still working at it

Hi

Thought it was time to give an update. Busy times for me with various bits and pieces and my new project which is a range of work based on what I have been doing but including different materials is under way.

Unfortunately I do not have any pictures at this stage as I am still working on the different characteristics of the materials and trying to work out how to use them. Also my original ideas have changed since my last post and some have been shelved as being too time consuming and not commercially viable. ( Apart from when I get time to play).

It is the most fun part working in different ways with different tools etc. But I can get carried away and before I know it another month has gone by without much being done apart from experiments. ( which doesn't put food on the table). But hopefully will.

So I have also been making a lot of bread and butter items for the galleries I stock ( again behind schedule) but hey life is too short to go working too hard.

Part of the new range I am working on has involved looking at the way I work, how efficient this is compared to the traditional methods of roughing out unseasoned wood, seasoning, re-turning etc etc. Most traditional woodturning methods are pretty slow from a commercial point of view, but with a few alterations I have found my productivity raise perhaps 3-400%, if not more. Not that I have done any highly scientific trials, just a few time in motion studies for the pieces I have worked on.

One of the issues I have is that, and this dawned on me when speaking to another maker/friend, is that, I may have an idea but in 8 months time I have change my mind. While with my lidded forms I can just finish those for my bread and butter work. Some pieces just get left, as my original idea does not seem worth exploring further. Or I have just gone down a different route.

Being eclectic with my work keeps it interesting but means that some days I do not set foot in the workshop as I just do not know what to do. What piece to tackle. Also I am doing a lot of research etc which takes up the time, and probably will not been apparent in the final pieces..

So also now I am working through pieces just to get them finished.

Oh by the way my new pieces are not that far removed from my normal work, so I hope people are not expecting the next woodturning revolution. It has been done before, just I am doing it my way.

Must go and take the next piece out of the oven.