On "the addiction"

I am not addicted at all ... I am obsessed! ;-)

I think that, coming from a metal-working background as you also do, that my obsession is with the act of creation and the urge toward excellence. I know, in an abstract sense, that perfection is extremely unlikely ... but 'excellence' is within my grasp if I but stretch a little further this time than last.

I wish I had a knee mill, metal working lathe and a wet surface grinder at my disposal. But I don't. Woodworking is, for me, 'next best'.

Those who are skilled in the art of turning have set the bar far higher in this trade than I think I will ever attain to. But I am inching along behind them as quickly as money, time and talent will permit.

I have made this my occupation. I WILL become good at it.

Bill

Instant, or at least nearly so, gratification. Must be as good an explanation as any, given the number of turned, even sanded pieces that sit in boxes awaiting finish at my house. That's donkey work, to be done anonymously in a bunch, not creative work which ended when I confirmed I'd caught the shape I wanted and the curl in the wood.

Not specific to turning here. Once the panels are raised, the cope and mold cut and fitted, or the dovetails together it's another piece of wood to be coated with varnish.

This is not an "addiction" as such. Though formally, the term does refer to psychological habituation as well as chemical dependence.

There is a personality type that is impelled to self expression and satisfaction through building, creating, learning and discovery. Such individuals sometimes have a very focused view, but most often have a variety of interests most limited by available time. Poets, construction workers, musicians, chemists, wood turners, computer programmers, sculptors and more. Some of the practioner's are imbued with a desire, a passion such that they will practice and learn. And do so most often as chosen avocations or occupations.

It is hard to describe or define this character trait. But like art, I know it when I see it. Before retirement I often interviewed applicants for positions of programmer and chemist. It was easy to see who had the fire. The same is true for all imaginative and creative works.

This attribute of passion for creation is not in the realm of the addictions. It is one of the most beautiful aspects of the human mind

-- the need to transcend self and world. This is the source of all progress, intellectual, spiritual, artistic and cultural. It is that for some of us, for some reason, we happen to have a focus that is placed on woodturning. For me the pleasures and satisfactions are the same be it the generation of software, scientific research, turning, and more are very much the same.

The Devils DP Dictionary has the best description of this satisfaction that I have ever seen. I will paraphrase from memory. "Algorasm" comes from the roots algorithm and orgasm. That special unique tintinnabulation of mind that is experienced when an algorithm actually works for the first time. Replace algorithm with design, execution, discovery, brushstroke, or whatever reaches the peak of experience. As a way of description of a peak experience that most of us know, remember being a batter in a ball game. Once in a very great while, we were in the perfect grove. The pitch was perfectly anticipated, the bat fated to smash the ball. We knew that the ball was over the fence even before there was a physical connection. Everything was just right.

There are many instances of such occurrences in turning (or any field). From the integration of the features of the particular wood specimen into the design, to the pleasure of a shaving coming off a well sharpened tool. These are the joys of creation and mastery. The true mature pleasures of the adult mind.

Hi Jesse, 'Musing' doesn't belong to me. It was in the public domain long before I messed it up. Title your interesting and perceptive thoughts by any name you choose, just keep posting them for our pleasure and to make us think. You fit the mould of 'renaissance man' and like your hero Aristotle, your interests range far and wide.

Probably to emphasize our love of woodturning we use "addiction" or "obsession" as terms of affection. I reckon that most of us enjoy pursuing the hobby, even the business of it responsibly, but sadly a few do ride the hobby and drive the trade with an empty life for themselves and family outside of it. I've seen this in my other hobbies too: ham radio, sailing, fishing and I heard it happens in golf and watching TV or a computer monitor. :)

Good post Jesse, muse on friend.

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

After reading "m"s response I hesitate to try and add anything but here goes anyway

I think part of the "addiction" is the chance element

- the chance that there's something really beautiful inside this chunk of wood (rock hounds often have tons of rocks waiting to be sawn open to reveal what's inside)

- the chance that one of those serendipitous events will happen where everything works together just so - and a nice piece appears "out of the ether"

- the chance that you'll find a new way to use an old familiar tool

- the chance that a new gouge will open up new turning possibilities

- the chance of "discovering" (though many have "discovered" the same thing before) something that'll take an idea up a notch or two (a lid with finial / knob / pull for inside a turned lidded box - my current fascination)

Another component is the relatively short time between start and finish - compared to many other forms of woodworking it's almost instant gratification. In most cases the time invested is less than half a day, whereas with furniture making or even carving, the time from start to completion may be days, weeks, months or even a year. I spent nearly a year of elapsed time building me woodworking bench.

Then there's the dynamics of turning - the material spinning, the cutting tool moving and rotating on two or sometimes three axis, your body shifting positions almost like a dance, with the sound of the cut providing the accompanyment.

Since the amount and cost of the wood is often minimal or free, the price of failure when experimenting is almost nothing - but some time. If an idea or technique you want to try doesn't work - what are you out? Expensive mistakes in terms of time or money often discourage trying again. With turning, it's easier to try and go beyond the familiar, the comfortable, the "safe and easy".

