At our last club meeting on Monday (Beaver State Woodturners) the
challenge project was a '5 minute' turning. I took in a 3 inch by 8
inch wide green Madrone bowl. It took exactly 5 minutes to turn. 8
years ago it would have taken me an hour to turn the same bowl. I do
make sure to point this out when demoing, or when people ask me how
long it took.
George, I can core a 12 inch wide by 5 inch deep bowl in about 90
seconds.
Like my Kung Fu teacher said when asked "Teacher, am I donig this
right?", "10,000 more times." "But teacher, that is what you said the
last time!". He just smiled and walked away.
robo hippy
On Oct 24, 11:19 am, (Arch) wrote:
Another good post, Charlie.
The original and still uncensored woodturning forum, rcw continues to
allow us to wonder & wander outside accepted dogma. Although not meant
to be presumptuous, our wonderings can be wrong while the establishment
is usually right and immeasurably helpful to all of us. I don't count
them deceptive, although many currently strict authorities had once
wondered and wandered with us here.
Success, defined as becoming a widely known and accepted authority who
can garner higher fees, often stifles change. Not bloody likely to
happen to me, but success sure would restrict my wanting to change the
status quo. If it ain't broke, I wouldn't try to improve it.
You are entertained, but you don't learn how to play football by
watching a game although you might learn how someone else learned how to
play the game. Similarly, joining an audience of thirty seated turners
to watch a demo is probably more entertainment than instruction although
the demoee might learn how the demoer learned how to turn his signature
piece. One on one is instruction and, of course, should be entertaining.
At a demo by a well known turner from across the sea, I innocently asked
if he would show us how to turn a .... It was a simple thing that
wasn't on his agenda. He was incredulous and ignored me with a pained
expression. Demos are, and should be well practised and set up before
hand. No one wants to watch someone spend half his time selecting,
roughing out and laying out a piece of timber. Well, not many of us,
anyway.
I once posted here a suggestion for a 'reality demo' that mercifully was
never followed up: invite a well known turner to demo his/her
speciality in a phone booth using an AMT lathe to turn a vessel from no.
3 pine 2X4s using Harbor Freight's 8for$10 tools while his spouse is
bitching that supper is getting cold. and the children are restless and
hungry. I suspect a visiting expert would do better than Joe
Woodturner, (not you Mr. Fleming), but in more than a few turning lives,
that's not so very far from reality.
Here's to entertaining demos and being impressed and enthused, but in no
way should anyone be intimidated. Everyone of us knows something that
someone else doesn't or can do something that someone else can't.
That's the way I see it, but YMMV.
Turn to Safety, Arch
Fortiter
http://community.webtv.net/almcc/MacsMusings