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Hobbyists - what do you do with your turnings?

Joined
Feb 25, 2018
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I appreciate everyone's input on my prior posts regarding lathes and dust collectors as I consider jumping into woodturning as a hobby.

Given that it will be a hobby for me - I am trying to figure out what I will do with all of the things I create. I know it will take me a long time to make something that someone would find desirable (so much to learn) and I will enjoy learning/practicing/getting better.

Once I am able to make some decent looking things - what will I do with them?? I have no plans/desire to try selling the items (assuming that I ever get good enough to be worthy of this!). Honestly - this is keeping me from pulling the trigger on a lathe purchase. Do I just turn for the pure enjoyment and throw the results back into the woods behind my house? Really scratching my head on this.

So, hobbyists - what do you do with all of your turnings???

Thanks in advance for the thought starters.
 
Joined
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Well....depends what you like to turn.....I liked hf.....gave them for Xmas gifts for family....after couple years they would not roll their eyes......anyway my sister sees and likes any kind of bowl so early stuff is disappearing.....got into Xmas ornaments and everyone likes those.....I still like the hf calabash zia series.....but it's more like a wobbling jar.....all cats like them
 

Bill Boehme

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I think that you are worrying too much. After the initial hump of figuring out how the tools are used, it's not really very difficult. There are lots of people who would like craft show type turnings. Very few turners make gallery quality pieces. I donate turnings to the Empty Bowls Project and Beads of Courage as well as gifts to friends and relatives.
 
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Youngsville, LA
Been doing flat woodworking for over 30 years and am just getting into woodturning. Been making a lot of kids toys with flat work and plan to start implementing woodturning into the toys. This is after I learn how to do this woodturning stuff. I'm kindna like you in the very early stages of woodturning except I have my lathe already (got it about a week ago). One kids toy plan on making is balancing man on top a pole which should be an easy woodturning starter project.
 
Joined
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I turn as a hobby, been at it for a year and a half. I only turn on Saturdays because of my day job but I enjoy it so much that I just purchased a bigger lathe and converting one of my garage bays into a shop. Don’t worry about your turnings, it will take a while to get better at it, and as you do, a newer piece will take the place of older one. My wife displays the ones she likes, uses the older ones for other purposes, and hides the older ones.

Do it, you won’t regret it.
 

hockenbery

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It’s a problem that tends to take care of itself.
I used to give turned gifts to freinds especially when invited to dinner.
Then I would get calls from people who saw them and wanted one.

Then you get asked to donate pieces to this and that
Then you get call from people that didn’t win the donation who want one.

A lot of clubs are involved in various charities.
Lots of opportunities with Empty Bowls, Beads of Courage, freedom pens, urns for veterans, etc.....

One really cool thing is trading pieces with other turners so you get a small collection of turnings that mean something to you.

Have fun and turn. Homes for them will appear like magic


O
 
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Joined
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Every city across the country needs a Wood Turning Museum, you can open your own and fill it up with all sorts of rare artifacts. :)
You can run an Estate Sale each week telling everyone that your relative liked to turn wood pieces on a lathe. :)
Sell Vegetables at the city market and a wood bowl is given away with each purchase of produce. :)
Put all of your wood turnings in a storage unit and have a Storage Wars auction. :)
If you live in Colorado you can sell Edibles packaged inside a lidded wood container given away with each purchase. :)
Open an All You Can Eat Salad Bar and give away a wooden salad bowl with each dinner. :)
 
Joined
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Haubstadt, Indiana
Presents for family. This year will do ear ring holders for the granddaughters. My wife does craft and art shows and I tag along. I just want to make booth fee, but sometimes sell more than expected. I turn because I enjoy it, don't want it to be like a job. I have a lot of turnings in my house. Just like to make something useful or pleasant to view from a piece of wood that would have just been firewood and destroyed.
 
Joined
Jan 16, 2017
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Eastern Washington
I turn for as a hobby and when I have to much finished items in the house I gift them to family and friends, donate some for fund raisers and on occasion I'll sell a piece here and. there. I wouldn't worry about cluttering up the house, it should be easy finding new homes for your turnings.
 
Joined
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I

So, hobbyists - what do you do with all of your turnings???

