Planning vs Winging It ....?

[Nicholas Licata]

I've been turning for a few years and I have never "planned" any of my work. That is to say short of thinking about what I wanted to achieve in my head before I started. This month's American Woodturner has an article about offset turning and the author shows how he plans his turnings out on paper. (I think it was this month) I'm working on this piece (which is not glued up yet) and am not happy with the finial (too bulky) or certain aspects of the foot -- I may re-do the finial and foot.

So I'm wondering how many turners actually start "at the drawing board?"

 

[Glen Blanchard]

Put me in the 'I don't' group. In my world, the only items that get some sort of hard-copy plan are segmented turnings (and I don't do much segmented work). Those are created on the computer and subsequently printed. I know folks who plan virtually (if not literally) every turning, but I don't have that kind of patience.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I think that the question is more complex than the poll choices. If it's just a bowl then that's generally simple enough that the preplanning can be done with some mental notes. If it's a multiaxis piece then I would want to make at least a pencil sketch. I like to start with a drawing made using Woodturner Studio for hollowforms because I like the pleasing forms created by Bézier curves. When I make a basket illusion piece I lay out the pattern using a CAD program and then print it full size to transfer it to the piece. I also make CAD drawings of most of my dyed rim platters. So maybe another category is needed ... something like, "It depends". 😀

I voted for Almost Always after a lot of vacillating between that and Sometimes.

 

[Charlie Knighton]

I voted never, but like Bill, it depends.......I usually do a trial of the embellishments.....Or two or three trials.....The form pretty much takes care of itself

 

[john lucas]

Well I do both. Some pieces start out with a drawing or an idea and then I refine it. for some pieces I make mock ups to work out the dimensions. Then there's the other side, I just put a piece of wood between centers and start playing and looking at it. You have to understand I turn a little bit of everything imaginable, not just bowls or hollow vessels. Those tend to lend themselves more to shaping as you go and sometimes changing that shape out of necessity.
I was discussing this with a friend who does segmented work. His work is planned to the Nth degree from the very beginning. Every cut and assembly is planned long before he picks up the first piece of wood.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Segmented pieces usually get a drawing, most of the tools i turn are on a reference sheet next to my lathe mostly for reference on a few minor details on some of the odd sizes not turned very often. Most free hand artistic pieces will never see a drawing, I like to let the wood decide what it wants to be.

 

[Raul McCai]

I haven't made a drawing. When I'm making furniture I build a concept drawing but not a piece by piece drawing. I leave the CAD work and trig for the more technical details of a piece.

 

[Odie]

Almost never.......but, on a rare occasion, I do put something down on paper. When I do, it's usually a very simple and basic sketch. I'd say the chances of ending up with what I had originally planned is.....almost non-existent! 😀

I have a lot of basic shapes that are consistent with my "style".....and I do these shapes over and over again. Quite a few turners wish to do something entirely new, each and every time......but, I do find some amount of pleasure and satisfaction in repeating things over and over again......until, I can do that particular shape flawlessly, and as fast as I can do them. This really doesn't require me to draw diagrams, when I've done it a zillion times before! 😵


Regardless of that.......I do try new and "undiscovered country" now and then! 😱

ko

 

[Ed Sandle]

While I have never drawn out a turning idea, I must say that as my turning abilities have progressed, I find myself thinking about shapes and forms that interest me, and when the opportunity arises with a piece of wood, I try to expand my skill set in that direction. I also have a turning style that I predominately enjoy doing, and take great pride in.

 

[hockenbery]

Not a simple quiz answer
I almost always have a mental image of what I want to make.
Every chainsaw cut in a log is made with a vision of what it will become

If I'm fitting parts,together then there is a more formal plan.
How the joints go together and what are size requirements for the joints.
Multimcenter turnings I doodle with a compass to get the center points.

 

[Joe Greiner]

For bowls, I usually wing it.

For segmented work, I go whole hog and then some. CAD for everything. From the cross section, I draw each ring pattern, print each full size for assembly. Also from the ring pattern, I make cutting templates for the segments, which enable setting the fence and setting the stop block for each group of segments. In CAD, I explode the ring patterns, and arrange the segments into a cutting plan to estimate and lay out the material needs. I dispense with borders and title blocks; just include a frame to match the paper size for printing, either full size or reduced scale.

For non-segmented complex pieces, I again use CAD to make progressive templates - makes it easier to sneak up on the final shape.

 

[Charlie M]

Nearly all of my turning is done on local mesquite. I gave up on planning on paper with this wood. Instead, I just go with a basic shape to start with and then as things evolve, decide that this is going to be a pot, bowl, plate, or fuel for the grill.

 

[Pete Blair]

Me, I just sort of let the wood and my mood lead me to the final outcome. I just want to turn and embellish. I do plan out some of my embellishments on paper but envy those of you who are able to plan from start to finish!!

 

[john lucas]

I wrote an article on turning half ring candleholders It's in issue 29>4 page 18-23. For that article I planned things out and then made styrafoam mockups to fine tune the shape and what I was going to do. In this instance it really helped to do that.

 

[John Torchick]

John, what type of Styrofoam did you use? The kind that TVs and such things are packed in?

 

[R Henrickson]

If I'm fitting parts,together then there is a more formal plan.
How the joints go together and what are size requirements for the joints.
Multimcenter turnings I doodle with a compass to get the center points.

As a number of replies have noted -- it depends. Bowls, plates, hollow forms -- generally I start with a mental image and may make a few layout marks on the piece as I go. Multi-piece projects generally start with at least a roughly-to-scale sketch plan.

 

[john lucas]

John I usually use Blue board I think is what it's called. sold in 4x8 sheets at Lowes pretty cheap. You can carve it with an electric carving knife just don't tell your wife. You can turn it but it's messy. I normally just sort of rough shape it with the bandsaw and use it just for rough sizing or might stack layers like you do for segmented work. I don't do it a lot but sometimes it's just what the doctor ordered to get sizes and overall dimensions a little closer. I'm not computer literate so CAD and things like that are just beyond me. I'd rather be in the shop any day than sitting at the computer. OK maybe sitting at the computer playing on the forum's is worth it but that's about my skill level.