Choosing wood

[hockenbery]

Al.....Although I haven't been to one of the symposiums (yet.....never say never!), I have seen many videos of the demonstrations there, and on commercial videos, and what is on YouTube. For the most part, these demos are always done with wood especially chosen for the purpose. In real life, we can't always choose wood that is best for a demonstration......usually unseasoned wet, easy turning, and plain grained. I am well aware that it's possible to true a block of wood to round in a single pass, if everything is in favor of that......it's very impressive, but not the same as what some turners face in our own shops.....dry, warped, hard, difficult to turn seasoned roughed bowls. I'd love to be able to walk into one of those demos, and pick the wood they will work with! ko

How do you select your wood? How do you cut it?

I agree Demonstrating turners like to pick the wood they are going to turn for demos both in size and species. They are working under a time constraint so size is important. More often than they like they get a surprise a few minutes into the demo.

Most of the bowl turners I know start with logs or fallen trees. They line up the grain when they cut their blanks. Many refine the grain alignment while roughing. Their roughed out blanks have lined up grain which warps symmetrically. A dried bowl with lined up grain is prettier when finished and whole lot easier to turn than one that has cattywampuss grain. Most experienced turners have more wood than they can ever turn so they choose wood to turn and wood to burn.

I watched Liam's O'neil pick out a 13" diameter dried cherry bowl from the host's pile of dried bowls and used it demonstrate how to return a dried bowl. He looked for balanced grain which makes and easy second turn. He then trued the outside from foot to rim in one pass with his side ground gouge. I still think he is the best turner I have ever seen.

John Jordan has a great tee shirt that says "Life is too short to turn crappy wood"

In "real life"work most of the demonstrating turners select their wood for everything they make.
kelly, I know from your posts you buy most of your blanks and have to work with what you get.
You might consider harvesting some local wood before it goes up the chimney or rots in a land fill.

When I do a demo I like wet wood for sure. No dust, cuts nicely, sprays water to off set the hot lights.
Generally this is the same wood I would use in a finished piece but smaller.

For demos I like 10" diameter bowl blanks and 7" diameter hollow form blanks. I need something I can finish

I rarely turn a piece at home that small but I do generally turn wet wood.

Al

 

[dbonertz]

I agree Al with the exception of bowls with grain aligned are prettier. I suppose to some it is but that is a broad statement. I personally think a completely aligned grain in a bowl is fine and can look pretty but I personally like a little character in a bowl which means playing around with grain alignment. Both are nice in my opinion but you waste less material being more whimsical in your grain orientation and you end up with some beautiful bowls.

 

[john lucas]

I'm mostly a dry wood turner. If you put a round piece of mirror glass in a mirror body that warps or is out of round it's really really noticeable. Same is true with boxes. Most of my ornaments are dry wood although I do an ornament demo with a green limb to teach how wood moves and what you can do about it.
I do harvest a lot of my wood now. I cut green wood for mirror blanks and handles, ornament blanks, finial blanks, spindle stock, and platters. I seal them and put them up to dry. I do turn bowls and some hollow vessels and those are at least rough turned green. My natural edge bowls are almost always turned green to completion.
I tend to carry most of my wood to demos since my work is reasonably small. When I do have the host club furnish wood it has always been what I asked for with the exception of one place. To this day I don't know if that was a joke or if they just didn't know. fortunately I had enough CA to keep the demo going it worked out as a good lesson in choosing sound wood and what to do if you didn't and simply must complete the piece.

 

[Odie]

(Not sure why this particular subject needed two separate threads to address the evolution of discussion.)

