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[email protected] nailshooter41@aol.com is offline
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Default Turned Piece The End Point OR A Step To The End Point?

On Jan 21, 12:09*pm, mac davis wrote:

When I am bored with turning, I go to one of my other hobbies. I cook
a lot... I mean a lot. Everything from fancy foods to good Texas
barbecue. I do a lot of flat (wood) work and finishing/refinishing in
my business. All of those things take a lot of practice and work.
The buzz does indeed go away for me when I start hearing "The Wood On
The Lathe Goes Round and Round" to the tune of "The Wheels on The
Bus".

My next endeavor may be chip carving, as I have a truly gifted artist
that I know that needs some help with some casework assembly and
finish. He does a lot of custom carving for churches, assembly halls,
etc. and his work is fantastic. I will try to trade out some of my
time for lessons as he gets a pretty penny for his instruction time
(if he has any). Guaranteed that the lathe will sit idle if he will
teach me his methods. After all, I only have so much free time... and
gotta stretch those skills.

I turn all manner of things, and love to try new things. But in the
end, all projects that come off the lathe are at least partly round if
not coencentric. I have a low threshold of boredom, and I usually
turn like a maniac for a few months a year, then I do other things. I
"rediscover" woodturning, and off I go again.


What sort of bothers me is that I'm starting to do a few pieces that look a
little like the stuff in turning magazines that I shunned in the past as more
carving than turning...
It's kind of like the first time that you yell at your kids and think "Oh ****,
I'm becoming my dad"....


I lose interest in turning from time to time as there has become an
accepted "norm" for appearance. Anyone that frequents WoodCentral can
attest to that. "Make that foot smaller" or "curve that bottom more"
or "that would have looked better buffed" are all frequent comments.
Along with the commentary of "you should pick up soandso's book as he
explains how to do just that" and "look what I did, it isn't as good
as Cindy, but I am still trying".

They WANT all of their different pieces to conform to the norm of that
group. They turn out some really nice pieces and some excellent
work. But it all kind of looks the same to me with just a few
exceptions.

Seems like everyone wants to turn thin. Everyone wants to have a
finish so colored and polished that the piece looks like it belongs in
a car show, not a wood turning venue. Most turn Ming dynasty shaped
vases, shaker style bowls, (natural edge seems to have fallen out of
favor), Egyptian or Navajo shapes. Most oil and buff, all using the
exact same oil, the exact same method, and they are proud to write
that they conformed to the letter.

Worse, so many strive to make a piece that looks exactly like the
work of others so that they can get approval for their work.
Personally, I like interesting shapes and don't care about them
looking like anyone else's work. Same with finishing. I have to
build to plans enough that I don't want to unless I have to.

I have done some limited teaching in the past. As feared, you don't
want to become your Father! I tell my pupils to look at pottery or
basket weaving books for the shapes they like, and try to remember the
general shape and proportion. Then fire up the lathe and get after
turning something THEY like. No need to conform to any style at all
if it something that they like.

But then... I know I am in the minority.

Robert