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Demo

Rusty Nesmith said:
will be doing my first demo by myself at our club Saturday. They want me to demo my barrel box.
Click to expand...

You’ll have fun and teach folks some useful techniques.

Timing is tough. What works for me is to time the turning in my shop at normal work speed.
I time major steps.
Then I multiply that time by three. I turn slower in demos, Talking, Questions,… all take up the extra time
Also club bussiness can take a few minutes out of a demo.

Most demos I do are 90 minutes. I pick 3 spots in the demo at the ends of major steps. I put a timer where I can see it.
Often my wife checks the time and signals me.
If I’m running fast I talk about something else. Some demonstrators tell stories or jokes.
If I’m running slow I’ll tell the folks what I’m going to do and then do it with minimal commentary.

An example in hollow form demos I need 10 Minutes to reverse turn the bottom if I haven’t finished the hollowing with 12 minutes to go. I make a clean sweep across the inside bottom I Show them how to cut any nub from the bottom center. Then reverse chuck and finish the foot in the last 10 minutes.

I also chat with the camera person. Give them a 20 second preview of the work. Suggest some shots.
I was nervous as heck in my first demo. Once the lathe started most of the butterflies flew away with the first chips.

Have fun
 
I was pretty nervous with my first one. I was doing a router inlay piece and my indexing system didn't fit the lathe. Luckily I had prepped a couple similar pieces and had them completed to different stages. I mounted and turned the piece to that point, explained what I would be doing if everything had worked out, then pulled out a piece and finished turning. The piece in my profile pic is the result.

You got this. Just relax, you're among friends/club members.
 
hockenbery said:
Timing is tough. What works for me is to time the turning in my shop at normal work speed.
I time major steps.
Then I multiply that time by three. I turn slower in demos, Talking, Questions,… all take up the extra time
Also club bussiness can take a few minutes out of a demo.
Click to expand...
Absolutely! I demoed at the Woodworking show this past Sunday at the Maryland fairgrounds. I had a three hour shift which turned into two hours as it was the last shift of the show and the place became a ghost town an hour before closing. I brought enough blanks to make about thirty tops, several goblets and a few smaller dried once-turned bowl blanks I thought I’d finish turn. Between kibitzing, answering questions, searching among the tools and supplies in my bags, and just going more slowly, I turned three tops and one goblet.
 
Looks like a great project to demo. Lot of mystery to explain for people who have not done that sort of work previously. Have fun with it, and remember to 'breathe'!
 
Thanks everybody. I have one blank. We have plenty of blanks at the club if I need another one. I am going out in the shop today and run through every step in my head and set aside each tool so I can sharpen and pack them in my bag. I am also bringing two finished barrels to pass around and one that is in the flock stage so I can show them that process. Around half of the members don’t know what flock is. We have six women in our club and they are the most excited. When I have brought them in for show and tell the women are the ones with the most interest and all of the questions. I am a little nervous but excited at the same time.
 
Hi Rusty, I've heard that the key to a successful demo is good preparation, and from your posts, it appears that you'll have that covered! Your barrel project looks like it would be a bit hit with your audience -have fun-- you'll do great!
I was wondering - would consider posting your barrel box turning in the forums "Projects" section? --- after the dust has settled from your current demo, of course! No pressure!
 
Congrats and have fun with it!

One thing I do - While I'm turning stuff in my shop (not just demo practice, but anything), I talk out loud about what I'm doing while I turn. It helps with translating the "doing" into words. Also is a good skill for demoing, keeps things flowing if you can talk-and-turn.

And if anyone walks into your shop, it just supports the notion that us turners are a little different from "normal" people :)
 
It takes me a week or more to get ready for a demo. I do make an outline of topics I want to cover, in big print so I can read it, and blue tape it to the headstock. If there are points you 'forget' some one always asks.... One good thing, especially if you want to instruct, is that you focus on your techniques rather than going through them on autopilot.... Have fun! Oh, I want to see the video!

robo hippy
 
Good luck with your demo! Have you thought about burning the lines before putting on the rings? You won't get the heavy starting and stopping lines at each ring that way. I make spherical ornaments with segments, and glue in a strip of walnut veneer for the lines.
 

