Stuck - No Motivation

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J

jking

Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2007
Messages
83
Location
Des Moines, Iowa
I started turning pens a few years ago. It seemed like a fun thing to do & would get me started on turning. I planned to branch out into small bowls as I built up some experience.

I haven't turned anything in over a year. The last pen I worked on I realized I turned the upper half to the wrong size when I started assembly. I've never gotton back to fixing it. I can't get motivated to get back to turning anything, even though I want to.

Anyone else have a similar problem?
 
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Sometimes I get in a funk and don't turn for a few weeks. But with all the casting I do I'll end up making a blank that I just have to go turn to see how I did. Then I get the turning bug and do several in a short time. It's a cycle that seems to work for me. Maybe find a local turning club and sit in on a meeting, see if that lites a fire. I get alot of inspiration from all the great work I see here and it puts a spark in me to do something.
 
Thing you have to realize is that we all make mistakes. But that is how you learn. Take notes on those mistakes regarding the different kits you may build and reference those the next time you go to build one, that way you dont make the same mistake. If it makes you feel any better, I was knocking out pens left and right for a good while till I started making my quarter blanks, economy crashed and so did my pen sales, so i began to focus more attention on the design of my blanks rather than make pens that arent selling. Now, much like Jonathon, i will get an itch, and gotta turn something! Give it time, and do it when you can have some uninterupted turning time to just make whatever comes to mind!
 
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I think I was in you situation, I would start a new pen. Don't worry about that one right now. You can go backk to that one later. Go make something that you think you might like and see if that gets the juices flowing again.
 
Only reason I haven't been turning much, I have to move the table and lathe outside the storage shed to work and by the time I get home from work, it is 105 degrees outside and it is just too dang hot to drag it out and be miserable out in the heat.
 
When that happen to me (because it does happen to most of us i guess), i go to the photo album, take one of the great pen there and challenge myself in doing one like it. Somettimes it will take me weeks just to figure out how the blank was made. In last resort, i drop a PM to the original maker and i have never been turned around by one of them. They would give you some advice, some with lots of details, other with just enough to keep you going (i like those).

Just a challenge, this is what restart me ! :) Hope you get the flame back.
 
I think we have all been where you are. I know I have. I know I have gone weeks, even more than a month, without turning anything. Here are a few things I have done to get me going again.

* Clean the shop. Sometimes you come across something to inspire you.
* Forget about the one pen you messed up. Put it on the side, out of sight and start a new one.
* Turn something besides a pen. Bottle Stoppers and finger tops are easy and don't cost much if anything to make. Tea Light holders are another easy item.
* Invite someone over to turn with you. Even if you don't know another turner invite a friend or relative and teach them how to turn. I have done this on several occassions and it really gets me motivated.
* Move your shop! Mine is in the basement so I never liked turning down there in the nice summer months. This year, for the first time, I moved my mini lathe into the garage. I now feel like I'm outside when turning.

If all else fails, just force yourself to go into the shop and turn a pen. I've done this and have found once I started to do something I was back into turning again.
 
I am just beginning but had the same experience with scrolling. I found that I got bored of "easy or basic" patterns so I found hard ones that would challenge me. Still happens to me now and then. Now I am looking for a large clock that the wife will like.. and starting a new hobby of turning...
 
Challenging yourself can usually get you to the point you want to be. Find something that looks like you would like to try and then teach yourself how to do it. Failures can also be a source of motivation. I like to keep at it until I either get it or learn that it cannot be done the way I have been doing it.
 
seamus7227 said:
Give it time, and do it when you can have some uninterupted turning time to just make whatever comes to mind!
Click to expand...

This is more the problem than anything. About the time I turned my last pen, I was getting very busy with work & a project at church. I simply didn't have any time. My small turning area has been crept in on as SWMBO keeps buying more stuff. I would literally have to move stuff out of the way to turn & then put it back. I usually have less than an hour at the end of the day to myself. Most of that time would be spent moving things around & getting set up. At this point I might as well sell the lathe. What good is a hobby if you don't have time for the hobby?
 
I've been sweating like a pig and been eaten by mosquitos all summer cranking out pens that customers have paid me to make, but I've no desire to make an 80 hour pen for myself right now. I'm in a funk too—but it's heat induced. The first break in this hellish heat wave we're having in Texas will push me right back into the shop to make myself a wonderful segmented pen.
 
jking said:
seamus7227 said:
Give it time, and do it when you can have some uninterupted turning time to just make whatever comes to mind!
Click to expand...

This is more the problem than anything. About the time I turned my last pen, I was getting very busy with work & a project at church. I simply didn't have any time. My small turning area has been crept in on as SWMBO keeps buying more stuff. I would literally have to move stuff out of the way to turn & then put it back. I usually have less than an hour at the end of the day to myself. Most of that time would be spent moving things around & getting set up. At this point I might as well sell the lathe. What good is a hobby if you don't have time for the hobby?
Click to expand...

Looks like you just identified the problem. It sounds like you and SWMBO need to work something out so your hobby space is is YOUR space. I would be dicouraged as well if I had to move things all the time.
 
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