What's happening???

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Dario

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Apr 14, 2005
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Austin, TX, USA.
I think I am on a (turning) rut again.

Here I am with tons of wood (literally), hundreds of milled pen blanks and approximately 300 pen kits in my hand with lots of free time and I am not turning!!!

Well I made 6 pens the past month but that's it. I used to turn as much as I can up to 3am even if I have to go to work a few hours after and produce about 6 pens a night.

I used blame the weather, temps of 100+ seems to turn me off from turning...but the weather is perfect ranging from 40's to 90 (mostly 60-80) nowadays and I am still not getting much done!!! :(:([V]

Anybody else go through this?
 
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Yes...absolutely! In the last six months the closest I have come to turning is religiously reading and participating in this forum. Thought it was just me so I'm glad to hear someone else going through it.

I jump-started my excercise program this week so will hopefully start feeling like I'm accomplishing things again and will start turning. Don't see the sense in forcing myself to turn when I'm just not feeling creative. I do periodically go down to the shop to clean and rearrange things though.
 
Dario,

I know what you can do with some of those Mesquite blanks that are collecting shop dust.[:D] I have wanted to try something Lou told me about while he was in Provo.

Ryan
 
Dario

It has happen this year to me. Only twenty - thirty pens since January. Part of the problem I have been remodel the whole house. I still have 28 sheets of dry wall to hang. I finished all of the wiring. The house had tube and knob wiring which was in real bad shape.

I have to be done in two weeks since the wedding is at the end of the month.

Since my heart attack a 1 year and half ago, I have not been moving real fast. It takes me forever to 4x8 sheets to the ceiling and thats with a helper.

Hope to be at pen turning next month. I have a large christmas order to get out.

Alan
 
I know what you mean. What it means is that YOU ARE ARTISTS, not crafters (Nothing against crafters) Artists get the unquenchable urge to create and they do. When they have fulfilled this need to express themselves through their work, they take a respit, so that their creativity is renewed. I believe that I am an Artist. Therefore, I do not work in my shop on a regular basis ie: 9 to 5 three days a week. Woodworking, for me is an AVOCATION not a job/business.

I do take on projects that are a challange. Right now, in the works, I have a Heirloom Cradle to build ( A Labor of Love and a BIG CHALLANGE for me!) for a new member of our family. Four table legs, two of which are partially done. A challange - the homeowner started them, had some problems, and got afraid of what was happening with catches, etc. The challange being that I need to redesign the ones done, to clean up the catched and make to more to match. The proceeds will pay for a new lathe. That's another insentive.

When these are done, I will clean up my shop and relax for a week or two, or three, or................. who knows.

Go with the flow and enjoy what you do. When it becomes WORK - Step back and take a break. The results fill be invigorating.

Bruce
 
Yup know the feeling well... I got everything I needed to get done for my farm market booth and now just don't really feel a "need" to do anything on the lathe... maybe just temp burn out...
I am working on some new artwork for lasering... specifically scrimshaw style work for some imitation ivory, and some celtic designs for some Irish bog oak...
 
Yep, happens to me alot, I go down to work in the shop , get in my easy chair to figure out what it is I want to do, change my mind a couple of times, then try and do a redesign of something, and the next thing you know, I fall asleep in the chair [:D] Nothing gets done [V]
 
Originally posted by PenWorks
<br />.....I go down to work in the shop , get in my easy chair &lt;snip&gt;

next thing you know, I fall asleep in the chair [:D] Nothing gets done [V]
Click to expand...

Maybe you should get rid of the easy chair and use a stool [}:)] [;)]
 
I only have a tall bar stool in my shop so if I fall asleep I'm in deep trouble. [B)] Sleep tite Anthony.

Wayne

Originally posted by PenWorks
<br />Yep, happens to me alot, I go down to work in the shop , get in my easy chair to figure out what it is I want to do, change my mind a couple of times, then try and do a redesign of something, and the next thing you know, I fall asleep in the chair [:D] Nothing gets done [V]
Click to expand...
 
Originally posted by Tangboy5000
<br />Awww, I don't want to hear that Tom. Get back out there![:D]
Click to expand...

Only temporary Charles.. only temporary.... [:p][:p]
Never lasts all that long... probably get my act back together some time next week....
 
Dario:
As you can see from these posts, you are not alone in your "Turners Block". I assume it happens to all of us from time to time. I have only made a few pens in the last several months, and have been focusing on different projects (miniatures, ornaments, bottle stoppers, etc).
I had been considering putting the lathe "away" for a while and going back to some "flat" projects that I have been putting off, like re-building my lathe station and workbench area.
Just a suggestion: Try something new. Do a few bowls or hollow vessels. Maybe some ornaments or a segmented piece... or, just take a break. Sometines, that's all you need.
 
I just ended a long, long slump. maybe 10 pens in 18 months or more. then last week end I turned but did not finish, 32 pens. have a bunch more in there boxes waiting for there turn, Like that pun?
actually this is the result of many small ideas getting set aside for so long. now I have lots of pieces waiting to be put together.
 
