On Thu, 06 Sep 2007 18:46:05 -0700, charlieb
wrote:

mac davis wrote:

snip

I realized that the reason that Chuck's work flowed and mine didn't was because
I was trying to get the largest diameter bowl possible from every blank.. and
not "waste" wood..


Coming from "flat work", where 10-15% "waste" is typical, the idea of
sweeping up 80-90% of what I started with seemed crazy - and so
wasteful of precious wood. And like you described, newbies like me
don't want to waste hard to come by stuff - especially in the sizes
required for bowls and hollow forms. But after a while, once stacked
piles of logettes with sealed ends have been sitting around on the
driveway and tucked under the gar - make that shop - eaves for a
year or so and a chainsaw was acquired, things slowly begin to change
- as does the meaning of getting the best out of a chumk of wood.
"Best" goes from biggest diameter to nices form to show off the
wood AND end up with a pleasing shape. The term "wasted wood"
changes dramatically. Making an ugly piece which "wastes" the least
amount of wood is truly a total waste.

It's kind of funny, as I was reading this and thinking about that
"wasted wood," it occurred to me that woodturning is the only thing I
do that I use an entirely different aestetic than anything else for.
Being of Germanic stock, I have a tendancy to build everything heavy
and strong- why use a bit of 14ga sheetmetal when a 1/2" steel plate
will do, right? But my bowls and other lathe projects are usually an
exercise in brinksmanship, where I almost always go for wood so thin
it is translucent. (Not to follow any set of rules, as I'm not even
entirely sure what the "rules" are, having dropped all magazine
subscriptions and steadfastly refused to watch television for a long
time now- I just am enchanted by the idea that wood can be thin enough
to allow light to pass through it, and still be strong enough to be
useful.)

I can sympathize with the "trying to get the largest diameter bowl
possible from every blank," though- I wouldn't be surprised to find
out that every beginning turner goes through that. Especially if your
first lathe is a mini/midi, and you're trying to figure out if you can
do anything that is actually big enough to be useful with the machine
you just dropped $350 on.