I suppose we could come up with a variety of reasons why we don't, or seldom (?) see demos using the most difficult of woods to true-up and finish turn......but, I believe the reasons go beyond simple explanations, such as time constraints, and/or highlighting any individual's techniques.....in seclusion of the obvious reasoning. As I said, and if I could choose the wood for a demonstration, I'd choose a bone dry, very hard and/or dense, very hard to turn significantly warped seasoned roughed bowl, that might have additional obstacles, such as irregular final shapes, voids, natural flaws, difficult/swirly grain, such as quilting, and etc. This is where the difficulty is critical and crucial, minimal sanding is at the highest premium, and is where the skill of the turner will shine.....or not. These are the kinds of woods all of us would like to tackle and be successful with, because if we get flawless results here, we will have a bowl that will be a stand out.

ko

 

[Owen Lowe]

I believe the reasons go beyond simple explanations, such as time constraints, and/or highlighting any individual's techniques.....in seclusion of the obvious reasoning. As I said, and if I could choose the wood for a demonstration, I'd choose a bone dry, very hard and/or dense, very hard to turn significantly warped seasoned roughed bowl, that might have additional obstacles, such as irregular final shapes, voids, natural flaws, difficult/swirly grain, such as quilting, and etc. This is where the difficulty is critical and crucial, minimal sanding is at the highest premium, and is where the skill of the turner will shine.....or not.
ko

First let me preface with a comment that I haven’t read every reply to this thread; I "pre-apologize" if this has been mentioned already.

From pre-school to post-secondary education, all lessons are planned out with learning goals in mind. "What do you, as their teacher, want your student to know at the end of the lesson?” You strive to keep the unnecessary distractions to a minimum; you want the students to successfully learn the lesson’s take-away and not let the experience be muddled with rabbit trails. A good teacher works through the lesson like a dress rehearsal and structures it with the lesson’s goal in mind. This is not to say that things are so tightly controlled that unexpected situations will not arise – which can result in a wonderful side lesson. These detours, however, mean that the original lesson must be revisited at some point.

If your lesson’s goals are the various ways to deal with difficult cuts of wood, then by all means choose the wood that exhibits those difficulties. However, if the goal is to show something else, then minimize the distractions and allow the students to focus on what they came to learn. When the unexpected happens, show the students how to deal with it and move back to the lesson. Keep in mind that the demo is to show a technique not to highlight how skilled and expert the demonstrator is. (Nobody likes THAT guy!)

These are the kinds of woods all of us would like to tackle and be successful with, because if we get flawless results here, we will have a bowl that will be a stand out.

Lastly, as a demonstrator, exhibit pieces where you applied the lesson on difficult woods to show what is possible but structure the demo itself to more simple, basic situations. Applying a lesson’s goal to more challenging situations is the pathway serious students will take on their own. If they want to tackle a gnarly piece of wood using your lesson's goal then that’s their journey to fulfull personal desire and growth.

 

[Odie]

First let me preface with a comment that I haven’t read every reply to this thread; I "pre-apologize" if this has been mentioned already.

From pre-school to post-secondary education, all lessons are planned out with learning goals in mind. "What do you, as their teacher, want your student to know at the end of the lesson?†You strive to keep the unnecessary distractions to a minimum; you want the students to successfully learn the lesson’s take-away and not let the experience be muddled with rabbit trails. A good teacher works through the lesson like a dress rehearsal and structures it with the lesson’s goal in mind. This is not to say that things are so tightly controlled that unexpected situations will not arise – which can result in a wonderful side lesson. These detours, however, mean that the original lesson must be revisited at some point.

If your lesson’s goals are the various ways to deal with difficult cuts of wood, then by all means choose the wood that exhibits those difficulties. However, if the goal is to show something else, then minimize the distractions and allow the students to focus on what they came to learn. When the unexpected happens, show the students how to deal with it and move back to the lesson. Keep in mind that the demo is to show a technique not to highlight how skilled and expert the demonstrator is. (Nobody likes THAT guy!)



Lastly, as a demonstrator, exhibit pieces where you applied the lesson on difficult woods to show what is possible but structure the demo itself to more simple, basic situations. Applying a lesson’s goal to more challenging situations is the pathway serious students will take on their own. If they want to tackle a gnarly piece of wood using your lesson's goal then that’s their journey to fulfull personal desire and growth.

To the contrary, Owen......

