I don't know about you, but if it weren't for Christmas, birthdays,
weddings and the like - every surface in my place suitable for
displaying, or for that matter, just keeping things off the floor,
would be occupied by turnings I've done over the last year. There'd
be magic wands and hair stick, candle holders, tops, and an astounding
number of Weed Pots, a plate or two, more than a few bowls, finials
waiting for just the right piece to top, odd eccentric turnings, several
scaled back and somewhat successful trembleurs, small, totally non
functional whimsical things, spoons and spatulas for every application
- and Turned Lidded Boxes - lots and lots and lots of Turned Lidded
Boxes - EVERYWHERE.

With only one exception, all of these turning were begun with no idea,
or only a vague idea of where I was going, a previous piece inspiring
the next piece, a largish (for a mini-lathe) chunk of wood mounted
between centers which might have something inside that's interesting,
a branch or piece of a log that looks turnable. If what I turned was
in anyway interesting, in any way - I kept it. Initially, everything I
turned - that didn't crack, or wasn't turned down to nothing - was
interesting.

After a while, as I got fair to good at each style or form of turning
I began the "show and tell" part of being a Turniste - showing the
latest creation to anyone within range. If they liked it, or made
me think they liked it, it was theirs to keep. The girls at Quiznos
and several women in the neighborhood got hair sticks, as did the
two daughters of a Mexican restaraunt I go to for quesedillas.
The nice lady at the Mexican restaraunt I frequent for lunch now
has a small bud vase (larger weed pot with a test tube insert)
and her son and daughter each have their own magic wands.
My chiropractor got a turned lidded box from a deodor cedar log
that'd been out behind her building, along with a small bowl of the
same stuff. The women at my Dontist's office have - a magic
wand for a grand daughter, hair sticks and/or a nice weed pot
for the others.

However, with each type of turning, there were three, four and
sometimes five pieces that were special - the first of a new to
me technique, a particularly nice combination of curves, an
interesting figure to the wood. These were sign posts on my
turning journey - or more accurately - post cards of the trip,
reminders of where I'd been (despite having megs and megs
of digital photos of them as well).

But there are special occassions that trigger The Generosity
Gene - special occassions - Christmas, birthdays, weddings,
-Thursday. Then a better, or best of a type of piece, leaves
home, to go and live with the person, or people, for whom it
was unconsciously meant.

And it's a damned good thing that happens - or I'd be up to
may ass in turned wood. THAT would be inconvenient -and
one hell of a fire hazard. Am getting to the point where
I turn better knowing that this piece may become a memory
of the guy who helped, literally, to turn it into what it is
now.

How good did you have to get before you started showing
people your turnings?

So what gets you to part with pieces?

If the answer to the last question is "Nothing! ,
then
how do you keep from tripping over them or being
crushed in the avalanche when a pile falls on you?

charlie b

Charlie,

I took my very first bowl to a club meeting for an instant gallery. I
just wanted to get feedback immediately in order to improve. In
between meetings, I went to club member's homes to get the feedback
right away. I soaked up all their wisdom.

I gave stuff away pretty much from the beginning. Some of my first
items were simple spindle-turned ornaments. My mom still has a dozen
or more of these and she puts them out every year.

Our club does an annual show at a local gallery. I had nothing to
offer this year because everything was gifted.

Joe Fleming - San Diego


charlie b wrote:
I don't know about you, but if it weren't for Christmas, birthdays,
weddings and the like - every surface in my place suitable for
displaying, or for that matter, just keeping things off the floor,
would be occupied by turnings I've done over the last year. There'd
be magic wands and hair stick, candle holders, tops, and an astounding
number of Weed Pots, a plate or two, more than a few bowls, finials
waiting for just the right piece to top, odd eccentric turnings, several
scaled back and somewhat successful trembleurs, small, totally non
functional whimsical things, spoons and spatulas for every application
- and Turned Lidded Boxes - lots and lots and lots of Turned Lidded
Boxes - EVERYWHERE.

With only one exception, all of these turning were begun with no idea,
or only a vague idea of where I was going, a previous piece inspiring
the next piece, a largish (for a mini-lathe) chunk of wood mounted
between centers which might have something inside that's interesting,
a branch or piece of a log that looks turnable. If what I turned was
in anyway interesting, in any way - I kept it. Initially, everything I
turned - that didn't crack, or wasn't turned down to nothing - was
interesting.

