Experimentation.....Failures and successes!

[Odie]

Advice for newbies, and maybe a few others!

I can remember having a lot of ideas for shop jigs and improvements way back when......and was afraid I'd ruin things, lose money, be disappointed.....

Reality check #1.....Not all ideas will, or can be what you envision them to be.....but a few of them that didn't, could have!
Reality check #2.....If you don't transport those ideas into the physical world, they will never be a success.
Reality check #3.....If you try, fail, and give up, a failure will ALWAYS be a failure.

If you want your shop and tools to do for you what you envision them to do.....you MUST take a gamble here and there. I still ruin things, lose R&D money, and am disappointed with my results.....but I no longer fear failures! I accept that they will happen! Like the song: "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger", is so true! Another thing that is so true is the old saying: "If at first you don't succeed, try try again". There have been many things I've made an attempt to do, and failed......and the good news is I did succeed on the 2nd, or 3rd, or 12th attempt.....on a few of them. Almost nothing works as well as the "vision", but sometimes did after keeping a positive attitude and not giving up. Certainly, there is a time to give it a break, and look at the project again later. There is also a time to accept the inevitable, but to cross the idea of of making a certain improvement off the list entirely, will carve a failure in stone...... 🙁

One of my biggest reasons for failure, is never having tried......and, one of the biggest reasons for not trying, is to tell myself I'll get around to it later. Once in a blue moon, I would get a "round tuit", but there was a point where I could identify that the source of not getting things done, is not that I didn't have good intentions, but the memory of that idea, and the enthusiasm..... diminishes with time.

Who knows........maybe I'm just an old geezer who isn't relevant in today's world of instant gratification......but, I am relevant in MY world!😛

ko

 

[john lucas]

well said Odie. I turned things 20 years ago and look at them today and wonder how in the world I turned them. I sure didn't have the skills I have to day. If you want something bad enough you will figure out a way to do it. I wouldn't be half the turner I am today without screwing so many things up and either starting over or figuring out some solution to the problem and finishing the piece. Just this weekend while rushing some Christmas ornaments I broke a finial. Because I had done that before I knew how to fix it. I simply drilled out the 2 parts, put a metal dowel in with epoxy and lined them up. I could have simply turned another but i had tried to solve this problem before and knew that I could fix it very quickly.
I think just about as important is Never give Up.

 

[Grant Wilkinson]

Well said, Odie. My biggest successes in turning, at least, have come from being ignorant of just how difficult or darn near impossible the piece that I am attempting to produce is going to be. I have found that you can actually read and study something too much. Knowing for sure how advanced a project is can be intimidating for someone like me who is still a rank beginner. There is a certain freedom that breeds "bravery" in not knowing and in simply plunging ahead - damn the torpedoes and all that.

 

[hockenbery]

Good comments Kelly.

I encourage all the newer turners to first get a solid foundation in using the tools safely and effectively.
For most the fastest most effective path is through quality classes, club mentors, and just sharing with other turners.

Then experiment routinely. When I feel like turning but don't have the time or the mental attitude to make a serious piece, I doodle with wood.
I put a piece on the lathe and turn shapes, try cuts, generally let new ideas take form.
Mostly just making chips.

When I have an idea for a new piece, I often make a sample, just to learn the process.

I have been lucky to have the experimenting turn into a couple of unique series of turnings no one else has done.
That is something anyone can do.

These unique turnings get chosen for shows and generate invitations to show folks how.


Al

 

[John Torchick]

I agree- well said, odie. Thomas Edison once said that he knew of hundreds of ways NOT to make a light bulb but knew one way that works.
Just think- if it weren't for Thomas Edison, we would be watching television by candlelight!

 

[Bill Boehme]

About being an old geezer, it's something we all aspire to become ... and, the older, the better. 😀

I think that the essence of your remarks is that winners never quit and quitters never win.

 

[Gretch Flo]

One of my mottos is "where there is a will, there is a way." There are very few times in a week (read year!!!) where I have to think a problem thru and surprises me when I solve what I had never done before!!!!( all by myself too !!!!). Gretch

 

[John Normoyle]

A new turner's perspective

Hello all,
As a new turner, about a year and a half, I know that one of MY (I might be alone here) biggest issues is looking at a perfectly good pen/bowl/platter/space saucer and think I am not good enought for what I want this to be. If that is you also, stop. Buy a 2-4 X 4-18 in piece of lumber from you favorite place. Why? Cut it square and make what you want. The wood will probably be pine, dry and full of knots. If you can get close with this, then you can get bloody hell neer to what you want with your "good" piece of wood. If you can't then cut another blank and try again. For less than $20 you can make 6-10 tries. Now that you are comfortable with the cuts and moves (and if needed, prayers) needed to make what you want, take the deep breath (if this is an important piece of wood, one of a kind, family history make one or two more) and spin wood. Have confidence in yourself (I don't think anything I have made should be used for much more than a door stop or kindling, my wife friends and customers disagree) and take the cut.
If things go bad, get another piece and try again.

 

[Odie]

Good thoughts here, John......

I tend to be someone who is a bit overly confident.....and, made a lot of mistakes on a lot of very nice pieces of wood. This is unfortunate on the surface thought level, but it does tend to make me strive harder to find my successes. Most importantly, it does tend to make me try things that a lack of confidence would have prevented. Would I suggest anyone else to do the same? Absolutely not, but there was some great advantages to that course of action, that is, from my point of view. It did result in a lot of very expensive mistakes! 🙄

Looking back, there were many "successes" I had, that now look like mediocre results......but, at the time, I was joyful with my progress. (It's that which drives my enthusiasm.) The same may apply to my own progress, as I see it today.....as opposed to twenty years from now! Hope so!

(.....if I can manage to live that long!)😕

ko

 

[hockenbery]

I have observed and participated in a lot of experimenting in the week long classes
Like those at craft schools like arrowmont and Campbell and Maryland Hall for the creative Arts.

One of the most beneficial aspects of these classes is individual development that takes place.

Most often these classes follow a format something like
Day 1 - fundamentals are tuned up through a project familiar to students like an open bowl
Day 2,3 the techniques central to the class are taught
Day 4,5 the students are working more individually at their respective levels and doing new things. Stretching their boundaries, collaborating with other students, learning from other media in the craft schools. It is a marvelous thing to watch.

The difference in a long class versus a one day workshop is enormous!

When I lived in Annapolis, md we had Maryland hall for the creative arts with a fantastic Woodturning program. Every year one or two "masters" classes were taught.
For five years I would take a class a year. It gave me a week off from work to focus on woodturning without trying to make anything. Just learn new skills, and come away with countless new ideas.
Liam O'neill, David Ellsworth, Christian Burchard, Johannes Michelson, Michael Peterson,

Later I got to run the woodturning program and watch classes taught by,
Lyle Jamieson, Trent Bosch, Jimmy Clewes, Cindy Drozda, and Al Stirt.
After moving to Florida we have had week long classes with a national turner once a year.

IMHO a week long class is the best investment any turner at the advance beginner or intermediate level can make.
It is not about copying the instructor but about extending your own set of skills, confidences, and idea set.

Work safely
Al