Reminiscing..........

[Roger Chandler]

I went out to the shop earlier, after getting home from the office and taking care of some much needed administrative work.........decided to take my dust collector hose and vacuum up the chips & curlees from this weeks turning efforts........got to looking around my shop and thought............

"I remember the good old days!"

.........you know..........the good old days when we did flatwork........you know, before I got two lathes, and all the requisite tools, grinders, chucks, glues, finishes, abrasives, etc, etc........and the need to store all those......which is impossible in my tiny shop to avoid taking up every square inch of horizontal space and I can't even use any tool like my table saw or some others without moving 2 dozen other things off it!

Back then, the only woodpile I had was for firewood! And some lumber on a rack from which I made bookcases, cabinets, tables.....you know the stuff........

Now I have little blocks of wood everywhere, wood blanks, some round, some in log form, some inside my tiny shop and a big pile outside my shop and another underneath my deck! I have a sawdust pile out back......my neighbors have almost resorted to calling me names......like "termite," or "Paul Bunyan".......you know.......because I got these chainsaws and wood haulers with winches and such and before, in the good old days, I did not need any of that junk!

Yep........when I look back.........life was simpler in those "good old days!" But I think, if I had not gotten sucked into this VORTEX, then I would not have known so many of the folks here on the "Creek" and found one of the things I really like to do!

I would have more $$$$$, but hey.......that's progress!

[David DeCristoforo]

I could not resist responding to this. After over forty years of doing "flatwork" of every description, I made an abrupt shift in my life which resulted in my not doing this work any longer. This was not because I wanted to "retire" but because the market was no longer attractive to me and we had another business that needed some serious attention. But I found that I still needed a "creative outlet" and lathe work has provided that. I had to laugh when I read your post because everything I need to do this work including two lathes, a sharpening bench, a rolling cart loaded with lathe tools, a cabinet to hold all of the "accessory" items like chucks and drill bits and odds and ends of tooling and a dremel and a wood burning unit, etc can all be fit into a ten foot by eighteen foot "tent".


That tent also holds a band saw, a "chop" saw on a small cart, a full sized euro style workbench, an air compressor and is also stuffed full of bits and pieces of wood. OK, I also have a small shed with a shelf unit full of wood and a few things kicking around in the yard. But when I was doing "flatwork, I had all of that plus two table saws, a panel saw, a large jointer an 18" planer, a wide drum sander, an edge sander, two drill presses, a million clamps, three shapers, a radial arm saw, two miter saws, a lumber rack, a pallet rack for sheet stock, a fork lift, a duct collection system that looked like a cross between an octopus and the engine room of a battle ship, a spray booth and this is just most of the big stuff. I'm not even mentioning all of the sanders and drills and nail guns and other stuff that was needed. It took several thousand square feet of shop to hold all of it and still provide space for building and staging projects. Oh and did I mention the delivery truck and the giant air compressor and… well… you get the point?


So that's why I laughed when I read your post. For me, this turning thing represents a major downsizing in several ways. Do you think I miss all of the heavy lifting that went along with that work over the years? NOT!!! Turning is a "piece of cake" compared to that!

[Roger Chandler]

Hey David.......I have a lot of what you described in my tiny shop......radial arm, 2 router tables, 2 bandsaws, a wide drum sander, Miter saw, compressor, dust collector, table saw, 2 lathes, jointer........etc, etc.........but I don't have a fork lift or a truck.........but don't tempt me!

I guess my first love in woodworking is flatwork......turning seems to occupy most of my shop time any more.........I just miss having the organization I used to have, and storage space that all the woodturning paraphernalia now occupies.

I don't know what it is......but I have a hankerin' to build a highboy!

[David C. Roseman]

Roger and David, your two posts are a hoot, juxtaposed with one another. My own woodworking has been all flatwork for many years until a year or so ago, though always as a hobbyist. So my reminiscences of flatwork are closer to Roger's. I've always been able to work as the muse moved me, at whatever pace I wished, never having to be so creative, productive and efficient enough to support a family! So I totally get what David describes in his post. The saying is, "Do what you love, and you'll never work another day in your life." But I bet none of us really believes that! Loving what we do hardly means we'll never want to make a change, or that we'll always love doing it, even for famously creative and successful woodworkers like David (and his wonderful, iconic dad before him)! As for the "more stuff" vs. "downsizing" experience, I've managed to do both at once. Since recently taking up turning, I've discovered a whole new world of tools to acquire, yet now typically use much less space in my shop when I'm there. And at the same time, I still enjoy switching on the shapers, saws, planer, joiner, etc. from time to time even if I'm not really putting them to work. I find it improves the quality of life just having them there.

David

[Roger Chandler]

......I still enjoy switching on the shapers, saws, planer, joiner, etc. from time to time even if I'm not really putting them to work. I find it improves the quality of life just having them there.

David

Yep, David........I agree........I like being able to use my flatwork tools from time to time myself......in fact, I miss using them at times. When I have time to get into some segmented turning, those tools like the table saw, miter saw, drum sander, etc will come in pretty handy.....it will be a marriage of the two kinds of work.....lathe work and flat work.....I think I will like that time, when I can get to it!

[Rich Aldrich]

I found the most frustrating thing is to go back and do a flat work job like I just finished. I am thoroughly bored with flat work. The lathe is so much more fun because the projects are completed faster. You can be more creative more often since the work goes faster.

[Roger Chandler]

I found the most frustrating thing is to go back and do a flat work job like I just finished. I am thoroughly bored with flat work. The lathe is so much more fun as th projects go faster. You can be more creative and more frequently since the work goes faster.

Rich........I guess part of my makeup is that I have an affinity for building things.........the process and tools are part of what brings me enjoyment.

[Paul Singer]

I can really relate to this also. I still split my time between flatwork and turning but I enjoy both. As children are known for saying simple truths, my grandchildren call our house Grandma's house and our detached garage PaPa's house. We have talked of moving many times but I can not bear the thought of giving up my garage.

[Roger Chandler]

I can really relate to this also. I still split my time between flatwork and turning but I enjoy both. As children are known for saying simple truths, my grandchildren call our house Grandma's house and our detached garage PaPa's house. We have talked of moving many times but I can not bear the thought of giving up my garage.

Paul......do all your turning related items get in the way of you having room to do flatwork? Do you find it takes up assembly space and what do you do about wood storage..........all the little blocks and things to big to burn or throw away?

[Paul Singer]

Roger,

I really have an abundance of space. My garage is a large three car garage 26 x 36 foot in size with an attached enclosed patio on the back which is used as a finishing room at times to keep the dust off of wet projects. Even at that if I don't stay on top of picking up after myself it can get cluttered. I also have a full attic where alot of the flat wood is stored. This is a big reason we never have moved. Hard to replace this space in a home we can afford.

[Carl Civitella]

I have done flat work since i was a boy, about a few years ago i took up turning. Turning has taught me much, i would have never tried working with all those species of woods had it not been for turning. When i do flat work i am a jump ahead of someone else b/c i can do some basic turning and try to incorporate it into flat work. I intend to keep on turning and keep on doing flat work . Carl

[Roger Chandler]

I I intend to keep on turning and keep on doing flat work . Carl

That make two of us Carl!