As I get more into turning I see works that baffle me.
Not because of their complexity, or the perceived
difficulty in turning such things, but because of the
apparent waste of time and a misuse of the medium
and the method - turning.

I'm probably going to step in it big time but -

Why go to all the trouble of precisely cutting
a bunch of pieces of several different kinds of
wood, glue them together and then turn them
to look like a ceramic piece whose patterns
are created with glazes when glazed ceramic
does it so much better? The thing that makes
turned wood different is the grain and color
of the wood and the finish(es) it will take.
But most segmented turnings I've seen don't
add these characteristics of wood to the piece
because the individual pieces are so small.

I can see doing laminates and segmented stuff
for the handle of a pool cue, but a pot or vase?

Why take a piece of wood and turn it into
a cowboy hat? The medium doesn't lend
itself to this application. The wood doesn't
add anything to the form. So why turn
a cowboy hat?

I wonder about the beautiful turned form,
with the spikes and knobs somehow added.
Why, when other mediums lend themselves
to this type of thing so much better -
and easier?

These things seem to me to be misuses
of the medium. With all the things one
can created with wood, a lathe, some
tools, hard earned skills and techniques,
why put them to these uses?

I can understand turning forms that could
be created in other ways, but are done
quicker and easier on a lathe, out of wood.
And the wood can add to the form to make
a more interesting/pleasing object.

I can understand turning a hollow form
so thin that it becomes translucent. That
can really show off the wonderousness of
some woods. The longevity of the piece
I question - but this type of thing is
pretty and fun to look at and examine.

I guess it's a Sir Edmund Hilary thing,
a version of "Because it's there" - in
this case "Because I can."

When I was a teacher, I made it a point
to repeatedly say "There's no such thing
as a dumb question. If you want to
know/understand something, have tried
to find the answer and haven't found the
answer - you won't be asking a dumb
question.".

In that spirit I ask "Why segmented
bowls? Why turned wooden cowboy
hats? "

charlie b
an admirer of woods
and the people who
use it well