(see highlighted in your post)

I believe I'm not wrong in believing there are those turners, including me, who would love to see exceptional examples of advanced skills done on the most difficult of woods......

The question remains why the most difficult of woods seem to be never, or very seldom the choice of those who demonstrate.......? (Still, I believe the answer is obvious.)

ko

 

[robo hippy]

As a wet wood, warped bowl turner, grain alignment is not critical, and with the warping being a 'feature' it is more important to me. I have found that if I selectively cut my blanks, I can take care of grain alignment when cutting so I don't have to think about it as I turn. Of course, there is always the piece of wood where the pith is in the center at one end of the log, and way way off at the other end. I don't demonstrate 'fancy' skills, pretty much basic skills. When I travel to a demo, I bring my own wood. I don't really like surprises. Just working with a different lathe is challenge enough for me. Plus, I come over prepared with too much wood so there is always some for the raffle. Some prefer the challenge, and it is always interesting to see how others approach a problem piece, though I don't like 'high risk' pieces.

robo hippy

 

[hockenbery]

"What do you, as their teacher, want your student to know at the end of the lesson?” You strive to keep the unnecessary distractions to a minimum; you want the students to successfully learn the lesson’s take-away and not let the experience be muddled with rabbit trails.

What an important point.

One of the biggest mistakes I see new teachers and demonstrators make is to telling them everything.
One of the deficiencies of the human mind is that it can process only a limited amount of new information a day.
I assisted in a class with a guy who while covering the tools managed to show the class in some detail 15 tools we would not be using but someone else might. At that point most of them had used up their short term memory and everything after that point would be a fog the next day. We chatted a it after the class but it was too late by then.

The same thing can happen if demonstrators let questions pull them into blind alleys. I always struggle with this. how to balance the questioners need to know right now with keeping the audience as a whole on track.

 

[Odie]

As a wet wood, warped bowl turner, grain alignment is not critical, and with the warping being a 'feature' it is more important to me. I have found that if I selectively cut my blanks, I can take care of grain alignment when cutting so I don't have to think about it as I turn. Of course, there is always the piece of wood where the pith is in the center at one end of the log, and way way off at the other end. I don't demonstrate 'fancy' skills, pretty much basic skills. When I travel to a demo, I bring my own wood. I don't really like surprises. Just working with a different lathe is challenge enough for me. Plus, I come over prepared with too much wood so there is always some for the raffle. Some prefer the challenge, and it is always interesting to see how others approach a problem piece, though I don't like 'high risk' pieces.

robo hippy

Hi Robo.......

You are a great example of an answer to the obvious question.......and from my POV, your use of the words "high risk" is the key to why we don't see demos using the most difficult of wood in demonstrations. Nobody is going to fault you, or those who have the same philosophies concerning the most appropriate teachable methods, such as those people Owen was thinking of in his post.

When any turner processes these "high risk" woods, nothing is a sure thing. I speculate that most demonstrators don't want to run the risk of any embarrassing moments........?

If we are to see these examples using difficult to turn warped dry roughed bowls, the most likely source will be with a video, where the demonstrator has the option of showing us, or not......but, even then, that seems to be a bit scarce among the many videos available to us.

ko

 

[hockenbery]

To the contrary, Owen...... (see highlighted in your post) I believe I'm not wrong in believing there are those turners, including me, who would love to see exceptional examples of advanced skills done on the most difficult of woods...... The question remains why the most difficult of woods seem to be never, or very seldom the choice of those who demonstrate.......? (Still, I believe the answer is obvious.) ko

Best way to focus on advanced skills would be in an intermediate class.

There are demonstrations with difficult woods. Two that come to mind are:
Stewart Batty turning square edge bowls from dense hardwood,that allows him to show how the negative rake scraper shines. If he were to use common maple the scraper would not improve the gouge surface.
Franck Johansen and others demonstrate Norfolk Island pine with a ring of knots. The knots are hard with the grain in the opposite direction.

