Edward Olson

[Edward Olson]

Regards everyone! I have been turning for about 10 days now and I can't seem to stop. Within those ten days I have turned mostly spindle work, with one small "bowl", and a few "live edge" products if you will. Those will be posted in another thread though.
As for me, I'm 43 with a wife, three kids, 2 cats, one dog, and one bird....and a mother-in-law, so I spend a lot of time in the garage. Lol!
Seriously though I do have a goal with turning, and that is to get good enough to make small projects and sell them. I'm not trying to make a career out of it so small festivals and shows would be the extent of my range.
I'll discuss my gear and ask my other questions in their correct thread location.

 

[hockenbery]

Welcome to the forum,
The best investment most make is in a quality course. The most common thing heard is - the 3-5 day class put me years ahead of where I would have gotten on my own.

craft schools, Arrowmont and Cambell are good places.
David Ellsworth is now in NC and teaches at his home fall to spring.
Many other great turners in NC too.

Local chapters have learning opportunities.If you have not already done so connect with a local chapter of AAW.
They welcome visitors.
https://www.woodturner.org/page/Chapters

Check out the guest membership - some publications are available.
https://www.woodturner.org/page/GuestMemberLanding

You tube has the good the bad and the ugly. Consider searching first the
Videos screened by AAW volunteers for safe and effective practices.
http://aawvideosource.org/

Also this forum has the tips and techniques with quite a few project oriented threads.

This year the AAW symposium is in Raliegh. A great place to see a lot of everything - demos, tools, artwork, -it is only 3.5 days long and it take about 2 weeks to see it all so you have to choose. There are no bad choices but you are guaranteed to miss more than you see.

 

[John Torchick]

Welcome.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Welcome aboard, Edward. We can all identify with your experience of the addictive nature of woodturning.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

Welcome to the crew. As Bill said we are all addicted with no cure in sight.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Edward,
If your goal is to sell wood turned items a class or two in marketing and sales will go right along with wood turning classes. If you have access to an area that sees a large amount of tourism this can help with the market potential. Most woodturners that sell turned items also maintain a website which will require several varied skills to develop the website, photography skills and resources for archiving quality images, payment systems, etc. A unique product or design that makes you stand out in the crowd will help in your efforts. There are a number of postings on this site that address many of the questions woodturners have asked when it involves the marketing of wood turned items.