Arch

I read your post with interest. I think you touched on the key factors in
pricing our work but as the group COCIR (crusty old coot in resident) I was
expecting a little bit more.

When we set a selling price we consider the value to the customer. The
customer sets the final price and value, but there is still a value to the
turner. This is a non-monetary value. The questions that set the value are
is this your first piece, is it your best piece to date, did it come out
better than expected. Are you turning this piece to be sold or is it for
someone special.

Each piece of wood we turn is special. That is why we are turners. We grow
from each piece of wood we turn as each bowl grows from our efforts. I just
finished turning 2 candle sticks from wood used as decorations at a wedding.
I do not know the value the young couple will set on the candle sticks but
becouse of the honor of being asked to turn something the non-monetary value
to me as the turner is far greater than any price set on the candle sticks.

Henry

"Arch" wrote in message
...
Recent threads here and on other forums about deciding the worth of our
turnings seem to raise more questions than answers. For me, interesting
enough to send me to my armchair to doze and wonder. If you permit, here
is some personal thoughts, no doubt plagiarized and long forgotten.

The worth of a turning can have two meanings; price and value. Price can
be determined by formula. It's variables a time, equipment, shop,
materials, learning, experience and all the costs of selling. A fair and
reasonable price can be established for a worthy _product made by a good
_workman.

Value is determined by what the buyer gets out and will pay for, not by
what the turner puts in. A turning's quality has nothing to do with how
expensive or novel it is or how hard it is to make.

I'm getting dangerously close to that worn out and forbidden subject of
'Art vs Craft'. Further, these musings may have been better put in Fine
Arts 101 or your local newspaper's arts column. Sorry if I've crossed
the line. Nothing is more tiresome than someone who believes he has had
an original thought and feels compelled to bray about it. Anyway, I'd
enjoy reading yours, whether you agree or not. Arch

Fortiter,