I was exposed to just enough to manual NC programming to realize that it was not for me – too tedious. 'During my career I was involved with several metalworking companies and one of the tasks in my first job (circa 1970) was to manage a project buying a fancy lathe with a new-fangled technology called NC (before CNC). With my side interest in computers, I was hooked.'

That is when I discovered a video online showing a hobbyist-level CNC machine doing v-carving. I was excited about this so got to work making them, but when it got to the stage of carving their names into the chest, I starting to think that there must be an easier way to carve other than by hand. My daughters remembered these gifts, and only four years ago, one of our daughters asked me to make similar chests for her girls (our granddaughters). For example, about 30 years ago when my daughters were very young, I really enjoyed making them things, such as small pine chests with their names carved in the front. Despite the nature of this career though, I have always been a woodworker at heart.

This role meant I was heavily involved in the marketing and sales for a range of industrial products, such as bearings, motors, gearboxes, etc. 'Before making the decision to retire I worked for Rockwell International where I was Vice President of Marketing and International Sales for the Power Systems Division. We begin with Angie telling us about his career, and how the skills he acquired over the years helped when it came to merging his lifelong passion of woodworking with CNC technology…

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