Build cabinetry in which to display 'em, Give 'em away, Use 'em for regular service - they make great popcorn, chips, and salad bowls - keeps popcorn hot longer. I even have plans for making 'em into the furniture itself.
 
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Give away most of what I make to Church staff, SS class, coworkers (before retirement) and family. I make some items specifically so my wife can give to whomever she wants. Now our club is demoing at the MS Ag museum and we can sell. Got an idea this year and five of us went together to open a booth at a Artisan marketplace just for kicks and to publicize the club. Try something you will not regret it. Oh and last year made 15 Beads of Courage bowls...now that is a worthwhile cause, ok there is a story. The liaison at the hospital told me they had a little boy getting ready for a treatment and they have to leave the bowls in the room. Well that would not do for him so they let him take the bowl to treatment.:):)
 

odie

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It's more than a hobby for me, but I do donate bowls to the ladies at my church regularly.......It's a great feeling to make the ladies smile! :D

I donate to the church elder ladies, and let them decide who gets them......that eliminates any chance they will think there is any "favoritism" involved......:rolleyes:

-----odie-----
 
Joined
Feb 5, 2018
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Bogart, GA
Turn it and they will come. I'm just a hobby turner myself, and a sporadic one at that. I find if I come up with a turning I don't like I have to throw it away or burn it on the brush pile before anybody sees it. Otherwise they want to take it home. What usually happens is my wife or one of my daughters sees it, "rescues" it, and puts it on their shelf. I steadfastly refuse to sign those pieces which invariably brings the retort: "Oh, Daddy, it's beautiful." To make matters worse, a table maker saw some of my "junk" pieces on my daughter's (the interior designer) shelf and said: "Wow, do you think he would make some table legs for us?". I didn't. I don't do production work. But, I'm tellin' ya, you'll have to beat 'em off with a stick. Why, my wife even "threatened" to take all my books off my home office shelf and make a display case for some of my turnings ... no, no, please, not my books ... nooooooo! And so it goes ... as the wood turns.

And finally: I turned my first bowl in 8th grade shop class, John Adams Middle School, Alexandria, Virginia, circa 1969. It's about 12" in diameter with a mahogany body and poplar base (which was the glue block that stayed on). To cover the holes from the faceplate I cut and glued a leather patch to the bottom. My mother kept that bowl for the rest of her life. Then it wound up with one of my sisters. She recently sent it to me. My wife now has it on display. Just turn it, Rob, and they will love it because you made it. What will you do with it? Well, if you like it, sign it and give it to somebody who'll treasure and use it. If you don't like it throw it away ... but you better be quick.
 
Joined
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San Antonio, TX
Before I got into woodturning, my hesitation was that how many bowls can you turn before you get bored And run out of things to turn. It was not about what would I do with what I turn. After I started, and after a year and a half, I am still enjoying the process and learning new techniques, forms, and exploring other type of turnings.

If your concern is what would I do with all the bowls I turn, then yes over few years you will run out of space for them unless you give them away, etc.

If your concern is will you run out of ideas or get bored of repetitive work, most likely you will not.
 
Joined
Feb 25, 2018
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Novi, Michigan
Wow - thanks everyone for your thoughts/ideas on this. The reason I am putting a lot of thought (too much) into it is that I will be spending a decent amount of money on the lathe (my engineering/hot rodding/mechanical background forces me to overbuy nice machinery - a curse), which will then require me to finish part of the basement (OMG - almost 20 years of accumulation down there) to make a workshop. So, an investment of time and money to get going - therefore my hesitation.

I am not concerned with getting bored on the lathe - quite the opposite. I have many ideas in my head of things to make, especially after scouring all the great info/pics on this forum! We just happen to be at that point in life where the house is full of stuff (good problems - I know!) and I was wondering what I would do with the lathe output.

The common theme of your responses is that the items will find a home - and I am starting to see that now. And even if they don't - so be it, as long as I enjoy the turning. There are plenty of free logs behind my house so no big deal to toss exploded bowls and other lathe atrocities out there - they will decay out there with the rest of the stuff on the forest floor!!!

I was joking with my wife that 150 years from now someone will dig up my lathe output garbage and think that they found remnants of an ancient civilization that used primitive cracked bowls!

Thanks again.....
 

odie

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If your concern is will you run out of ideas or get bored of repetitive work, most likely you will not.

