There's a small, complete satisfaction in handing someone a pen you turned from a raw blank, and the projects are short enough to finish in an evening.

The lathe is patient until it isn't: a catch can tear out a chunk or send acrylic shrapnel flying, and the sanding-and-finishing grind is far longer than the fun shaping part.

Your first few will be lumpy and out-of-round before your hands learn the tool's rhythm.