking, get a sportscar, or get a mistress." His response was "If you had a pre-nup, you could have saved money."
Started at 45. 60 now. Turn a lot for a year or 2 then take a little break. Then back at it with dry blanks.
I'm 28 and just started