As a demonstrator I want the deck stacked in my favor when I demonstrate. Using dependable wood is fundamental for me.
A serious flaw in the wood and the demo could be dead in the water. I carry a partially turned object for that eventuality.

I have 1/3 a rule of thumb for a demo. That is if I can make an object in 10 minutes I can demo it in in 30. It has worked out for me.
The questions, stopping the lathe much more often, talking.... Consistently take up the 2/3 of the time. So with a 10 minute intro, I get less than 25 minutes if turning for a demo.

The lesson is about the form of the object, the surface of the object, the tool use. For me with difficult woods the tool use is the same.
I might do more pull cuts each very light, use a scraper more, use a spindle gouge, switch to a smaller bowl gouge, prep the wood with sanding sealer.... A difficult wood would just eat up too much time unless it is the focus of the demo.

I use laurel oak and live oak a lot in my demos. It is not nearly as easy to turn as cherry, maple, sycamore, camphor, or sweet gum.
It is dependable. The oak is readily available in our area and I like to encourage club members to turn more of it.

I do a natural edge crotch bowl demo. The crotch figure is inherent and sometimes difficult enough to require a scraper in the bottom if the twist figure won't cut cleanly.

Allowing a demo to turn into how to defeat this block of wood is a dis-service to the audience. When I do a hollow form demo i don't have any extra time to fuss with wood that doesn't cooperate. To hit my timing marks I occasionally must move on to the next step with a substandard curve or surface, or too thick of a bottom...

Al

 

[Bill Boehme]

First let me preface with a comment that I haven’t read every reply to this thread; I "pre-apologize" if this has been mentioned already.

From pre-school to post-secondary education, all lessons are planned out with learning goals in mind. "What do you, as their teacher, want your student to know at the end of the lesson?†You strive to keep the unnecessary distractions to a minimum; you want the students to successfully learn the lesson’s take-away and not let the experience be muddled with rabbit trails. A good teacher works through the lesson like a dress rehearsal and structures it with the lesson’s goal in mind. This is not to say that things are so tightly controlled that unexpected situations will not arise – which can result in a wonderful side lesson. These detours, however, mean that the original lesson must be revisited at some point.

If your lesson’s goals are the various ways to deal with difficult cuts of wood, then by all means choose the wood that exhibits those difficulties. However, if the goal is to show something else, then minimize the distractions and allow the students to focus on what they came to learn. When the unexpected happens, show the students how to deal with it and move back to the lesson. Keep in mind that the demo is to show a technique not to highlight how skilled and expert the demonstrator is. (Nobody likes THAT guy!)



Lastly, as a demonstrator, exhibit pieces where you applied the lesson on difficult woods to show what is possible but structure the demo itself to more simple, basic situations. Applying a lesson’s goal to more challenging situations is the pathway serious students will take on their own. If they want to tackle a gnarly piece of wood using your lesson's goal then that’s their journey to fulfull personal desire and growth.

Excellent points, Owen. You hit the nail square on the head. I recall a demo a few years ago where the demonstrator turned out to be "THAT guy".,,I won't say that I don't like "THAT guy", but I didn't like the way that he conducted his program. Neither did most everybody else as people tried to discreetly sneak out of the room. It's hard to be discreet when about a hundred people are moving out "en masse". I would have been part of that migration, but was trapped in place by a couple guys who had either nodded off or were feigning death.

It is definitely unfortunate when a demo becomes derailed from the intended topic for whatever reason and gets into wasting valuable time dealing with unrelated matters such as wood that requires extra effort to achieve an acceptable finish. As Al mentioned, there are separate programs that address such topics as perfectly smooth or various textured and carved treatments.

 

[Dean Center]

Odie,
There's no way to avoid the possibility that my next paragraph will offend, but please understand that is not my goal and I respect your skill and your original contributions to the forum.

You started your comments above by saying that you had not attended a demonstration. With no personal experience, how are you in a position to judge the demonstrators' motivations?

