Roper Woodturning

Roper Woodturning Custom woodturning, products and lessons in the beautiful Rocky Mountains. Please call 970-846-6537

Michael Roper is a third generation carpenter / woodworker who fell in love with wood turning while studying in the Fine Woodworking program at Red Rocks Community College. He has been practicing carpentry since he was a teenager, working with his grandfather and uncle. From exterior framing to installing hard wood floors, to custom interior beam work and timber framing, to building and installing

built-in furniture, he has a diverse range of experiences working in the medium of wood. This diversity has only expanded during his years of studying at Red Rocks, where he has earned his Craftsman Certificate in Spring 2010. Along with learning how to spin wood on the lathe, he has learned how to lay out and cut joinery by hand, how to take a standing tree down to useable material, and the crucial elements of design that interact with the way he approaches wood. Roper lives in the mountains above Denver, where the forests, mountains, and animals inspire him to leave his pieces as natural as possible, to focus on the inner beauty of the wood. He uses local and sustainable wood and all natural finishes whenever possible. Because many people have never seen wood turned before, Roper takes a portable lathe with him to craft shows and farmer’s markets. He finds people are fascinated by the simplicity of the process of transformation that wood goes through. His toys, pens, bowls, and furniture can be viewed at www.coloradocustomworks.com. His pens are also for sale at Express Yourself in Evergreen, and all of his products are available at various farmer’s markets and craft shows around Colorado. He just graduated from Red Rocks Community College with an Associates Degree in Finewoodworking and will be teaching woodturning in the fall of 2011 at Red Rocks and is the chairperson for the Mentoring Program for the Front Range Woodturners. Winner of the 2010 EOG Grant from the Front Range Woodturners, April 2011 Turning Challenge winner from the Front Range Woodturners, 2011 Collegian Excellence Award winner from the American Association of Woodturners,1st Place Art Sculpture at the Denver County Fair 2011. 2012 Pete Holtus EOG winner from the Front Range Woodturners.3rd Place Art Sculpture at the Denver County Fair 2012.

01/12/2025

Merry late Christmas to me. Today i bought my first snowboard in about 10 years. Ya I’ve been ready for a new one for a ...
01/09/2025

Merry late Christmas to me.

Today i bought my first snowboard in about 10 years. Ya I’ve been ready for a new one for a while now.

I found the last Jones Flagship 158 in the state. I didn’t realize this was such a popular board. Can’t wait to get out on it.

Got a nice little figured Maple hollow vessel made before i uad to head out and snowblower the driveway. Hope y’all had ...
01/07/2025

Got a nice little figured Maple hollow vessel made before i uad to head out and snowblower the driveway.

Hope y’all had a great day.

Finished up my first book for the year this morning. I’m a huge sci fi fan and i really enjoyed this book. I think Gene ...
01/04/2025

Finished up my first book for the year this morning. I’m a huge sci fi fan and i really enjoyed this book. I think Gene Roddenberry would love what people have done with the ideas he created.

Thanks for the great present Lena Rogin it was awesome.

Good morning y’all, hope you had a fantastic New Year’s. Well it’s Thursday again and since it’s the beginning of a new ...
01/02/2025

Good morning y’all, hope you had a fantastic New Year’s.

Well it’s Thursday again and since it’s the beginning of a new year i figured the first sale of the year should be something special. So today i have for you some really nice Elm onion Burl slabs. These are all 2” thick and range in size from about 20” across up to 32”.

I’m going to run a deal the next two days on these with prices ranging from $50 up to $90 depending on size.

If you are looking for that special piece of wood for a project this year come on over to Environmental Tree Care LLC and check out what we have.

Gonna work on this a lot more this year. Mid as well start today.
01/02/2025

Gonna work on this a lot more this year.

Mid as well start today.

My goals for 2025. Hope everyone had a great evening.
01/01/2025

My goals for 2025.

Hope everyone had a great evening.

I got a little shop time in over Christmas break and finished up a few pieces. A couple of Silver Maple bowls, an Ash bo...
12/29/2024

I got a little shop time in over Christmas break and finished up a few pieces. A couple of Silver Maple bowls, an Ash bowl and a Norfolk Island Pine hollow vessel.

Now i need to get these over to Morgan Lee and see what cool woodburning she is going to do on them.