I used to try and make each and every bowl a unique shape that I've never done before......and over time, I've found that I'm doing certain shapes (that did originate with me) over and over again. There is pleasure in the repetitive work, but only because I've discovered there is a great satisfaction in refining the skills necessary to produce "my" shapes. I'm finding that nobody can share that kind of pleasure with me......it's a world of my own creation, and nobody else can pass through that series of doors with the kind of understanding it takes to do so, but me.......but, the good part is you'll never, never, never run out of admirers who want what you've created.

In the end.......you might find that it's all about the journey, and not about the results. The results are that which will bore you, but the journey always has forks in the road that you never knew were there! o_O

-----odie-----
 
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It is so much more satisfying to give items to friends and family who know where they came from and appreciate them... I have sold a few things (for good money BTW), but the money is soon adsorbed into whatever, and there is no real ongoing connection with the recipient. The only exception is for those friends and family who want to give them as gifts... Then I will charge what my time is worth.

Ely
 
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I used to try and make each and every bowl a unique shape that I've never done before......and over time, I've found that I'm doing certain shapes (that did originate with me) over and over again. There is pleasure in the repetitive work, but only because I've discovered there is a great satisfaction in refining the skills necessary to produce "my" shapes. I'm finding that nobody can share that kind of pleasure with me......it's a world of my own creation, and nobody else can pass through that series of doors with the kind of understanding it takes to do so, but me.......but, the good part is you'll never, never, never run out of admirers who want what you've created.

In the end.......you might find that it's all about the journey, and not about the results. The results are that which will bore you, but the journey always has forks in the road that you never knew were there! o_O

-----odie-----

When I see one of your bowls on Etsy, google images, or the gallery, I instantly know it is yours before I see your name. You make great bowls, and they are unique to you :)
 
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Rochester, NY
Everything between selling them to gift boutiques to fire pile.
As Bill said, practice with the tools and then just start with what you like to do most, what picks your creativity and interest in making. Everything else will come with it.
 

RichColvin

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... require me to finish part of the basement ... to make a workshop.

Rob,

It would be good to get ideas from others who who've moved into the basement. I moved from my garage to the basement when I moved to this house, and I LOVE it !!! I love working within a climate controlled environment, free of mosquitos and flies. My wife did require that I finish the area enough that I didn't send dust into the rest of the house.

My recommendation to you is to start a new thread on recommendations for a basement shop. I'll think about that and put some thoughts and pics together for you. If nothing else, they will be ideas for you to steal or reject.

Kind regards,
Rich
 
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I am getting setup to create some BOC boxes. The diameter is clear from the BOC website but I am having trouble understanding whether the depth requested should include the top plus finial knob or is just the "container" part of the box. Could somebody give me direction on this?
 

Tom Gall

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I am getting setup to create some BOC boxes. The diameter is clear from the BOC website but I am having trouble understanding whether the depth requested should include the top plus finial knob or is just the "container" part of the box. Could somebody give me direction on this?
The container part.
 
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Hi Rob. No need to worry about what to do with your turnings. As you acquire new skills and make different items, you may find that you tend to return to one category. It might be bowls, hollow turnings, ornaments, segmented turning, yo-yos or something else. And you will come to master that particular category. With good marketing, you will have no problem finding a home for your turnings. Above all, have fun and stay safe!
 
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Novi, Michigan
Kevin- funny that you bring up this old post because I was just thinking about it again - thanks for the advice. I ended up buying an older Powermatic 90 lathe as a lower cost entry to the hobby. It took me a while to clear some space in the garage and get things set up but I am turning now and love it!

I have actually had some success with my first few bowls and they turned out really nice. Not sure if I will pursue selling things yet. For now - I continue to turn and let the output pile up in the house!!
 
Joined
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I've been turning for a year now and have already been getting eye rolls from family when I offer another gift bowl. Most of my bowls have turned out pretty well, though I've had my share of blow-ups and ugly pieces. I'm slowing down on the quantity to focus on skills so the quality is slowly improving, and I'm trying new forms besides just bowls. Maybe family will soon be happier to accept my gifts. I don't anticipate ever selling; the effort and cost of doing so isn't worth it to me. I'm just doing it for fun.
 
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