Getting back on the horse

I usually go to the house, pull out the hotdogs and marshmallows, and call the kids over for a good fire.

JD

While I understand the appeal of turning BIG and the appeal of turning hollow forms and the appeal of what Jimmy Clewes calls "Hero Cuts" - the ones that put most turner's teeth on edge and make the hair on the back of their necks rise - I can't understand why avoidable risks are taken. Hand held, and hand CONTROLLED tools have limits - as you discovered.

With the various "captured" rigs out there, with an attachment for just about anything you can think of, and as beefy as you want to go and let the "capture" of the rig take the brunt of a mishap - rather than your hand, forearm, arm, shoulder - or in one case I've heard of - a few ribs - why "fly without a net"? And most of these rigs have a laser pointer option so you can tell where the cutting edge is inside the hollow form - that you probably can't see - so you can turn thinner walls without wondering "Is this pass going to cut THROUGH the wall?".

Call it "a healthy respect for" or a "justified fear of" but there's a fine line between "fearless" and "dead". The trick of differentiating between apprehension and warranted fear is the tricky part. I'm betting you've already got a pretty good idea of what went wrong, and maybe have come up with ways to avoid what went wrong this time. Walking away after an incident like this and doing something else will allow the adrenaline - and disappointment - to diminish and allow the rational, problem solving part of the brain to do its job. Some lower risk turning may keep the muscle memory tuned up and let the brain generate some chemical amnesiacs that will overcome some of the mental impediments an "unpleasant experience" might cause that can get in your way.

But - if every cell in your body is yelling DON'T! it's probably best to listen - and figure out another way.

If the pieces I found by "googling" your name (actually I used

are representative of the pieces you turn, you clearly have the skills to turn BIG

- even in less than perfect wood. So I'm guessing that you were either just unlucky - or dropped you concentration for a fraction of a second. I'm glad it was the tool that broke and not any parts of you. To avoid damage to your self maybe a "captured system" might be worth looking into.

charlie b

I can't really relate to hollow form turning, Mark, but I can maybe explain my outlook on my stuff...

You say that the piece was "large, unusual, difficult, pushing my abilities", right? I think that's a good thing and I try to do it often... I also know that either my shape or whatever might be ugly, or my idea might not work... or that the technique I tried might not be the right one or maybe I'm not ready for it...

Some of my turnings come apart or just are not things that I'm happy with, but IMHO, if you're not pushing the edge and learning, it's no fun... You have to expect some failures on new things, just like you have to expect a new turner to fail on some easy things... I guess that's how or skills and creativity evolve... Or, OTOH, we can be very safe and conservative and have no failures, and become bored or stagnated.. Just plan another project that's a little farther out of the box and go for it.. Oh.. after explaining to your kids that you didn't fail, you just found another way that it didn't work...

mac

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Are you serious? I cuss like a muleskinner!

B.

I learned today that it can help to get attached to a piece, Reed...

I did an ironwood freeform kind of thing a few months ago that Nan & I really liked... I priced it at $185, over twice my normal, figuring that it would look cool at shows and then we could put it on our coffee table..

Damned if some lady that came to the house with a friend of ours didn't buy it today... I still can't believe that folks spend that kind of money on a chunk of wood..

mac

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Mac, I've done the exact same thing. My wife and I fell in love with a spalted maple bowl. I priced it 2 1/2 time more than my normal price. Some lady my wife works with saw it and bought it without hesitation.

so it goes. JD

Amazing, isn't it? I have my wife price most of my stuff because to me it's just a chunk of wood that I had fun with, and when it's done my head is already into the next piece..

mac

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Yep.. I find that a lot with pens, a big seller down here.... The less I like it, the lower the price..

Hey dude, the Baja 250 crowd went home, spring break is starting, and the striped bass are hitting like crazy... when you coming down??

mac

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Well MAC if you don't feel right about taken all that money just send me whatever you feel is too much. I promise that it will all be spent on wood.

Marty

Hello Mark,

A number of years ago, I was testing the Kelton Hollowers and was very pleased with the way the hollowing was going. I had a little ridge in the piece and went back in to remove it. You guessed it I removed it right through the side. Like you I was disgusted. Then I looked and it and cut away the top to clean it up and had a nice end grain bowl with very thin walls. I finished it up and turned away the foot to make it a round bottomed bowl. At the next craft show I attended it was the first piece to sell, so it really wasn't a failure at all simply an opportunity for re-design. Since that time, I've considered all problems in turning to be simply an opportunity for redesign.

Fred Holder

Damn, what a nice guy... lol

mac

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