With practice comes improvement - and gratification. I use a curved edge skew a LOT. And because I use it so often I can do all sorts of things with it that others may use 3, 4 or 5 different gouges and chisels to do.

Though I have several different ways of doing dovetails with a router and fence or jig, I enjoy cutting them by hand. But I don't cut them by hand often enough or in quantities that I don't have to do some practice dovetails before doing the "real ones". But turning with a skew is almost second nature to me now because I use it at least an hour a day, almost every day so it's a muscle memory thing - I think of what I want and the muscles just do it (most of the time).

There's something elegant about a turned piece you can hold in your hand and explore, visually and tactily - up close. Being part of its creation is satisfying.

There's no Glue Up Anxiety (unless you make segmented pieces) like there is with furniture making. In fact there's very little anxiety of any sort - after you get over the initial fear of touching a sharp piece of steel to a spinning chunk of wood.

charlie b

Like anything, practices lessens a person's anxiety level. :)

Though I will say that there are things that can still get a guy's rear end puckered up an a lathe- perhaps you haven't got to those ones yet! I know I get a little nervous every time I try to spin sheet metal on the wood lathe, at least until I've got the blank trued up. Chucking an entire log on that is near the full capacity of the machine and not 100% balanced is quite an experience, too!

Hmmmm......

Prometheus, I think you may be overthinking the terminology here. I thiink that people that discover and enjoy this aspect of woodworking are not actually addicted to anything anymore than "tool junkies" are selling their wedding rings to buy new screwdrivers.

Wood turning is something I enjoy a great deal, and I can see why others do, too. I turned some in high school, and then didn't start turning again until about '97. As a remodeling contractor that started out in the trades as a carpenter (OK, actually a floor sweep) I do all the hard capentry work on my jobs.

I make the cabinets if needed, I modify existing woodwork, I make custom fixtures, and I am the one that puts on the 4 layered crown, blah, blah, blah. BFD. I was interested in flat woodworking at one time, but no more. It is sad too, as I sure have the investment in tools.

But with woodturning, it is a different gig, one that is easy to pick up. There are a lot of really talented artists out there, and a ton of great technicians. But on the whole, you can get into woodturning with little or no other wood working experience and start turning out projects.

And how nice is woodturning to the casual or beginning turner? Unlike building a staircase with three landings, you don't have to learn how to accurately measure and calculate for fit. Since parts rarely have to fit closely (if at all) and rarely are required to actionably interact with each other, it is much easier and less initimidating than making a set of barrister's book cases. A helluva lot less tools required than for just about any other aspect of woodworking, and even then as you know, you can make some of your own to save even more money.

Unlike building a new table for the entryway, you can pick up the materials you need to spend an afternoon turning off the side of the road, or when the call of the wild is heard (the neighbor's chainsaw!) you can load up with enough material to last for months or even longer. Couple found wood with few or inexpensive tools, and you can start turning on the cheap.

Rather than learning the ins and outs of fine finishing, you can burn on final finishes that are dry before the project leaves the lathe.

And unlike many other crafts, your work doesn't have to look like anything. It may or may not be pleasing to the eye, but unless you tell someone what you are shooting at when you starting the project no one will honestly be able to criticize. I have yet to hear someone say "you know, Stickley NEVER followed those profile lines" or "that violates everything we know about Federalist furniture design of Philadelphia" or "Sam Maloof NEVER made anything on that model". You get he idea. If you don't want to follow the accepted shapes of the pros, then so be it. Put a nice finish on something and you are bound to get compliments.

I think people get "addicted" to turning because it is easy, cheap, and fun. OF COURSE, to really get proficient at the technical and artistic aspects and you will have a a large cash outlay and a tremendous personal commitment. But the entry level into this is fun, and affordable.

Just my 0.02

Robert

Nah- I didn't intend it to be lumped in with somehting like alcoholism or similar, that's why it's in quotes.

That is kind of sad, and a big part of the reason I finally decided to give up carpentry as a day job. (That, and I am too work-oriented to handle seasonal layoffs very well!) I can certainly understand the attitude, as BFD is kind of how I feel about running parts all day in a machine shop- I still want some of those machines at home, but they wouldn't be for fun, they'd just be for making tools and replacement parts as quick as I could to get back to what I actually wanted to be doing.

I don't know, actually. For whatever reason, I don't get very worked up about doing easy things for relaxation. Probably not enough stimulation during the week, but come the weekend, I look for the most difficult thing I can think of to do. I don't do too much simple woodturning anymore- it's all segmented hollow forms with rediculous piece counts and (admittedly half-assed) metal spinning.

Not bad points- some of which I've certainly run up against when doing flat work! Definitely on-point with what I was getting at, and kind of makes me think I should turn back the intensity on my turning experience a bit and goof off a little more.

I've got to figure out that "affordable" bit. :) About 90% of my money (after the bills are paid, of course) goes for wood, steel, or propane- and the other 10% usually goes for abrasives and glue. 'Course, it would probably help if I made more than slave wages at work! (Probably wouldn't hurt if I started charging people for making things, too- but that always seemed like a slippery slope to me.)