I have attended Utah once, Rocky Mountain twice, and our club has monthly demonstrations and an annual workshop. I've done a couple demos for our club myself and am often the guy who finds the wood if the visiting expert requests we do so. I don't consider myself an expert on demonstrators, but from my limited experience, I have a few thoughts.

1. The majority of demonstrators seem sincerely interested in sharing what they have learned and helping the members of the audience, who vary in skill but are often on the beginner end of the spectrum, improve their turning.
2. The wood provided by the organizers varies in characteristics and the famous demonstrators sometimes do encounter difficult wood. This usually reduces their ability to convey the lessons they intended, as Owen points out, though on balance, the learning value may still be there.
3. As the guy who gets the wood sometimes, Murphy's Law applies powerfully--you think you've got enough of the requested wood, but it turns out you don't; or, the wood you select looks fine when you pick it, then on the day of the demo huge cracks have shown up or there's a nail revealed under the surface.
3. Personally, I don't believe a group demo is a very good way to present or learn the techniques you talk about. You don't have the close up view you need to see EXACTLY how the demonstrator applies the edge to the wood or rotates the tool through the cut, even with video equipment. IMHO, in order to learn these things you need to have a one-on-one or small group learning activity, ideally with you yourself having the tool in your hands. From a demo, in my limited experience, you CAN get a general idea of how someone very capable does these things and then go home and try it out yourself, and sometimes it actually turns out successfully, but it's chancy.
4. One thing you don't usually get out of a DVD or online video, no matter how many times you replay it, is how is the expert turner standing or moving his feet. If I attend a demonstration by someone very capable, I can see these things and other little nuances, though I may have to attend that same class with that demonstrator multiple times to notice all there is to see. ("You can see a lot by looking"--Yogi Berra)

Respectfully,

Dean

 

[Odie]

Odie,
There's no way to avoid the possibility that my next paragraph will offend, but please understand that is not my goal and I respect your skill and your original contributions to the forum.

You started your comments above by saying that you had not attended a demonstration. With no personal experience, how are you in a position to judge the demonstrators' motivations?

I have attended Utah once, Rocky Mountain twice, and our club has monthly demonstrations and an annual workshop. I've done a couple demos for our club myself and am often the guy who finds the wood if the visiting expert requests we do so. I don't consider myself an expert on demonstrators, but from my limited experience, I have a few thoughts.

1. The majority of demonstrators seem sincerely interested in sharing what they have learned and helping the members of the audience, who vary in skill but are often on the beginner end of the spectrum, improve their turning.
2. The wood provided by the organizers varies in characteristics and the famous demonstrators sometimes do encounter difficult wood. This usually reduces their ability to convey the lessons they intended, as Owen points out, though on balance, the learning value may still be there.
3. As the guy who gets the wood sometimes, Murphy's Law applies powerfully--you think you've got enough of the requested wood, but it turns out you don't; or, the wood you select looks fine when you pick it, then on the day of the demo huge cracks have shown up or there's a nail revealed under the surface.
3. Personally, I don't believe a group demo is a very good way to present or learn the techniques you talk about. You don't have the close up view you need to see EXACTLY how the demonstrator applies the edge to the wood or rotates the tool through the cut, even with video equipment. IMHO, in order to learn these things you need to have a one-on-one or small group learning activity, ideally with you yourself having the tool in your hands. From a demo, in my limited experience, you CAN get a general idea of how someone very capable does these things and then go home and try it out yourself, and sometimes it actually turns out successfully, but it's chancy.
4. One thing you don't usually get out of a DVD or online video, no matter how many times you replay it, is how is the expert turner standing or moving his feet. If I attend a demonstration by someone very capable, I can see these things and other little nuances, though I may have to attend that same class with that demonstrator multiple times to notice all there is to see. ("You can see a lot by looking"--Yogi Berra)

Respectfully,

Dean

OK, fair enough Dean......

