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Thread: What Is It About Turning?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Wimberley, Texas
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    2,828

    What Is It About Turning?

    Follow up to Allan's question. What is so compelling about turning that it attracts you, sometimes to the exclusion or reduction of other forms of woodworking and other activities?

    Not sure about self, but I like the almost instant response to inputs, positive and negative, ability to quickly improve a slight mis-cut, to judge and approve or improve the work in "real time", as it were.

    So howcum you dig the "vortex"?
    Richard in Wimberley

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    dayton, ohio
    Posts
    216
    relaxation, it just makes me feel better .
    The only time you mustn't fail is the last time you try. Charles Kettering

  3. #3
    To me, it's a lot like golf. I'm not sure why I like the game, because I two or three putt here and there, top it /slice it / duff it the other. But it's that one great drive or succession of holes where you just kick butt that makes you come back for another round.

    Same with turning. I throw a lot of boo-boos (I say boo-boos because this is a public forum, but 99% of you say exactly what I wanted to type) either in the trash can or the box for my smoker. However, it's that one great "aha" moment or piece as you create or learn something new.

    Then again, I can find 30 minutes here and there to sneak out to the shop and make a mess. It's a lot harder to find a complete morning or afternoon to play golf.

    Turning is more expensive than golf, much to my chagrin.

    You asked-

    Michael
    Lost in the Houston suburbs

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Abilene, TX
    Posts
    223
    Richard, to me it's easy - no measurments! Just mount it, turn it, balance it, presto or something. I don't know, have liked it since I was a kid. But it does have to do with no measurements. Balance, sure. But not precise measurements. So that's probably the best answer I can give you for me anyway. Best wishes! Jude

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Idaho Falls, Idaho
    Posts
    1,356
    All of the above, plus it's nice to come home from a bad day at work, and know when I put a sharp tool to the wood, maybe, just maybe there is something during the day I'll actually have some measure of control over... even if it's only making a big mess on the floor! Like they say, " a bad day at the lathe, is better than a good day at work".
    Brian

    Sawdust Formation Engineer
    in charge of Blade Dulling

  6. #6
    Nearly immediate gratification.

    I only get to play in the shop on Saturday, and it takes me a bit longer to make furniture than Norm seems to crank out. Two cherry nightstands took 18 months, who knows when the matching bed frame will be completed. But between lunch and dinner, I can make a dozen tops, a bowl or three, and maybe a small tool for SWMBO's fiber studio.

    It's also easier to take pieces to the office to show off. Photos of a dining table isn't nearly as impressive as a bowlful of tops, or a banksia weedpot you can pick up and fondle.

    -jon-

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Mooresville, NC
    Posts
    281
    Simple, you can't get what we make at Walmart, then again you can't get what we use at Walmart either LOL

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Johnson City, Tennessee
    Posts
    141
    Maybe it's that feeling of destruction with chips flying and the speed and/or the control over when and where the cut will be made, knowing that in the end that destruction is for the purpose of creation.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    HARVEY, MI. NEXT TO STEVE SCHLUMPF
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    1,735

    relaxation and reward!

    I have always been a woodnut, and seeing the magnificant beauty that the creator hides in the wood is my reward.
    Bob

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Central Ohio
    Posts
    858
    It's a subtractive process. We take away the stuff that doesn't look like a bowl (pen, top, birdhouse, spoon, etc.). We don't need to measure, mess with compound angles, or clamp. We spin and go. We can do all those things, and get cool results, but we don't have to.

    And it is (as Jon says) instant gratification, at least as compared to other woodworking.
    Ridiculum Ergo Sum

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Goodland, Kansas
    Posts
    22,605
    For me it is the fact I can have a horrible day at work, go home to the lathe and within a minute or two I forgotten about what has happened. Also instant gradification of the piece.
    Bernie

    Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.

    To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funnybone.



  12. #12
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Benton City, WA
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    1,465
    Common people be truthful, the real thing about turning is you get to keep spending MONEY! there is always more tools, more attachments, than upgrades, than more pen kits, more material.......more ... Spend spend spend!

    And the mess you get to make and track all over the house, love it!


    Other than that, I love to do it, maybe it is the quick gratification (so far I turn little things). And in my case, no two things I make are even close to being alike, no matter how hard I try!

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Schenectady, NY
    Posts
    1,500

    Lots of things

    Creativity outlet-not that I'm very creative.

    Constructive use of my free time-keeps me out of trouble.

    Working with an incredible medium-wood !

    Lots to learn about-wood, tools, steel, finishing, sharpening, sanding, machines, design, etc.

    Instant gratification-I have a short attention span.

    Great people-in clubs and on the Web.

    Tools-I really like tools !

    I very much enjoy the whole process from chainsaws to finishing. There are so many varied aspects to turning to keep me interested. And so many different things to try. I have not even scratched the surface of things I want to try yet.

    Great thread-thanks.
    Happy and Safe Turning, Don


    Woodturners make the world go ROUND!

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Rio Rancho, NM
    Posts
    2,568
    For me, turning is relaxing, as well as the "instant gratification" aspect. Being able to turn a plain piece of wood into something useful and beautiful is the best thing of all.
    Nancy Laird
    Owner - D&N Specialties, Rio Rancho, New Mexico
    Woodworker, turner, laser engraver; RETIRED!
    Lasers - ULS M-20 (20W) & M-360 (40W), Corel X4 and X3
    SMC is user supported. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/donate.php
    ___________________________
    It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Sarasota, Fl
    Posts
    1,916
    I think for me too it's the instant gratification. But deep down I think the really fun part is just the cutting of the wood with the tools. You're actually doing something all the time with turning; you're always applying a tool to wood and changing its shape. Now I have to go to my turning shrink to see what I really mean by this, deep down inside.
    Alan T. Thank God for every pain free day you live.

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