What a hoot! Up to 25 comments on stainless steel bottle stopper suppliers! We sure are passionate people! I remember the wrath I received when I told people they could do a certain guys camera hollower for about $20. Even had a guy call me a liar and questioned if I even made one. That darned creative mind we have! I guess you folks send that live center back to Jet and Powermatic since they knocked off Oneway!
Under full disclosure, any human mentioned in this post, I consider them a friend (1st) , and likely a business associate (2nd), even if they don't.
I think for most of us, it is about supporting the community instead of "a large corporation". And for each of us, based on relationships, large is a relative or perhaps non-existent term. There are very few large corporations in earning, in woodturning.
In the case of Ruth, it is helping Ruth, the inventor and someone who has done the grass roots work, to sell the product in the community. She is a tireless teacher of the product. It goes beyond sales.
In the case of the camera, the "inventor" Trent Bosch, it is someone publicly (or at least seemingly) trying to give away his sweat equity in it, and Trent does live off the sales of the product.
We are a community who mostly tries to take care of those who invest in the community. We want to assist that person and that relationship. It is sort of like "grow local, buy local" but it is the inside community.
Don't get me wrong, the Internet has opened up a lot of innovation and opportunity, but openly reverse engineering or undercutting the originator isn't well tolerated within the wood turning community as demonstrated here, as many have come to Ruth rescue.
i am an avid cyclist ( when I can ride) and am part of the local biker shops culture as well. They aren't a chain, but I am willing to pay more to buy from friends. And not to sound pompous, but a few times when I was downtrodden (both medically, not business) the woodturing community has come to my aid.
