Turning Photos

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Just getting caught up on some past posts and have noticed our turning crowd is down in membership or no one is doing any turning. I noticed Bill Young is the only one posting photos and at this time let me say very nice work Bill. You have really taken to turning and can see you enjoy it. I too have gotten the turning bug and it is a nice switch after so many years of scrolling.

So all you turners out there don't forget us. Show us some eye candy and post some photos. Love to see what you are all working on. Like to get some turning conversations going also.

[Gunny]

Since I'm done with shows for the year, I've had some time to devote to special requests... I turned a set of Cocobolo drumsticks for a fellow musician and he liked them so much he ordered another two pairs in Bocote and Ziricote. I still haven't got the hang of posting pics in the forum but I posted them on my personal website at http://themeadow.us/wood/woodturning/ ...Just scroll to the bottom of the menu column.
I play Irish drum and I plan to do a couple of beaters for myself as well.
After that I'm going to try my hand at crochet hooks again.
A lad I met at the last show gave me some tips on finishing off the hook end. His hooks were selling for $75-100+. (I was charging $7-10 for mine)
I also want to try some more platters/bowls/plates over the winter. I have some nice 10x10x2 pieces of Redheart, some small blocks of Jatoba, a couple hundred pounds of Cherry and a pile of Red Cedar. Every book I have says Cedar is a poor wood for turning but I find it turns well and polishes up beautifully. I made 4 tea lights of red cedar and one woman at the last show bought all four and asked if I had any others... go figure...
My Betsy bought me a OneWay Termite tool for our anniversary and I'm really looking forward to giving that a workout. Does anyone have any experience with this tool?

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Gunny

You are an accomplished turner for sure. I checked your site out and I see you have the pen making thing down pat. All your work is great and I will be attempting the bottle stoppers soon and will probably have questions. I like your designs. I hope you do not mind but i picked your drumstick picture off and posted it here to get people to see your work. Keep up the fine work and please shows us the latest.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v233/JTTHECLOCKMAN/110.jpg

[Gunny]

Thanks JT... A compliment like that from you means a lot.
On the subject of bottlestoppers, if you go to my "show setup" page at http://themeadow.us/wood/woodturning/show%5Fsetup/ the 4th or 5th picture from the top has some "Snowman" bottlestoppers.
I got the instructions in an email from some catalog I subscribe to. They took about 10 minutes each from start to finish and sold fast for $12 a piece. I got the little Christmas Stockings for 69 cents each in a craft store.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Gunny

Thanks for supplying the link to those photos. I have to say you present things in a very professional way. I also like the presentation of the raw woods and to show the transformation and the tools used is a great idea. Gives people a little insight to the makings of some things. That was a rather large space for a show. May I ask how you faired at that show??? Do you find people appreciate the fact that a piece was turned and finished.??? Now I only have turned the birdhouses that I posted but as I was selling them I got a different sense of people than I was used to. It was like they had no idea how they were made as with scroll sawn work you can see visually that there is alot of work in the cutting of the piece or at least more so than turning. I am not sure but it was just a weird feeling whenever people picked them up to exam them.

Being one of the more accomplished turners here I hope you weigh in on questions that come across the board here. Keep up the great work.

[Gunny]

It was a two table space (they charged $50 per table). I had requested a wall space but they didn't come through. I prefer a wall space because you don't have to worry about what the booth (or the crafters) behind you look like.
That was our last show and I just figured it out that after the cost of the tables, the sales tax (we factor Corzine's cut into the price and pay the tax ourselves-it's easier) and the ProPay fees (for credit card sales) we cleared about $1500. It was a well-attended show that's been going for about 20 years.

I find that people really do express an interest in turning and in how the piece is made... particularly when I see them looking at an item (say for instance a Buckeye Burl pen that looks like polished marble) and I show them a piece of raw buckeye and say "this is what it started out as..." or "this is how the Lord left it and I finished it for him" (the latter goes over particularly well at a church sponsored craft show...)

They usually ask the same or similar questions:
"Did you do ALL of these?
"How do you get it so shiny?"
"How long does it take to make a pen?"
(and best question of all)"Do you do custom worK?"

I've learned that keeping the display neat and orderly is important too but you don't want to appear like Dustin Hoffman in Rainman... Let people handle the items (within reason) and if they put something down haphazardly or carelessly, don't touch it till they move on but once they do, replace it correctly.
Another thing I do is I keep all the lucite stands and glass-topped display boxes full. When someone buys something from a display I replace it as soon as they move on. If I run out of pieces, I replace the display case or stand with a smaller one.
Sounds like I know what I'm doing but the fact is, everything I know about craft shows I learned from you, Fred, Bill, Deanna, the rest of the gang here and at other shows.

[pops-shop]

WOW

JT - ya had my lil ole mind surely messed up for a minute :eek: :eek:

I know that you are working on your doctorate in turning - then I took a turn (no pun intended - well maybe a little) when I read the title of the post - "Turning Photos".

I said to myself, "Self, I know he's good - but - how does he actually turn a photo????????"

:) :rolleyes: :cool: :p :o

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

:D :D :D :D Sometimes the title has to be catchy to get people to look. Made you look.