Hope y’all had a great break because it’s back to the grind tomorrow morning.

I was at the store over the weekend and this lady leans over to me and says “ sir that toupee looks horrible on you”I st...
12/23/2024

I was at the store over the weekend and this lady leans over to me and says “ sir that toupee looks horrible on you”

I started laughing and said” well the jokes on you because this is my real hair”

Ya she walked away pretty quickly after that.

It’s the time of year to break out some classic John Denver’s Rocky Mountain Christmas. It’s not Christmas until you lis...
12/22/2024

It’s the time of year to break out some classic John Denver’s Rocky Mountain Christmas.

It’s not Christmas until you listen to Daddy,Please.

.

Getting some last minute stuff finished up for Christmas over here at Roper Woodturning. Giving my Easy Wood Tools hollo...
12/18/2024

Getting some last minute stuff finished up for Christmas over here at Roper Woodturning.

Giving my Easy Wood Tools hollower a workout this morning on this small hollow vessels.

This small piece of Norfolk Island Pine was a real pain in the butt because it was mostly straight grain but has a few big knots that kept giving me trouble. I didn’t give up and got it all hollowed out.

Have a great day y’all.

Today’s adventure in the log yard was to mill up this huge Elm onion Burl. This thing is about 40” long and 24”wide. I c...
12/16/2024

Today’s adventure in the log yard was to mill up this huge Elm onion Burl.

This thing is about 40” long and 24”wide.

I cut it into 2” thick pieces that will make some nice small table tops.

What did y’all get into today?

Big olde moon hangin over the rocks at Three Sisters this morning.
12/16/2024

Big olde moon hangin over the rocks at Three Sisters this morning.

I’m always getting into some craziness over here at Environmental Tree Care LLC. Yesterday i cut up a Douglas fir into 1...
12/14/2024

I’m always getting into some craziness over here at Environmental Tree Care LLC. Yesterday i cut up a Douglas fir into 1” thick slabs. These slabs are so thin and wet that you could see light coming through the knot sections.

These will be used to for the interior of the new shed we are building at the yard.

Never a dull day on the mill.

Have a great weekend y’all.

Address

5944 McIntyre Street
Golden, CO
80403

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+19708466537

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Our Story

Michael Roper is a third generation carpenter / woodworker who fell in love with wood turning while studying in the Fine Woodworking program at Red Rocks Community College. He has been practicing carpentry since he was a teenager, working with his grandfather and uncle. From exterior framing to installing hard wood floors, to custom interior beam work and timber framing, to building and installing built-in furniture, he has a diverse range of experiences working in the medium of wood. This diversity has only expanded during his years of studying at Red Rocks, where he has earned his Craftsman Certificate in Spring 2010. Along with learning how to spin wood on the lathe, he has learned how to lay out and cut joinery by hand, how to take a standing tree down to useable material, and the crucial elements of design that interact with the way he approaches wood. Roper lives in the mountains above Denver, where the forests, mountains, and animals inspire him to leave his pieces as natural as possible, to focus on the inner beauty of the wood. He uses local and sustainable wood and all natural finishes whenever possible. Because many people have never seen wood turned before, Roper takes a portable lathe with him to craft shows and farmer’s markets. He finds people are fascinated by the simplicity of the process of transformation that wood goes through. His toys, pens, bowls, and furniture can be viewed at www.roperwoodturning.com. His pens are also for sale at Express Yourself in Evergreen, and all of his products are available at various farmer’s markets and craft shows around Colorado. He just graduated from Red Rocks Community College with an Associates Degree in Finewoodworking and will be teaching woodturning in the fall of 2011 at Red Rocks and is the chairperson for the Mentoring Program for the Front Range Woodturners. Winner of the 2010 EOG Grant from the Front Range Woodturners, April 2011 Turning Challenge winner from the Front Range Woodturners, 2011 Collegian Excellence Award winner from the American Association of Woodturners,1st Place Art Sculpture at the Denver County Fair 2011. 2012 Pete Holtus EOG winner from the Front Range Woodturners.3rd Place Art Sculpture at the Denver County Fair 2012.

Roper Woodturning is dedicated to providing the highest quality product and service as well as in depth education in the field of woodturning.