I seem to go on kicks myself. The summer here makes it difficult to get out there even when you want to but when I did get out there this summer all I did was bowls. As you may have noticed I am on an ornament kick right now, they are a nice change of pace too.
If I was to offer any advice, it would be to not go in the shop if you don't want to. I think most of us turn because we like to not because we have to. If it becomes a chore, you may just lose interest. Like many others, if I'm not feeling creative but want to be in the shop, I just go out and clean or rearrange. Sometimes that will spur on a project, or you might even find some of the stuff you lost in the shavings.
 
I have been rebuilding my shop for the last 4 mos. The only pens turned since early spring are the ones at a Woodcraft demo weekend before last. I don't have words to describe how good it felt to make someone smile, knowing they will soon be turning wood too! With the shop nearly complete I will be cool in summer and warm in winter. I think we all reach a saturation point and take a break. To do otherwise makes relaxation a job. Now the holidays are near and soon our shops will all be humming and our talents again will surface.

Jim
 
This seems to be an epidemic. In the last 6 months I've made probably 5 pens, 1 bread knife, 1 wine stopper, and a kiddish cup (wine cup). The kids that I taught during the summer made a total of 20 pens and pencils. Hopefully once I get everything that I need to get done on my house (the never ending list), I'll be able to turn more often. Of course, things could change if I get the house that I'm buying (waiting on the owner to sign the contract since August).

Kol Tov,
 
Okay...I feel a bit better now.

I guess being a home body, I just miss my baby, kids and wife. I am home alone this whole week and instead of being "productive" I am sulking [V]. I really thought I will get a lot done but it is the opposite. Hopefully things will change next week.

Thanks guys!!!
 
I've made 5 pens this year and 3 of them went to the charity auction. I did make over 60 bottlestoppers, 20 honey dippers, 10 ringholders, 10 keyrings, one magnifying glass and 5 dibbles though!
 
Dario and everyone else,
I know exactly how you feel. I don't have the same issue that some do when it comes to making 6 or 10 or whatever number of pens in the last year or 6 months. I really couldn't tell you how many pens I have made this year. Probably somewhere around 400. My problem is at the moment I am working on a 200 pen order and I'll be darned if I am having a hard time motivating myself to get back out there every evening and knock out some more of the same bloody pens! Over and over and over....Y'all have seen my work. I love segmenting and designs and cutting blanks apart and gluing back together to see what can be created. I'm looking forward to having some fun with it again and posting my next creation on the board. Well'p I have about 75 more to go so I guess I shouldn't be here typing, I should be out there seeing how many other crevices on my body I can get wood chips in!
 
The bad news is that you don't have a monopoly on this. The good news is that it goes away.

The part that is hardest for me is the drudgery of drilling and gluing blanks. If I didn't have to do that I would spend a lot more time turning.

The way that I get out of my ruts is to either turn a different kind of pen, a different project (goblet or Christmas ornament), learn a new method like chasing threads, etc.

Or I start to focus on the finish or maybe some kind of special turns. Or I start to look at ways to combine kit parts.

I really get into the rut when I feel like I have a deadline to follow - such as a large pen order (more than 3 of the same thing.) [:I]

And you know what? It's OK to not turn pens.
 
I haven't been making pens lately, because I haven't been selling them lately. When gas prices went up, sales went down...way down.

I turned my attention to improving my Web Site, and learning everything I can about Web development. I used to think that finding that perfect finish was complicated. That's nothing compared to the alphabet soup of stuff that happens behind the Web Browser. HTML, XHTML, XML, PHP, MYSQL, JAVA, CSS, and the list goes on. Fortunately, it is all based on logical commands, rather than subjective beliefs. I like that. [:)]
 
Originally posted by Dario
<br />I think I am on a (turning) rut again.

Anybody else go through this?
Click to expand...

I too am in a rut. Last Monday I started to turn a black corian cigar pen. I ran out of shop time when the blank was round. The blank sat on the lathe till today. I finished the pen. When the assembly time came around the bottom blank was about 1/8" to short. It was the proper length (I think) when I put the whole thing on the lathe.

I THINK IT SHRUNK while just sitting on the lathe.[:(!][;)] My wife thinks I screwed up, my son, though, thniks the blank did shrink.

What do you think????
 
I think the hardest part for me is work. When I get busy, I may not be able to get in the shop for a week. But eventually I do. I kinda got bored of stabilizing corn cobs. I got down to twelve corn cobs left before I start doing them again. I normally have about a 500 to 1000 ready.

Unlike everyone else, when it is dead around here, it is really jumping for me!!![:D]
 
Dario. You are sick. Since I am a doctor I think I can help. You are suffering from acute amboyna burl poisoning. Having too much of it under one roof caused apathy and no-penturnitis. Lucky for you the cure is simple. Find a large box, fill it with amboyna burl blanks and a few pen kits and send it to ........[:D][:D][:p][:p][;)]
 
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