After a while, as I got fair to good at each style or form of turning
I began the "show and tell" part of being a Turniste - showing the
latest creation to anyone within range. If they liked it, or made
me think they liked it, it was theirs to keep. The girls at Quiznos
and several women in the neighborhood got hair sticks, as did the
two daughters of a Mexican restaraunt I go to for quesedillas.
The nice lady at the Mexican restaraunt I frequent for lunch now
has a small bud vase (larger weed pot with a test tube insert)
and her son and daughter each have their own magic wands.
My chiropractor got a turned lidded box from a deodor cedar log
that'd been out behind her building, along with a small bowl of the
same stuff. The women at my Dontist's office have - a magic
wand for a grand daughter, hair sticks and/or a nice weed pot
for the others.

However, with each type of turning, there were three, four and
sometimes five pieces that were special - the first of a new to
me technique, a particularly nice combination of curves, an
interesting figure to the wood. These were sign posts on my
turning journey - or more accurately - post cards of the trip,
reminders of where I'd been (despite having megs and megs
of digital photos of them as well).

But there are special occassions that trigger The Generosity
Gene - special occassions - Christmas, birthdays, weddings,
-Thursday. Then a better, or best of a type of piece, leaves
home, to go and live with the person, or people, for whom it
was unconsciously meant.

And it's a damned good thing that happens - or I'd be up to
may ass in turned wood. THAT would be inconvenient -and
one hell of a fire hazard. Am getting to the point where
I turn better knowing that this piece may become a memory
of the guy who helped, literally, to turn it into what it is
now.

How good did you have to get before you started showing
people your turnings?

So what gets you to part with pieces?

If the answer to the last question is "Nothing! ,
then
how do you keep from tripping over them or being
crushed in the avalanche when a pile falls on you?

charlie b

charlie b wrote:

How good did you have to get before you started showing
people your turnings?

Not very. In fact, two years on down the road, I still have pieces like
that from time to time. But they are 'junk' that are better than I had
hoped to turn originally.


So what gets you to part with pieces?

Family and a couple of close friends can have anything not committed
already that brings a smile to their faces or a twinkle to their eyes.
I'll work for hugs or for a chance to give my Dad bragging rights.

But I also sell as much as I can for as much money as I can coax out of
someone. The more money they pay, the more likely I think they are to
treasure it. The lady who alters my suits could have bartered for a
couple of candle holders but instead she charged me $5.00 to replace a
clasp that I'm pretty sure she removed. She was pushing for a discount,
so I knocked $4 off each of them to arrive at the final price. Thus,
just in time for the gorge-yourself-for-free season, she got a $40 set
of stamped brass and tulip wood candle holders.

Although it's still pretty rough (and sparsely populated), I have a
website at http://nmwoodworks.com/ for those who still have money left
this late in the year. Next up: National Guilty Conscience Day (Feb. 14
in the U.S.). At this point in time, I can solemnly promise that
anything ordered from me will absolutely NOT arrive in time for
Christmas. So, if you want to mess with Uncle Freds' head, I'm the guy
to buy from. ;-)

What's posted thus far is stuff for which a 'going rate' is pretty much
standardized. The 'nice stuff' isn't posted yet. Bowls, cups, canes and
so on.

Bill

--
In order that people may be happy in their work, these three things are
needed: They must be fit for it. They must not do too much of it. And
they must have a sense of success in it.
John Ruskin (1819 - 1900), Pre-Raphaelitism, 1850


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Wow... it depends on what I am doing and what mood I am in to see if I
will part with anything or not. I was on a jag there for a while that
since I didn't need the lathe I bought I would turn and sell things.
So like Joe, I started turning ornaments and gift goodies. Thankfully,
SO kept some of them as she thought they were wonderful since they were
handmade. Looking at them, I honestly don't remember turning them so
that is how I got in the habit of dating what I turn.

Then I moved on to gift stuff. Clocks, more ornaments, etc., for
family and friends. Then I noticed while turning one day that I really
enjoyed making pens. So, wanting more gouges and chisels, I decided
that I would make pens, lots of pens, and what I sold I would use to
upgrade and add to my turning tools. It worked great. I sold a lot of
pens and paid for tools, new VicMarc chuck, etc.

