Hello everyone...my name is John Grace and was first introduced to turning in the 70s back in high school, cutting my teeth on an Oliver machine. Fell in love with turning but couldn't pursue it as a hobby for a number of years since for all the typical life reasons. To that end, I was able to get back into turning as a permanent hobby about ten years ago or so now and like many before me it's become my primary and most passionate hobby.
When I returned to turning, I finally settled on the Teknatool NOVA DVR XP as my machine...it seemed to meet all of my requirements at the time and has served we quite well since then. Just last week, however, I took a big 'gulp' and purchased a Robust American Beauty which should be arriving later this week. As for turning...I focus on all sizes of bowls and platters, almost exclusively on pieces that are food safe. Years ago I started selling my pieces at my local farmer's market and quickly realized that most if not all of my customers wanted pieces that could actually be used as opposed to something artistic. Something interesting that I learned almost immediately was how important being able to say all of my wood is sourced locally had a huge impact on sales.
My local market has what they call artist's month in late November/early December and the combination of local artists and wood harvested from my county really resonated with my customers. I'd be disingenuous if I didn't also mention that I sell my pieces incredibly cheap. Not because my pieces are shabby (or at least I don't think so)...but rather, because I sell my pieces to cover my costs and in order to purchase more wood. This is my hobby and I'd turn even if I didn't sell a thing but you can only give away so many pieces and I needed a means by which to create space for more and to off set the costs of my hobby. I've raised my prices accordingly to correspond with my skill improvements and will probably make a more significant jump in the next year or two as I turn more as a partial retirement income stream. In the end though...it will still be mostly for fun. And in the spirit of the 'fun' part...the thing I've come to enjoy most about the selling part is when returning customers come up to me and describe meals they served with my pieces or comments they themselves receive when they put my piece on their holiday table.
Anyways...hello from Maryland, cheers.
John
Tuckerswoodturning@gmail.com
When I returned to turning, I finally settled on the Teknatool NOVA DVR XP as my machine...it seemed to meet all of my requirements at the time and has served we quite well since then. Just last week, however, I took a big 'gulp' and purchased a Robust American Beauty which should be arriving later this week. As for turning...I focus on all sizes of bowls and platters, almost exclusively on pieces that are food safe. Years ago I started selling my pieces at my local farmer's market and quickly realized that most if not all of my customers wanted pieces that could actually be used as opposed to something artistic. Something interesting that I learned almost immediately was how important being able to say all of my wood is sourced locally had a huge impact on sales.
My local market has what they call artist's month in late November/early December and the combination of local artists and wood harvested from my county really resonated with my customers. I'd be disingenuous if I didn't also mention that I sell my pieces incredibly cheap. Not because my pieces are shabby (or at least I don't think so)...but rather, because I sell my pieces to cover my costs and in order to purchase more wood. This is my hobby and I'd turn even if I didn't sell a thing but you can only give away so many pieces and I needed a means by which to create space for more and to off set the costs of my hobby. I've raised my prices accordingly to correspond with my skill improvements and will probably make a more significant jump in the next year or two as I turn more as a partial retirement income stream. In the end though...it will still be mostly for fun. And in the spirit of the 'fun' part...the thing I've come to enjoy most about the selling part is when returning customers come up to me and describe meals they served with my pieces or comments they themselves receive when they put my piece on their holiday table.
Anyways...hello from Maryland, cheers.
John
Tuckerswoodturning@gmail.com
