Making furniture, even "just shop furniture" is interesting/
challenging/ fun. BUT - there's a lot of delayed gratification.
"You gotta do this, then layout that, tune this joint, shape
that piece, fit that ____ to this _______, dry fit, take apart,
get out clamps, ... Hours can be spent just preparing the
stock before even making any parts. Weeks, months or
even a year can go by from the time the stock is selected
until the finish dries on the piece, and if you use BLO it
can be even longer.

But a spinning chunk of wood, some sharp tools, some luck
and the gods smiling on you - in less than an hour you
can have something that makes you say "Did I just do
that?" Worst case, you're floor is covered with curlies
and debris as evidence that you've actually been doing
some woodworking.

Turning is a nice "between REAL projects", something
to do while the glue/ this coat of finish dries. And what
a furniture maker calls cut offs and scrap often can
be turned into something interesting relatively quickly.

AND - sometimes there's a buzz, that endorphin burst
that happens when everything goes just so. Heres an
example of what I'm talking about.

http://home.comcast.net/~charliebcz/.../Turning9.html

If you've got a lathe tucked back there in the corner,
go play with it once in a while. If you don't have a
lathe, consider the $350 US JET midi-lathe. But
be aware that, in keeping with everything costs
$1,100, a Talon or SuperNova chuck will cost you
$200+, turning tools, which will appear in
quantities rivaling chisels and hand planes, and they
ain't any cheaper. (God I hope Lie Nielsen never
start making turning tools.) and there are more
gizmos and things you'll soon "have to have".

Maybe you ought to just find someone with a lathe
and all the tools and accessories and make friends
with them. Woodworkers are pretty friendly
people (some here being the exception that proves
the rule) and are often quite willing to "let you
try my _____.".

Broaden your horizons - have a go at turning -
while you're waiting for the glue to dry.

charlie b

"charlie b" wrote in message
...
Making furniture, even "just shop furniture" is interesting/
challenging/ fun. BUT - there's a lot of delayed gratification.
"You gotta do this, then layout that, tune this joint, shape
that piece, fit that ____ to this _______, dry fit, take apart,
get out clamps, ... Hours can be spent just preparing the
stock before even making any parts. Weeks, months or
even a year can go by from the time the stock is selected
until the finish dries on the piece, and if you use BLO it
can be even longer.

But a spinning chunk of wood, some sharp tools, some luck
and the gods smiling on you - in less than an hour you
can have something that makes you say "Did I just do
that?" Worst case, you're floor is covered with curlies
and debris as evidence that you've actually been doing
some woodworking.

Turning is a nice "between REAL projects", something
to do while the glue/ this coat of finish dries. And what
a furniture maker calls cut offs and scrap often can
be turned into something interesting relatively quickly.

AND - sometimes there's a buzz, that endorphin burst
that happens when everything goes just so. Heres an
example of what I'm talking about.

http://home.comcast.net/~charliebcz/.../Turning9.html

If you've got a lathe tucked back there in the corner,
go play with it once in a while. If you don't have a
lathe, consider the $350 US JET midi-lathe. But
be aware that, in keeping with everything costs
$1,100, a Talon or SuperNova chuck will cost you
$200+, turning tools, which will appear in
quantities rivaling chisels and hand planes, and they
ain't any cheaper. (God I hope Lie Nielsen never
start making turning tools.) and there are more
gizmos and things you'll soon "have to have".

Maybe you ought to just find someone with a lathe
and all the tools and accessories and make friends
with them. Woodworkers are pretty friendly
people (some here being the exception that proves
the rule) and are often quite willing to "let you
try my _____.".

Broaden your horizons - have a go at turning -
while you're waiting for the glue to dry.

charlie b

Stop it Charlie!

All this smug happiness is upsetting me. I have to spend some marathon hours
in the office for the next month or so. I would give anything to be makin'
sawdust or shavings right now.

You suck.

We know, Charlie! Tom

You think woodworking is delayed gratification? Try being a grad
student, lab researcher, or teacher - all very worthwhile things, but
you never see anything get done! I enjoy woodworking/furniture making,
even big, "slow" projects, partly because it gives me immediate
gratification in seeing something get done, even if it is just a single
board cut out of rough stock or a new edge routed on a workpiece. I'm
sure I'll enjoy the company of a lathe in my shop at some point, but
it's a ways down the priority list right now. That's sure some
nice-looking walnut, though - glad you could put some nice wood to good
use!
Andy

Nice post, thanks for that. Similar experience here; I have a fairly
full shop/tool contingent but for some reason had never done any
turning or even looked at a lathe up close. Things you can't intuit are
intimidating to me somehow, and I never got the whole thing with live
centers, etc, just the terminology. Decided to change that by taking a
single-session pen-making class at the local Woodcraft. In a couple of
hours I had made a beautiful, useful thing that I now use every day.
The last furniture I made, a bookcase, took me nearly six months
(combination of my slowness, cutting parts over, and mostly very
limited time in the shop). Turning small items on a lathe is great
fun, and the midi lathes are reasonable and don't use much space.

charlie b wrote:
Making furniture, even "just shop furniture" is interesting/
challenging/ fun. BUT - there's a lot of delayed gratification.
"You gotta do this, then layout that, tune this joint, shape
that piece, fit that ____ to this _______, dry fit, take apart,
get out clamps, ... Hours can be spent just preparing the
stock before even making any parts. Weeks, months or
even a year can go by from the time the stock is selected
until the finish dries on the piece, and if you use BLO it
can be even longer.

