Full time turning

Even those whose signature on a piece allows them to collect large dollars seldom earn a "living" by turning. They sell DVDS, lessons, and such. Sort of like the ostrich farmers. The money's not in the meat produced, but the sale of breeding stock.

Nor myself. For me, wood turning gives me a creative outlet, and is another tool in the shop. I can get on a roll and make a lot of different things in high volume from time to time, but regular work takes precedence. I make enough money to pay for materials and some nice tools, but that is about it. My goal is $1K a year gross, that's it.

And you would be surprised how that translates across the crafts and trades. If I had a nickel for every trim carpenter that I trained to put up ceiling molding, make and hang cabinets, to hang and trim doors, etc., that went out on his own and called later asking for their job back, I would retire.

Folks don't do enough research about their own bills and what it takes for them to survive. They don't include the simplest of things like gas and transportation, rain days, or worse, quarterly deposits on self employment taxes.

We have a couple of older fellows in our woodturning club that have made the jump to self employment (I might add here they were quite smug) and promptly had their feelings hurt so badly that they almost quit turning altogether. They go the meetings now to see their friends, not relate the stories of being shown in a gallery or the travails of being shown properly as an artist, etc.

Sure, they sold >>an occasional

Not me either. Like Robert, I use this as a release from the ordeal of finishing a Ph.D. I've sold some of my stuff and I've gone to christmas bazaars and the like, but it was so I could purchase some nice tools without getting in trouble with my wife.

I enjoy it too much to make it a job.

JD

Lee... I'm a full-time turner, but would be homeless if I didn't also do web pages..lol

I turn 6 or 7 days a week and do at least one local show a month and will never make enough to pay for my old equipment, much less the new lathe..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Just what I expected.... LOL I love woodworking to much to turn it into a business. i take money for my furniture but only for materials. That way no IRS. I do loose the cost of electricity and heat, but that's a small price to pay. I build for family and friends mainly.

Thanks for all the replies guys... have a good > >

I live in Hawaii, and there are a fair number of people here that turn for a living.... If I didn't currently need the "established job" for the loans to build a new house, I'd be turning full time. Right now, everything I produce goes into a gallery, and if I had more time to produce more work, I could get them into more galleries and likely support myself on turning alone. Alas, without 5 years of tax returns showing turning as prime income, most lenders have difficulty in making new building loans at this time...

As we in Hawaii are a "destination" for tourists and such, and have some of the more exotic woods avaialble to us (Koa grows here, for example) it helps. So does an overwhelming attitude of sharing processes and procedures between all levels of turners. It not only allows the lower level turners to grow and make better work, but also drives the professional turners to new heights. It's funny, but every level learns something from every other level, in one way or another.

Once a turner gets good enough to be recognized and starts selling to the collectors, it can definitely pay the bills, but like any other job, it can get pretty boring sometimes, unless you do things to continually grow and change. There are typically two major groups of full time turners, the "Art" folk and the "utility" folk. Most people doing Art are continually exploring and pushing the boundaries, whether design, size, finish or whatever, while those during utility are whacking them out one after another, typically something smaller and more useful than an art object. Some do both to keep going, and a few I know also make other knicknacks and tourist trinkets to fill out the checking account. A few others also make some furniture now and then, but the shop space and equipment for serious furniture is typically different than most turners, so there aren't too many of these types around...

On the mainland US, most of the turners I know that are full time do have other means, such as teaching or producing DVDs, etc., but the full time turning typically came first and gave them their noteriety that makes the touring/teaching possible.

--rick

Rick,

Do you have a website? I'd love to see some of your work.

JD

His site (gleaned from his email address) is like mine, a work in progress.. ;-]

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Several sites, the one that shows the most recent work is volcanoartists.com Not exactly the latest work, but it can give you a basic idea of what I've done fairly lately.

--Rick

Hello Lee,

A lot of people have told you their stories and stories of others who tried to make a living simply turning wood. Before I retired, I had been a manager for many years and the last eight years a business owner. When I retired, I thought I would supplement my retirement income with my turnings. From 1993 to 1996, I did about 12 shows a year. I kept track of my total expenses over that three year period and my total income from turning. At the end of three years, I found that I had averaged earning 25 cents per hour. It was hardly worth the effort. I stuck to writing about woodturning and started More Woodturning.

I interviewed Richard Raffan several years ago for a story. Richard said that anyone wishing to turn wood full time to make a living also needed a partner with a full time job that would cover the living expenses for them both. He also said it helped to write a few books, teach a few classes, do paid demonstrations, etc.

My recommendation to anyone wishing to turn wood full time to make sure they have some other extra income to support them and their family so that the income from woodturning will simply be a bonus.

Fred Holder

I guess some of you guys may be missing a point - for those who have a day job (if its a night job, I dont want to know about it), its quite obvious that the right thing to do is to hold on to it with both hands but for those retired, you should actually compare the income made (even those 25c per hour) to not selling anything and accumilating expenses on harware and materials. just covering your expenses has the double advantage of stroking the ego and ... well, not loosing any money in the process of having fun. Im still some distance away from retiring and to tell the truth, more than once in a while envious of the time many of you have. turn for fun, Max

Maybe - but the OP was asking how many turn "for a living" as in making one.

There absolutely isn't one thing wrong with turning for fun or a tidy profit, or even like I do - to be able to buy more woodturning stuff.

There is a huge difference though in "turning for a living" as your source of income to support yourself and your family. That is a job.

Selling a pen or a bowl here and there, that's fun. It's a hobby. It's "turning for fun" and if that's what you want to do, that's great. I don't know how many pens or bowls you would have to sell to make your house and car payment, though.

I'm with you.

Robert