I see a lot more in a video than you think I'm seeing. My basic comment was about the choice of the wood in the demonstrations I've seen on video. It doesn't take much ability to determine that mostly "easy" turning wood is being used. It's ok.......you are welcome to your opinion.

ko

 

[hockenbery]

OK, fair enough Dean...... I see a lot more in a video than you think I'm seeing. My basic comment was about the choice of the wood in the demonstrations I've seen on video. It doesn't take much ability to determine that mostly "easy" turning wood is being used. It's ok.......you are welcome to your opinion. ko

You want to see a video of someone turning a high risk difficult wood. There are two easy ways to get there.

1. You make the video and post it. You pick a difficult wood, turn it, make a video, and post it. There is a niche wide open for you to take over.

2. You Mail a dried warped 10"-12" diameter bowl to me. I'll make a video.
Once, I determine that it is structurally sound, has enough mass in the bottom to mount and turn safely and will yield a finished bowl with 1/4" thick walls,
I will try to finish turn the bowl and have someone video the process.

Assuming I succeed, I will then donate the bowl to the AAW in Atlanta as a collaborative between the two of us either to empty bowls or the silent auction depending on how it turns out.
I will post the video for discussion success or failure. We are going in with the assumption that it is high risk endeavor so failure is a possibility especially if there are hidden defects.

Editing the video for posting is a time consuming process which I may not get to until March.
I can post some photos right away and mail you the unedited video on a usb drive.


Al

 

[Odie]

You want to see a video of someone turning a high risk difficult wood. There are two easy ways to get there.

1. You make the video and post it. You pick a difficult wood, turn it, make a video, and post it. There is a niche wide open for you to take over.

2. You Mail a dried warped 10"-12" diameter bowl to me. I'll make a video.
Once, I determine that it is structurally sound, has enough mass in the bottom to mount and turn safely and will yield a finished bowl with 1/4" thick walls,
I will try to finish turn the bowl and have someone video the process.

Assuming I succeed, I will then donate the bowl to the AAW in Atlanta as a collaborative between the two of us either to empty bowls or the silent auction depending on how it turns out.
I will post the video for discussion success or failure. We are going in with the assumption that it is high risk endeavor so failure is a possibility especially if there are hidden defects.

Editing the video for posting is a time consuming process which I may not get to until March.
I can post some photos right away and mail you the unedited video on a usb drive.


Al

Hi Al........

I may make a video someday, but it's not high on my priority list of things to do. What motivates me isn't really within the "culture" of AAW membership......so, the priority for doing this is very low. As with going to a symposium, well.....never say never there, too!

You don't need me to supply a "high risk" dry, warped, seasoned bowl. I'm sure you can find one easy enough. You seem determined to be recognized as a "noted turner" much more than I will ever be......so, it makes sense that you pursue this from your own beliefs, instincts, and feelings, without any of my input. Besides, you know that I have to purchase all my own bowl blanks, and they are expensive......not to mention that I'm on a tight budget! I would rather use my wood for my own purposes.

Thank you for the offer, though.........

ko



Off topic.......My young nephew is helping me out with some computer expertise (I'm rather low on that scale!......on scale of 1 to 10, I'm a 1! ) He's designing for me a landing page for http://www.eccentricoldguy.com If there are any useful suggestions, I'll forward them to him. (He is aware that the Zebrawood bowl photo is too large for the space.) Eventually, I'll have my own unique website, but now is not the best timing for that, I think..........

 

[hockenbery]

Kelly,

The problem with doing a problem wood video is that the solutions to the problem are for that piece of wood and they won't fit the next piece of wood. Reed did a video a while back on working punky wood with a bunch of different tools. The tool that gave the best surface on that block may not be the one that gives the best surface on the next punky block.

The best preparation for dealing with problem woods is to build a tool kit by mastering a variety of techniques, cuts and tools then finding the one that works best in the situation you face. Learn the pull cut with the side ground gouge, learn to use a finger nail ground spindle gouge, learn to use the Michelson ground gouge, learn to use scrapers, learn to use the hunter tools, learn the flute up shear cuts, learn to use the negative rake scraper, learn spritzing with water, learn using a wash coat of shellac ( or lacquer)...
These are things I might use on a problem wood before resorting to matches.

