On Thu, 27 Jul 2006 15:48:29 -0400, (Arch) wrote:

Arch.. I know that I'm not Joe Average, but I could care less what other turners
think about my stuff....
I'm the one guy at the club meetings that doesn't do show & tell... unless it's
a tool or something that might help someone..

After meeting several professional turners, which I guess I am classified as, I
promised myself and my family that I'd never depend on the turning income.. too
damn many constraints..

If it's a hobby that pays some back, it stays fun, IMO... If I have to start
worrying about how much time I have invested in something or if an item will be
popular and/or profitable, a lot of the fun is gone..

I remember something that George said a few years ago when he was talking about
the sweep of the chisel down the bowl side... that he didn't get the cut that he
wanted and had to scrape, which needed to be sanded...
The bottom line, which IS intended as a pun, is that he said that he had $60
worth of time in a $25 bowl, or something like that... and that's just not my
temperament when I'm working on the lathe..

An average pen takes me 5 or 10 minutes to turn and up to an hour sanding and
buffing... should I only spend 1/2 the time sanding to increase my profit
margin?
Maybe use friction polish and skip the buffing?
I guess I could really increase my profit if I send a bowl to chi-wan-ea and had
them send 10,000 copies... *g*

Sure, I do find things to make that might have a market, but only if it's
something that I want to learn or try...
Ceiling fan pulls would be a good example of that... I really don't like spindle
work but know that it's something that I need practice at, so I got a lamp pull
mandrel and had at it... very much like pens..
As I was doing the first crude ones, I realized that this could be a nice little
market in Baja when we move... most homes down there have at least 3 fans, we
just took 5 down to our builder...

If they sell, it's a nice feeling to know that someone likes your stuff enough
to want to own it...
If they don't sell, they're made of scrap and were time well spent... and they
make a gift that nobody else gives.. *g*

Damn.. I think I've achieved a minor musing!!



Many thanks for all your responses. They made me rethink the question:
That we turn primariIy for ourselves is a given, but forget that for now
_please. I should have asked if you turn more for other turner's
approval (not necessarily for their purchase) or for the general
public's acceptance? I know the lathes 'turn for thee', but the better
paraphrase here would have been; 'Ask not for whom the lathes turn,
they turn for other turners'. Well maybe so, but not always.

Lathes also turn for customers, family and friends. They must else there
would not be so many weed pots, candlesticks, oil lamps, little salad
bowls and all the other common items that are so often seen on the
shelves and tables of the public, but are seldom seen on the tables of
our instant galleries. Some do show up on the pic forums, but usually
only if unique or very well done, which raises another question.

I hear all the time that we should _always turn every object the very
best we can. Is turning out simple objects to the standard of public
acceptance and affordability doing the very best we can? I think it can
be. We all turn lots of these bread & butter items for our customers
and friends, but in our pic forums, clubs and instant galleries you
might not think so.

Are some of us beginning to feel a little guilty about serving bread &
butter even as we recognize that serving truffles
& caviar isn't always appropriate or even the best we can put on the
table. "Our
Best" is probably a "Movable Feast".

Of course, I'm not sure of what I'm trying to say. That's the beauty of
musing.


Turn to Safety, Arch
Fortiter


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