My name is Austin and I specialize in lathe turned wooden items, mostly kitchen utensils. I started this as a hobby about 5 years ago when I was in high school. I spent odd weekends at my dads house and he ran a booth in a local farmers market selling handmade boxes and lathe turned utensils. Initially I hated the lathe and hated creating anything with it. "Honey dippers? Rolling pins? Who would want to buy this crap let alone make it?" But I occasionally turned just for the extra money at the market.

A few years later I had graduated college and was working full time as a carpenter remodeling houses. I moved in with my dad and on weekends I would make rolling pins because he was selling so much other stuff he couldn't keep up. We divided the business in half - I'd make nothing but rolling pins and he would make everything else. With the popularity of handmade rolling pins being extremely high we ended up making about the same amount of money each even though he was making more stuff and a larger variety. It was then that I realized the potential for this business. There was clearly a large demand for high quality lathe turned items.

Now I do this part time and carpentry has taken the back seat. Someone told me about Etsy in March so I decided to give it a shot. Currently the majority of my sales are at local markets but I think this site has the potential to be my primary source of income someday.

The name Select Woodcraft was chosen because every piece I turn is hand selected. Nothing I make is mass produced; it's all made by me and I *select* each piece of wood out myself!