I am partly a "tinker" woodturner. Down through the years I have turned
many wooden objects that were incorporated into devices. Many of these
devices were thought up to improve or make my woodturning easier or less
expensive. Others were parts of inventions that never made me rich and
famous, but thinking about them and trying to make prototypes did keep
me off the streets. Anyway, some worked, most didn't and none changed
the woodturning world as we know it.


Along the way I did turn some wooden objects that represented a unique
turning as itself, not as an integral part or subassembly or a pattern
for a device. Something with the inherent characteristics of a turned
wood object such as the timber, the beauty or the utility, as
represented by my attempts at art or craft. Most often this was some
kind of vessel, but I have ventured a short distance into free forms
from time to time.


As with my inventions, neither my turned wood art or craft has provided
a living, but together they have sustained a happy re-creative hobby for
a lifetime. That in itself is priceless. The journey has been terrific
not only in my shops, but also in observing the evolution of woodturning
as it came of age and so many of my friends grew with it.


Maybe one or two of my turnings were pretty useful and maybe a couple
were suggestive of fine art, at least in the eye of a few biased
beholders ...and that for me is what turning wood is all about.


What does it mean for you?


Turn to Safety, Arch
Fortiter


http://community.webtv.net/almcc/MacsMusings