Who is Turners Warehouse.
Chad Schimmel
Chad has been on the lathe for well over 20 years, first learning to turn in junior high school. In the last 10 years he has specialized in pen turning, resin work, and segmenting, leaving his corporate job in 2013 to sell his art full time, and in 2016 opening Turners Warehouse, a turning supply store in Gilbert, AZ.
Chad has been featured in Pen World magazine for his watch part pens, has had several local print and tv spots, sells his pens in a local artist collective, and for multiple years has participated in the largest art festival in the western united states.
Chad loves to teach about pen making and resin casting and loves to talk shop when he has the time, helping both new and experienced turners while continuing to grow his own skills. He has presented internationally for Record Power teaching about segmenting, and has done lots of local demos and classes. Chad also has a Youtube channel with over 30K subscribers where he posts instructional and maker videos and is excited to continue teaching and presenting in the coming year.
Carrie Calderon
Coming from a background as a professional photographer Carrie joined forces with Chad in 2015 to take photos of all his finished work. She has been along for the ride ever since and has helped to build the Turners brand since it started in 2016. Her knowledge of everything turning is top notch and she loves making custom gifts for her friends and family. In her spare time you will find her hanging with her husband and her toddler who is affectionally known around the shop as “Taco”, cause well, everyone loves tacos.
Haylee
Haylee brings her excellent creativity and imagination to us at Turners as the store manager. She always has good ideas to keep thigs fun and inspired! She has a solid basic knowledge of turning and is great at lending a hand wherever needed in the shop. When not at work you can find her hanging with her girlfriend and friends, and working on her art including sewing, collage, jewelry making, cosplaying and custom puppet making.
Curt
Curt comes to Turners with over 40 years of on and off experience in wood and metalwork. He says he is “A jack of all trades and a master of none” but we know he’s more than that! Curt is a total asset in the shop and as a custom blade smith has taught us a thing or two about smithing and knife making. In his spare time you will find him hunting, fishing, hanging with his beautiful wife Janine, and working on knives in his home shop.
Abby
Abby brings her great attention to detail and her quick wit to the Turners Team! When she isn't making us laugh she is pulling your orders with care and sometimes helping back Chad up on machines in the Woodshop. When she isn't at work she enjoys exploring caves and abandoned places (yes caves!!), and hanging with her sister.
Charles
Charles is one of our casters, and does most of the bulk resin casting for our Top Choice pen blanks. He brings a ton of experience as both as caster and turner, and is always happy to talk shop. When he is not casting awesome blanks or turning awesome pens, he likes to travel and enjoy time with his lovely wife!
Amy
As Chads forever roommate (wife) Amy has been supporting his hobbies and the shop since its launch, and has only recently come on board to help with media and promotions as well as general shop work. She has a background in both psychology and education and as a Play Therapist she is very supportive of the therapeutic benefits of play and creativity that can go hand in hand with woodturning and other hobbies. She is a novice turner herself and loves to promote and champion others work and stories.
Dexter AKA D the shopdog
Dexter is our loyal shopdog and a good ambassador.. until he barks at the mailman lol