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Richard Coers said:
Good luck with your demo! Have you thought about burning the lines before putting on the rings? You won't get the heavy starting and stopping lines at each ring that way. I make spherical ornaments with segments, and glue in a strip of walnut veneer for the lines.
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Right now I don’t think that is possible but I will have to look into it. I have to turn away the wood where the burning is to make the rings.
 
The thing that others do (and I've been too disorganized to put together) is a drawing of the project, list of steps, tools required, etc. People love handouts.

It is a cool project. It's got me wanting to make one. :cool:


Just found out our Saturday meeting will probably be postponed because of heavy snow and wind in the forecast. :(
 
If your going to turn one for practice and run through the steps in your head talk out loud like your doing the demo with people watching. The hardest thing I had to overcome when I started doing demos was to talk while i was turning. Explain why your using the tool your using and the way your presenting the tool to the wood. It helps new turners if you explain it while your doing it and why your doing it.
 
David Croxton said:
Hi Rusty, I've heard that the key to a successful demo is good preparation, and from your posts, it appears that you'll have that covered! Your barrel project looks like it would be a bit hit with your audience -have fun-- you'll do great!
I was wondering - would consider posting your barrel box turning in the forums "Projects" section? --- after the dust has settled from your current demo, of course! No pressure!
Click to expand...
Thanks David. This was the first I heard about the project section. That sounds like fun. I will look into doing it when things calm down. I am in the middle of also making a lamp for our clubs annual chapter challenge contest due for our February meeting
 
It may not apply to this particular project, but one thing that can really help a demo work, especially if the time is short for the project, is to make partially finished projects at different stages. For example, when I demo a honey dipper for the high school students (their class lathe project), I bring a spindle blank, but start with a blank that's already a cylinder, as that step of the process takes time but has limited learning value. As a similar example, at our club meeting last night the fellow who was going to demonstrate hollowing came with a blank that had a tenon on it, but was otherwise raw, and a blank that already had the outside turned and was ready to start on the hollowing. He decided not to show turning the outside, as that was similar to every other turning process, and stick to the hollowing part. This allowed him to give people chances to look and feel inside as he went, for him to answer a ton of questions, and still finish on time.

Also, if you need to glue something together or sand in between steps, this is a perfect situation to bring projects in the before and after stages. That way, the audience doesn't have to sit idle and bored waiting for the next action to start.
 
For me, instead of hand outs, I like to make a video. For sure, it is difficult to make money doing it, so for me, it is for 'educational' purposes... I do use a camera man, and after 10 years, we are used to each other...

robo hippy
 
Darryl Fective said:
I was pretty nervous with my first one. I was doing a router inlay piece and my indexing system didn't fit the lathe. Luckily I had prepped a couple similar pieces and had them completed to different stages. I mounted and turned the piece to that point, explained what I would be doing if everything had worked out, then pulled out a piece and finished turning. The piece in my profile pic is the result.

You got this. Just relax, you're among friends/club members.
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Hey Darryl you have a picture of your router jig I like to build one! And there are a lot out there but I am not sure of which way to go
tia
 
Robert Lindstadt said:
Hey Darryl you have a picture of your router jig I like to build one! And there are a lot out there but I am not sure of which way to go
tia
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There's not much to it; just a block of wood attached to the side of a trim router and a piece of plywood with a 1" diameter post.
 
It's great to read through this older thread for advice, I just accepted the invite to demo for our club in September. It's called TurnFest, one of the bigger demos we do each year, so I will definitely implement some of the great instructions and advice given here!
 
Gabriel Hoff said:
It's great to read through this older thread for advice, I just accepted the invite to demo for our club in September. It's called TurnFest, one of the bigger demos we do each year, so I will definitely implement some of the great instructions and advice given here!
Click to expand...
Congratulations. I've found that it is good to run through the demo several times in advance, for timing as well as simple practice. When the demo slot is an hour and a half, it is good to be able to do the full process in no more than an hour in your shop. That allows time for questions etc during the demo while staying within your time slot. It also helps, if possible, to know what lathe you may be using for the demo.
 
I just did my first demo at our club last week. I did a practice piece at home the day of demo, made a list of everything to take with me so I didn't forget anything (I'm good at that). A couple things to think about: is the lighting as good as you have at home and consider how much different the lathe you will be using is than the one you use all the time. Lighting wasn't as good at our club as at home. The lathe was a mini that was a lot lower than mine at home. These two things made vision very difficult. But you're young so your eyes are probably very good. Have fun.
 
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