Veteran Scholarship Recipient Seth Stallings

Lt. Seth Stallings, US Navy

We’re glad to introduce Craft Supplies USA Veteran Scholarship Recipient, Lt. Seth Stallings, US Navy.

Seth served as a Naval officer from 2001-2007 completing multiple deployments in various regions, including the North Atlantic, Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Pacific, Persian Gulf, and Iraq.

Seth is an avid woodworker with a special interest in turning. He started woodworking a few years ago, but has never received any formal training.

“Most of my knowledge comes from watching YouTube videos, reading woodworking books, and seeking advice from local woodworkers. Some of my favorite online turners are Glenn Lucas, Kent Weakley, and Richard Raffan. Initially, I focused on turning pens, rings, and other small projects. As my confidence and skills improved, I began turning bowls and taking on more challenging projects. Woodworking and turning are not just hobbies for me; they are therapeutic and have provided a wonderful way for me to connect with my two sons.”

Interview

Seth attended a Woodturning 201 class. While he was here, he sat down with us and spoke about his experience.

Hi, I'm Seth Stallings. I'm from Cary, North Carolina. Growing up, I always wanted to serve in the Navy and attend the United States Naval Academy. In 2001, I graduated from the Naval Academy and served as a surface warfare officer for six years. I had the opportunity to travel all around the world and deployed to Iraq. In June of 2007, I transitioned out of the Navy.

The transition was challenging at first. I've had the opportunity to serve in a couple different industries and I am currently in healthcare, which I really enjoy. My wife is a physician, so I’ve been around healthcare for quite a while now.

I've been in woodworking for a few years now. I started with very small projects, and then I got into wood turning. With the wood turning, I started making small pens and rings and things like that, and I progressed into bowls.

For me, woodturning is very therapeutic. It's a great opportunity to connect with my two boys. Anytime I turn something, they’re the first ones to give me the thumbs up, tell me if it looks awesome, or if I need to go back and try again.

Woodturning really keeps my mind active. I have a shop kind of set up in my garage, so I can just go down there for a little while. As I mentioned before, it's a great opportunity to connect with my boys. One thing that we do together is I’ve gotten in the habit of just leaving my chainsaw in my truck, so we’re always on the lookout for nice logs or pieces of wood. My oldest son plays travel soccer, so I kind of keep an eye out on Facebook and see what's available wherever he's playing. If I can snag some nice pieces of wood, we’ll do it.

This veteran scholarship program has been absolutely amazing. Prior to coming here, I was all self-taught—watching a lot of YouTube videos, reading, and picking the brains of other wood turners in the area. Having the opportunity to come here and learn from the best has been an amazing experience. I still have a lot to learn, but I definitely have much better techniques coming out of the program this week.

I think it just gives you the opportunity to really focus on something, whether it's wood turning or another area of interest you might have. I strongly encourage veterans to look for something that they feel passionate about. It's never too late. I started only a couple years ago. You don't have to be very skilled to start out. Just give it a shot, see what you think, and then you can always progress with more challenging projects as you gain more skill and additional equipment.

For me, wood turning has been absolutely amazing. It's been very therapeutic, and I'm able to just really focus and kind of turn out all the other noise when I'm doing it. It gives me something to look forward to. In my mind, I'm always thinking, "What else can I create?" Or, "That would look really cool if I use this particular type of wood species." So, it's been very, very helpful for me.

First off, I just want to thank Craft Supplies USA for this opportunity. It's been very engaging. The instructors have been incredibly helpful. It's obvious they have a ton of skills. Personally, I found this program incredibly rewarding. I've met a lot of great wood turners. It's never too late to try something new. I didn't have a ton of experience, but I’ve gained a lot of knowledge this week, and it’s something I look forward to taking back and improving on further.

Over the last couple years I've been woodturning, my family has been incredibly supportive. My wife is absolutely amazing because she's pretty much given over our garage to all my woodworking tools and bowl blanks—I’ve got them scattered around! And my kids have been really energetic about helping me find logs out in town that I can use for bowl blanks. I'm just really grateful to have such a great support network at home.

Personally, having no formal training, this has been a really worthwhile experience. I would definitely encourage other veterans to apply for this program.