I've had this lathe for several years now,..just hadn't jumped in yet. Today was the day. Had some blue spruce that I recently cut down,..tree was dead..it seemed dry enough but after the bark was knocked off it acted like it wanted to fray a bit,...so I got into my curly maple scraps. I knew it was dry. Keep in mind I've never turned wood and my choice of species may have not been ideal,......but live and learn. All my tools are hong kong specials straight out of the box,....I'll upgrade when I figure out what I use the most. Before my next session they will get a good sharpening