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I like to make sawdust... and as a student of the Arts, I knew that I have to get comfortable with using a lathe - because there is just so many projects that require beautiful turnings. About a year ago it crossed my mind when posting on the forum that if I were to set a goal to spend 100 hours on the lathe, It would help me become more confident in using my lathe. My husband, is a wonderful supporter of my hobby... he is always coming home with tools to help me, and he found me a jet mini variable speed lathe at a local pawn shop that was a fraction of the retail price and not a scratch on it... I had moved up in the equipment world. This was September 2010 - and we were traveling internationally that year for vacation right after I got the lathe, and so it sat through the winter.... About 1 year ago, I turned my first pen at a local woodworking store - it was that nudge that I need to use that lathe. I've fiddled, fussed, and no success, in the past years, yeah, I can turn, but no... I'm not happy with the results, so Guild School it is... let's take a class... and being way out of my comfort zone I went to class very inexperienced. I was seeking that transference of a learning experience to understand how to obtain a crisp defined turning. I didn't finish my project from Guild School at Guild School - and I still need to make some decisions about collets before I can finish this project at home... but let's say of those 48 hours of classes, that I was turning 36 hours, so that will be the beginning of the 100 hours. When we talk about learning and teaching, brilliant teachers have us work on projects that transfer knowledge with experience into our brains and hands. In my position as a student I wanted to begin my journey at home with something that was confidence building, able to duplicate, challenging, but still repetitive... and then sprinkle in some fun stuff to break up repetitive skill building exercises. So after I made my graver handles, I decided to make porch posts. First, we browse internet for wooden porch posts and I finally choose Porch Post 3204 from the Vintage woodworks website. It is 10 - 1/2" x 10 - 1/2" x 147-3/4". (it is actually a polyurethane post... but I like the shape.) I had recently attended Peter Aquisto's theme luncheon at the NAME Convention, and he indicated in that presentation, that he seldom has the real item sitting in front of him, so he reduces the photograph to the correct miniature size... so I also adjusted the photo with a copier for a visual reference to the size I wanted for my posts. 1) The first turning that I did was a 1/12th scale version of the actual measurement 2) Turning 2 was mathematically scaled down for my 10" height of my RGT structure 3) Turning 3 was scaled down again for visual perception. 4) Turning 4 is the beginning of the attempt to duplicate... where the plan starts to come together.