On Mar 26, 3:17*pm, (Arch) wrote:
Hey Robert old friend, *I know about burn out. Got the scars to prove
it. Give up turning for a while if you must, but don't give up your many
friends on rcw. If you do I just might have to tell you to go take a....
hike! *

I heard Ed McMahon's " HIYO!!!!" along with the "badabump - crash!"
as I read that.

I'm not going anywhere, but not you either, OK? Radio silence from
sunny FL can be troubling....

I am at the same point with woodturning as I am with my flat work. I
would rather teach it than do it.
I like helping people learn.

As for me, I tend to tackle something really hard for as long as I
think I should to achieve a modicum of proficiency. Then I beat the
snot out of it to make sure I am comfortable with it, and I move on.

I don't know what it is... I feel like I have to try something
completely new every once in a while or things just ain't right. Long
term repetition isn't my strong suite.

Bet you aren't tired of barbecuing.

NEVER!! I still get that hankering for good smoked brisket or pork,
and fire up the smoker on a moment's notice. I keep about 2 pounds of
my rub mix on hand (one for pork, one for beef) for the time that urge
hits.

I still barbecue in the dead of winter (which is the 30s here!) or at
the century mark whenever I feel like it. The latter just requires
more cooling fluid for the operator.

One of the other things I am eyeballing is stabilizing wood.
Interesting stuff, and even in these nasty economic times, there is a
market for it. That ties into both wood turning and knife making for
me.

All of the things I do seem to just lead me to other things. I just
kind of follow along sometimes.

I do a lot of cabinet and fine finishing in my business, and in
teaching myself dyeing and staining, I found a lot of techniques I had
never heard of. That led me into experimentation on burled woods,
which in turn is what we turners like.

I have done all my own finishing and refinishing of cabinetry for
years now.
As far as the veneering project goes, I have a friend of mine that
will get me some veneers at a great price if I will teach him how to
dye wood. He saw a front door of extremely curly birch I dyed then
sealed with a conversion lacquer for a customer, and he went nuts. I
was surprised myself at this particular piece. With the veneering on
the door, it looked like a big mahogany colored satin bed sheet. The
folding and swirling in the grain was fantastic. I was a great piece
of wood to dye, no doubt.

But he doesn't have the patience for upscale finishing. It has taken
me years to get completely comfortable with finishing and he is
thinking that after a couple of weekends, he is "there". I am really
hoping to get some nice veneers before he loses interest!

I am not sure when I will get to this stuff though, as is prime season
for hiking around here. And in two weeks, the boys of summer will be
back, and I will be out at the open air stadium enjoying bad beer and
worse hot dogs watching my favorite AA team.

I will always be interested in woodturning, and consequently will
continue to haunt this venue. At this particular chapter of the
woodturning book, I like the people more than the process.

Back here soon!

Robert