But a spinning chunk of wood, some sharp tools, some luck
and the gods smiling on you - in less than an hour you
can have something that makes you say "Did I just do
that?" Worst case, you're floor is covered with curlies
and debris as evidence that you've actually been doing
some woodworking.

Turning is a nice "between REAL projects", something
to do while the glue/ this coat of finish dries. And what
a furniture maker calls cut offs and scrap often can
be turned into something interesting relatively quickly.

AND - sometimes there's a buzz, that endorphin burst
that happens when everything goes just so. Heres an
example of what I'm talking about.

http://home.comcast.net/~charliebcz/.../Turning9.html

If you've got a lathe tucked back there in the corner,
go play with it once in a while. If you don't have a
lathe, consider the $350 US JET midi-lathe. But
be aware that, in keeping with everything costs
$1,100, a Talon or SuperNova chuck will cost you
$200+, turning tools, which will appear in
quantities rivaling chisels and hand planes, and they
ain't any cheaper. (God I hope Lie Nielsen never
start making turning tools.) and there are more
gizmos and things you'll soon "have to have".

Maybe you ought to just find someone with a lathe
and all the tools and accessories and make friends
with them. Woodworkers are pretty friendly
people (some here being the exception that proves
the rule) and are often quite willing to "let you
try my _____.".

Broaden your horizons - have a go at turning -
while you're waiting for the glue to dry.

charlie b

"charlie b" wrote in message
...
Making furniture, even "just shop furniture" is interesting/
challenging/ fun. BUT - there's a lot of delayed gratification.
"You gotta do this, then layout that, tune this joint, shape
that piece, fit that ____ to this _______, dry fit, take apart,
get out clamps, ... Hours can be spent just preparing the
stock before even making any parts. Weeks, months or
even a year can go by from the time the stock is selected
until the finish dries on the piece, and if you use BLO it
can be even longer.

But a spinning chunk of wood, some sharp tools, some luck
and the gods smiling on you - in less than an hour you
can have something that makes you say "Did I just do
that?" Worst case, you're floor is covered with curlies
and debris as evidence that you've actually been doing
some woodworking.

Turning is a nice "between REAL projects", something
to do while the glue/ this coat of finish dries. And what
a furniture maker calls cut offs and scrap often can
be turned into something interesting relatively quickly.

AND - sometimes there's a buzz, that endorphin burst
that happens when everything goes just so. Heres an
example of what I'm talking about.

http://home.comcast.net/~charliebcz/.../Turning9.html



Yes but all you end up with are mediocre craft show nick-nacks. With
furnature you end up with something you can actually use.

Check out some of the prices those nick-nacks sell for!!

Yes but all you end up with are mediocre craft show nick-nacks. With
furnature you end up with something you can actually use.

charlie b wrote:
Broaden your horizons - have a go at turning -
while you're waiting for the glue to dry.


Great post.

Myself, I am putting off the purchase of a lathe for as long as humanly
possible.

Because I know that, if I _did_ have one, I probably wouldn't leave the
house anymore...

I can't count the times that I have gone out to the shop to get busy
with that piece of furniture that I have delayed getting started. I
think that I will just turn one thing, and then start on the furniture.
Well, one thing leads to another, and then it is dark, and I'm up to my
knees in shavings. Sometimes this goes on for days. I almost never do
large furniture pieces because it ties up the shop, and cuts into my
turning time. I started a woodshop before my dad started his. He said
that he wouldn't get a lathe because he'd never learn to use the rest
of the tools in the shop if he started turning. I know exactly what he
means.

I work wood full time, and my business sales are about half furniture,
and half turnings. The turnings go from $5 to $500. The furniture goes
up to $2000. I sell more turnings, but both help pay the bills. When
asked what kind of wood do you turn, I say"firewood".
robo hippy

Andy wrote:
You think woodworking is delayed gratification?

Think of the folks launching space probes beyond our solar system. G

In article , charlie b
wrote:

If you've got a lathe tucked back there in the corner,
go play with it once in a while. If you don't have a
lathe, consider the $350 US JET midi-lathe. But
be aware that, in keeping with everything costs
$1,100, a Talon or SuperNova chuck will cost you
$200+, turning tools, which will appear in
quantities rivaling chisels and hand planes, and they
ain't any cheaper. (God I hope Lie Nielsen never
start making turning tools.) and there are more
gizmos and things you'll soon "have to have".

Heh. I bought the Delta midi on sale for $300 CDN, but with the tools,
sharpening stuff, calipers and talon chuck with different jaws it's the
minority part of my investment in turning.

I've got a small bowl of box elder burl chucked up right now, but I
hurt my back last Sunday and haven't been able to get back to finish
it.

djb

--
Life. Nature's way of keeping meat fresh. -- Dr. Who