The AAW is all about sharing our knowledge of and passion for woodturning among ourselves and the public. I have been fortunate to have received a lot of help and support from AAW members. I just try to pay some of it forward and not say "no" too often when I'm presented with an opportunity to do so.

You have benefited in small measure from the AAW support through the forum. I see a transition in the shapes of your bowls over the years to ones with more elegant curves Maybe some of it is due to the AAW maybe not.
In any event thanks for sharing.

Al

 

[Odie]

Kelly,

The problem with doing a problem wood video is that the solutions to the problem are for that piece of wood and they won't fit the next piece of wood. Reed did a video a while back on working punky wood with a bunch of different tools. The tool that gave the best surface on that block may not be the one that gives the best surface on the next punky block.

The best preparation for dealing with problem woods is to build a tool kit by mastering a variety of techniques, cuts and tools then finding the one that works best in the situation you face. Learn the pull cut with the side ground gouge, learn to use a finger nail ground spindle gouge, learn to use the Michelson ground gouge, learn to use scrapers, learn to use the hunter tools, learn the flute up shear cuts, learn to use the negative rake scraper, learn spritzing with water, learn using a wash coat of shellac ( or lacquer)...
These are things I might use on a problem wood before resorting to matches.

The AAW is all about sharing our knowledge of and passion for woodturning among ourselves and the public. I have been fortunate to have received a lot of help and support from AAW members. I just try to pay some of it forward and not say "no" too often when I'm presented with an opportunity to do so.

You have benefited in small measure from the AAW support through the forum. I see a transition in the shapes of your bowls over the years to ones with more elegant curves Maybe some of it is due to the AAW maybe not.
In any event thanks for sharing.

Al

Al.......

I agree completely that a variety of tools and techniques should be in the repertoire of each individual.

Of course, I have benefited from input and insight from other turners on this forum....including from you. My shapes are not the result of input from others, but wholly the result of individual effort. It's much more than about shapes......more so, it's all about the tools, techniques and procedures that I never would have evolved to, if I had sought help and advice from the AAW membership from the git-go. If I hadn't been actively turning some 20+ years in complete seclusion first, my journey would have been much more like others. I wouldn't change that for the world! From the beginning, it's all been a matter of making my own mistakes, and finding my own solutions to the many problems I've had.....and having NO personal input from others until I first logged into this AAW forum.

If you think I haven't been sharing what I know, you haven't been paying attention!

ko

 

[hockenbery]

Al.......If you think I haven't been sharing what I know, you haven't been paying attention! ko

Kelly,
Re read the last line you quoted p, you must have skipped it....

"Thanks for sharing"

Al

 

[Owen Lowe]

You don't need me to supply a "high risk" dry, warped, seasoned bowl. I'm sure you can find one easy enough.

Though I don’t know with certainty, I think Al’s reason for you supplying the rough turning was so that the wood’s difficulty rating would meet your criteria. Had he chosen one of his own pieces, you would have doubts about its true challenge level.

---

I’ve been thinking about how I approach my turnings regarding how I select wood from my stash. I usually have an idea of a finished piece when I go to the pantry and I search for an appropriate rough out to fit that idea. That search includes what species I want to use and a beginning shape. Every rough out has defects and I evaluate how the defects will affect the outcome of my idea: Can I eliminate the defect? Can I include it? How will the elimination or inclusion affect the outcome? How difficult will the work-around be? (I tend to side-step highly difficult work-arounds unless the defect will truly make the finished piece better.) When I can’t find a suitable rough out, I shelve the idea until I have the appropriate material to go forward. This is not to say that high risk, high difficulty rough outs don’t get used; they just have to fit the idea of the moment.

I would guess that when other turners choose pieces for video or demonstration a similar process is followed. Why put up hurdles if they don’t lead to fulfilling the intended outcome? On the flip side, if the goal of the demo was to show how to deal with difficulties, you wouldn’t choose a bland, straight-grained, defect free starter piece.