Layed off making anything to sell as I got tired of it. Went back to
turning ornaments and small bowls for family and friends (giftware).
Decided I really like turning spoons and spatulas on the lathe, and
turned a bunch of those with the intent to sell them. However, they
were confiscated by the management, and all of them sit on the bar
where everyone can see them. Made quite a few, gave a couple away, and
the rest are in use.

Bought some confetti lamp kits at Craft Supplies. Love to make those
lamps and as gifts they got raves. The kit comes with the lamp, a
wick, a funnel and small bottle of lamp oil, so it is a complete gift
when you add your 0.02 to the deal. Easy and fun, you can make 2 - 3
a day with no sweat. So I made a lot of them and offered them for
sale. Made almost a grand last year selling them, and used the
proceeds to buy some more tools and second Vic chuck with long nosed
jaws.

I have a lot of lamp pulls left over from another spate or interest I
went through and I am giving the last of those away as stocking
stuffers this year.

As for the projects that don't make the grade, they either work out as
part of another project, a practice piece for testing grinds, firewood,
or depending on the type of wood, used in the BBQ pit.

Not too much laying around. My problem is all my "treasure wood"
(read: found) that I have waiting to be turned. I have a lot of it,
and it is getting to be a problem because I don't want to part with any
of it. If I never accepted or found another piece for the next 5 years
I would have plenty of wood for me.

Robert

Bill:

While building your website, it's best not to link to a page you
haven't built yet. Takes longer to find links that actually
go somewhere - and frustrates visitors less. You can put in
the text so visitors get an idea of where you're going with the
site and see that it's not linked yet - without having to click
on it to find out.

charlie b

charlie b wrote:
Bill:

While building your website, it's best not to link to a page you
haven't built yet. Takes longer to find links that actually
go somewhere - and frustrates visitors less. You can put in
the text so visitors get an idea of where you're going with the
site and see that it's not linked yet - without having to click
on it to find out.

charlie b

Hmmmm....

Worked for me fine, Charlie. Check settings?

Robert

charlie b wrote:
Bill:

While building your website, it's best not to link to a page you
haven't built yet. Takes longer to find links that actually
go somewhere - and frustrates visitors less. You can put in
the text so visitors get an idea of where you're going with the
site and see that it's not linked yet - without having to click
on it to find out.

charlie b


I think Mr. Kaiser sums the situation up exactly. ;-{

When your work speaks for itself, don't interrupt.
Henry J. Kaiser (1882 - 1967)

I know better than to do what I did ... but so far the site has had
about 6 hits that weren't me ... including two from my wife ... so not
many eyes have seen my boo-boo. In the meantime, the search bots have
something to look at & catalog.

Nailshooter ... Charlie is correct. Some of the original links were doa.
You may have seen it after him. Development is pretty much a daily
matter ... although calling me a web developer is like calling Adolf
Hitler an artist. But, like him, I do my best and eventually the barn
gets painted. Links that were dead for him may have been deleted or
fixed by the time you saw it.

Today I made the tables match, added a price list and finished some jobs
in the shop. Tomorrow I will post some pix to the medium sized pens
section (it has none) and also some keyfobs, perfume atomizers and
candlesticks. Then, too, there is the matter of getting a couple dozen
bowls posted. And some fresh work making wand kaleidoscopes, more
perfume atomizers, more pens and so on. ALso want to get the laminating
started for some more canes so I will have some to show on the web
site. And also some more cutting boards.

This is fun ... right?

One of my Bible students died Wednesday at 11 a.m. so I will have a
busier than normal schedule for the next few days. His wife is studying
with my wife so we can't just 'pop-in' for the funeral.

Ah well, we (all concerned, including him) knew this was coming. He was
in the hospital a couple weeks ago and reminded me of the pix of
prisoners at Auschwitz near the end of the war. He just had no reserves.
He could not quit smoking, so he died a fairly slow death from
emphysema. Less than a month ago, he lit a cigarette with the oxygen
mask too near his face and managed to burn himself pretty good. That
might have been the straw that broke the camels back.


Bill


Note to self: look up phrasing for robots.txt to steer honest bots away
from graphics directories.


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