Ben, depending on a thin or thick starter I'd get it working in a day sometimes too. I followed the directions religiously but still had no luck. I ended up throwing the dough away because it wouldn't rise. All together I probably went through four sacks of flour. The one I tried first was from the same one Jean linked to and tried that several times, then went to the one I linked to, Sourdough Home and then a couple of other all natural starter recipes and procedures. No luck with them either, in lack of raising. I'd get the good smell and lots of action, made spnge where it called for and still no luck.
Shoot, I even had a couple of the starters working and being fed for 2 weeks and never got them to rise.
I'll post the results of the cheating batch I'll try next week.