I live in the middle of Amish farmlands in south-central PA. I started turning in 1989 on a Craftsman monotube and learned from a book in our local library. After turning for a few years, I finally saw another person use the lathe! Then I attended the national symposium in RI (2004?) and that was my downfall.......new tools! bigger lathe! Since I had to support myself, I needed to do production turning, working with contractors, antique dealers and furniture repairmen. In 2005 I got an order for 12 bottle stoppers, I had never turned one, bought the only ones available, did not like them (chrome), put one on my son's metal lathe, shaped it to my liking, took it to a local machine shop and asked "can you make this out of stainless steel?".............. the rest is history! Check out my ss stoppers on my website: <a href="http://www.torne-lignum.com" target="_blank">www.torne-lignum.com</A>