i guess this is the normal state of things....

[Charlie Knighton]

i find that i am working on many projects at the same time, and waiting for green rough turned bowl to get dry, or waiting for some some soft punky wood to go thru the 3 day treatment

if i have a day off and want to turn, i end up working on 3 or more items and many days nothing gets finished because i need time to pass

its a diffenent type of patience than fishing 🙁 😱 😀 😕

 

[Doc G]

I agree. I have only recently gotten serious about turning and took a couple of courses in bowl turning and I find myself wanting to COMPLETE something every once in a while. Its going to be another 4 months or so before I maybe will see what the roughed out bowls are going to be. Sometimes I will turn a pen or a peppermill just to get some closure. 🙂

 

[dkulze]

Yup.

One of the things you have to do is maintain a constant supply of roughouts or milled wood that is drying. You turn a few each week, seal em up, and sit them aside. About 6-8 months after you start that process, the problem is over and you'll always have something to turn. Till then, it's wait and pray.

Dietrich

 

[Kurt Rosenzweig]

There's always Denatured Alcohol! Three weeks sure beats 6 months! It has been working very well for me! Also you could try some naturel edged bowls and turn them to finish and let them warp! Instant satisfaction!!!

 

[David Somers]

i find that i am working on many projects at the same time, and waiting for green rough turned bowl to get dry, or waiting for some some soft punky wood to go thru the 3 day treatment

if i have a day off and want to turn, i end up working on 3 or more items and many days nothing gets finished because i need time to pass

its a diffenent type of patience than fishing 🙁 😱 😀 😕

You obviously have very different fishing experiences than me! I used to flyfish for winter steelhead on the North Umpqua River in Oregon. Very much like bowl turning. Fish the winter run for months, then in the summer, finally start catching some! Kind of a zen thing I guess. If there are fish in the river, and the fisherman never gets them, does he make a sound?

<grin>

 

[Mark Mandell]

Lucca Brazzi Answers

You obviously have very different fishing experiences than me! I used to flyfish for winter steelhead on the North Umpqua River in Oregon. Very much like bowl turning. Fish the winter run for months, then in the summer, finally start catching some! Kind of a zen thing I guess. If there are fish in the river, and the fisherman never gets them, does he make a sound?

<grin>

No. Floating fisherdudes make no noise.

😀

 

[Charlie Knighton]

"If there are fish in the river, and the fisherman never gets them, does he make a sound?"

i mostly fish a small lake for bass and one trip to hatterus island in october for spot and drum

we were fishing the rodanthe pier after watching christerpher columbus movie and the sound we keep yelling was LAND HO!!!!!!!

you probably would have had to be there, there was a group of people trying to edge us out of our place because we were catching, but when we started yelling LAND HO!!!!!! they backed off 😀 😀 😀

i wonder if washed up planks and such on the beach would turn well????????

 

[MichaelMouse]

There are a lot more things to turning than bowls. There are also turning truths beyond, like when you want a salad bowl, all you'll find is gorgeous spalted birch blanks to turn. And then there's the birdseye up on the top shelf that you'll never turn until you can get more that looks half as good. The best piece to turn seems always to be the next one you try.

I did some roughing yesterday, and then, though I hauled away another half a yard of shavings, I thought I'd do an ornament before bedtime. Wife's on a business trip anyway. Some to the bar, some belly up to the lathe.

 

[Frank Kobilsek]

Try some kiln dried

Baitbegger
I know some of the others will go into shock at this suggestion but maybe buy a small stock of 1.5" to 2" thick dry stock wide enough for platters. Then when you just need the positive reinforcement of completing a turning you can make a plate or platter in one evening. I also find alot of enjoyment and instant gratification in turning bottle stoppers. Bad day at the office is cured quickly by turning 4 or 5 bottle stoppers in only about an hour and a half. Stoppers sell better than bowls and make great gifts.

Before I got a stock of rough bowls dry I tried segmented turning. I like the results but there is a learning curve there that may exceed the drying time of your rough out pile. Hang in there and keep roughing.
Frank

 

[Gary]

When I want to turn something, I decide what it will be, cut a piece of wood off of a log in the my wood pile, put it on the lathe and turn it. I turn it as close as I can get it to a constant thickness (about 3/16ths)- without getting all hyper about it - apply the finish and take it into the house.

Every once in a while something cracks; a lot of it goes thru some subtle shape changes. I have yet to seriously worry about rough-turning or paper bags, or soap or alcohol - but then, I'm not turning pieces for exhibition, just something that looks nice and when someone says "that looks nice" I give it to them.

 

[S. Clark]

i find that i am working on many projects at the same time, and waiting for green rough turned bowl to get dry, or waiting for some some soft punky wood to go thru the 3 day treatment

if i have a day off and want to turn, i end up working on 3 or more items and many days nothing gets finished because i need time to pass

its a diffenent type of patience than fishing 🙁 😱 😀 😕

Don’t forget that you can turn to complete finish with green wood too! You must learn your wood’s characteristics and know what to anticipate in the drying and shrinkage area. There are plenty of wood’s that’ll dry without cracking provided you turn them thin enough. You also have to layout the form properly so that the shrinkage won’t produce a misshapen unpleasant vessel. Christian Bruchard’s basket forms are examples of this approach.

You can wet sand too. I frequently turn green pieces to ¼â€Â-1/8†thickness then wet sand to 320 grit. These are ready for a final hand sanding with 320 & 400 after just two weeks on the shelf. If the wood isn’t ringing wet, dry sanding will cause friction that’ll help dry the piece’s surface too.

After my last class (with Stuart King) I’ve started to experiment with a propane torch. I’m developing nice textures and drying the wood at the same time. Merryl Saylan is another noted turner who uses the torch, though she doesn’t typically work with green wood. She uses it for texturing. Andi Wolf uses a butane torch on here pieces.

There’s a lot that can be done, let your imagination run.

- Scott