Milo Scott
Milo Scott Studio, Monument CO
milo@miloscott.com
719 360 9821
Facebook: Milo Scott Studio
My Story
I was born and raised on a farm in eastern South Dakota and later moved to Colorado. After retiring from a background in mechanics, electronics and logistics management; having built several houses over the years, then, cabinets and furniture, “Wood Art” was a natural next step. While there has certainly been trying times in the shop; instruction from other woodturners, books, internet, and “putting a tool to the wood to see what happens” has been an adventure.
I am a member of the American Association of Woodturners and actively involved with the Pikes Peak Woodturners. As a demonstrator with Woodturning, I teach techniques for creating segmented and laminated wood objects.
Weekly, I teach woodworking at the Air Force Academy to patrons of the Crafts Center and participate in Air Force Academy Art Shows. I am also involved with the Tri-Lakes Empty Bowl Dinner, where I have created many wood bowls for the dinner as well as wood items for their silent auction.
I enjoy creating 3D art. There is something about being able to hold a piece, turning it, watching the light reflect off the surfaces that can’t be duplicated by other mediums. Wood is one of my favorite substances to work with. Even after a tree has stopped being a live plant, it continues to show a “life” that can’t be duplicated by manmade materials. It is a fantastic thing to see the worst looking part of a tree, twisted and knotted, worked into a vessel that contains marbleized holographic reflections only by removing layers to expose the beauty that was always just under the surface.
Wood is an item that can be fashioned into nearly any shape, but, sometimes; the wood wins. Many of the pieces I create utilize “leftovers” from other wood industries. Laminations and segmenting methods combine different species of wood which equates to painting in 3D with Mother Nature’s most beautiful works.
A few years ago, I expanded my woodworking capability with a Legacy CNC machine. Since getting the Legacy CNC, the demand from my customers has dramatically increased on items that are far more workable with the aid of the CNC. My primary need is for a “one-off” type of work. There are items I make that would be illogical to make without the aid of a Legacy CNC. In addition to creating the entire end item, I also develop components for other woodworker’s pieces where they lack the machining capability in their shops.
With my mechanical and computer background, I started fine-tuning the mechanical operation of my CNC. Soon, I worked with other users, tuning their machines. This past year I started teaching CNC programming, CNC machine operations, as well as Woodturning for students at Red Rocks Community College in Colorado. The satisfaction of teaching these courses comes at the end of a semester, to get the students to stop thinking they “can’t,” to thinking “what if.”
What started as a statement from my wife upon my retirement of: “you need to find something else to do…”, has turned into something I had no intention of pursuing, or, at least not to this degree. I figured “retirement” meant not having to keep a schedule! Of course, keeping my mind active with constant new projects, designing projects to thousandths of an inch, and teaching others how to do the same, has undoubtedly filled the requirement of “you need to find something else to do…”.
