On Fri, 06 Oct 2006 20:58:59 -0700, charlie b wrote:

for a piece just for you?

charlie b

Sometimes I chuck it up because I think there's some nice grain beneath
the bark and no other reason. Those times I really DO let the wood decide
what it wants to be ... cutting until I think there is no more pretty to
expose and it's all ugly after this.

Most days I turn the lathe on ... but not so often that I have lost my
sense of wonder as the patterns in the wood begin to reveal themsleves.
I'm not sure I could ever be a production turner. I stop to smell the
shavings too often.

Other times I chuck up because I've seen something in a magazine and want
to try out the techniques mentioned ... plus maybe a variation or two I
have in the back of my mind. Fer instance (without giving too much away
before I've had a chance to try it myself) there's a technique in the
American Woodturner for Fall 2006 that I'd like to marry to a technique in
the Summer issue of the same magazine ... and I'm thinking that the
judicious addition of a -tiny- sliver of metal would make for a very
compelling combination and a justifiably outrageous price.

Stay away from the AW magazines ... down that path lies insanity ... and
insomnia!

Still other times I chuck up and try to guess what will actually make the
current customer happy. Now THAT is the real challenge!

Bill