Darrell Feltmate wrote:
Now there is a question I get a lot at wood shows. "How long does it take to
turn a bowl like that?" So what kind of an answer do you give?

To some extent it depends on who is asking. Some people I just want to
go away and leave me alone, so a glib answer like x hours will suffice,
where x = price / modest hourly rate. It may not be accurate, but then
it's a pretty lame question. I wonder how many people walk into a car
dealership and ask the same question? One could of course counter by
asking why they want to know.

However, it is not always easy to judge a persons motive, desire to make
a purchase, or their credit card limit. More importantly you don't know
who they are going to talk to about your work, so a more educational
approach is generally called for, along lines that have already been
dicussed. But I usually start by telling them how long it took to do the
main turning, since most people can see how a block of wood could be
shaped to make the object they are looking at. Then I tell them that
that is but a small part of the story, and ask if they have a few
minutes for me to explain the whole process in more detail. That gives
them an opportunity to bail out if they aren't really interested.
Otherwise I start with where the wood comes from, how it is cut up,
dried (if appropriate), turned (ie outside, inside and bottom of a
bowl), sanded, embellised, finished and made ready to sell. All the time
I try to concentrate on the benefits they gain from me lavishing so much
time and attention on my work, like why it is important to get nice
clean finishing cuts and spending time properly sanding the work.

If they really push and want to know how many hours go into making a
something like a salad bowl, I usually reply with a guesstimate and say
that I honestly don't know, and that is pretty much the truth.


--
Derek Andrews, woodturner

http://www.seafoamwoodturning.com
http://chipshop.blogspot.com - a blog for my customers
http://www.seafoamwoodturning.com/TheToolrest/ - a blog for woodturners