cheap bowls

Re: cheap bowls

John Lucas

>Barry

I don't guess I saw those however if you make a large bowl from a narrow log you get an oval bowl. Take a 4" branch and make a bowl that is 6 or 8" long using the bark side as the top and the pith side as the bottom. You will get what looks like an oval bowl.

Re: cheap bowls

John Lucas

>Anthony

I'll bet you can't see his surface quality inthe photos. A neat stack of nesting bowls probably looks good in a photo because the average juror has no idea that it can be done with a tool that requires little skill to use. I'll bet they think he's turning each one by hand to those exact dimensions. John

Side by Side (Long Winded)

Raymond Overman in SC

>Let's preface by saying I'm an amateur at best. My pieces aren't technical, scratch free, perfectly finished specimens of woodturning. I haven't done a juried show. My work has improved 10 fold since last year and I'm constantly practicing, practicing, practicing. I've taken form and design into account this past year and have really tried to make items that were more eye catching, technical, and followed some design theory.

My father on the other hand has continued making nice looking pieces but hasn't followed the rules when it came to design, abrupt changes in direction, straight sides, bottom or top heavy pieces, etc.

We shared a spot this past weekend in a local spring festival show. His pieces sat beside mine and the only thing that differentiated them to the customer walking down the street was the name on the bottom. We both were able to sell pieces and people were happy with what they bought. He didn't prevent me from selling my pieces and I didn't prevent him from selling his even in the same booth.

It's interesting that someone mentioned this guy that was selling $38 bowls wasn't in the local club. That may be why he was able to sell his turnings and be happy with them. Our local club almost did a dis-service to me this past weekend. I had carried a few pieces in for instant galleries and received a few pats on the back and some critiques. Overall they were nice pieces and I was very pleased with them. From the feedback I had received from one professional turner in our club I had assumed that everyone goes by a little formula based on the skill and that my skill afforded me a low multiplier when it came to pricing. I had priced pieces at $50 and $60 based on their size. After talking to another professional in the club, he suggested some pricing and experimentation which I luckily followed this past weekend and increased my profit by 3 on a few pieces.

What I know is this, I can't force someone to buy a poorly turned bowl that is cracked, warped, poorly finished, or broken in half for $500. However, if that person has a vision of that poorly turned bowl that is cracked, warped, poorly finished, and broken in half in a particular spot in their collection, and they can afford it, they will happily pay the $500 and nothing else would suffice. If their vision is for the technically perfect segmented vase, they'll walk by me and neither of us are hurt by that. If they want a $38 bowl then I let them walk past and I'm perfectly satisfied as well.

The guy who sells 25 bowls for $50 and the guy who sells one turning for $1250 made the same amount of money. Which one worked harder? Both of them could have easily put the same amount of shop time in. Both could have talked to 250 people to sell their pieces. Both could get the same amount of pride and enjoyment out of turning.

The average Joe would have no question about the $50 bowl and if it was worth it. The $1250 piece may be a different story.

Re: cheap bowls

Raymond Overman in SC

>Do you think that someone who is looking to buy a $38 bowl will be tempted to buy a $138 bowl or a $1380 bowl if the $38 bowl wasn't available?

Do you think that someone who is looking for a $1380 bowl will be satisfied with taking home the $38 bowl?

Do you think the person who can't afford a $1380 bowl or a $138 bowl shouldn't have a bowl at all since all they have is two $20 bills?

100 $38 bowls, 10 $138 bowls, 1 $1380 bowl... 100 happy customers, 10 knowledgable happy customers, 1 critical but happy customer.

Re: cheap bowls

Ron in Drums PA

>Boy does that sound exactly like the printing business. Everybody who has a computer is a graphic designer. I used to do allot of design work for brochures, fliers and newsletters. Now I get to print allot of poorly designed pieces with quality down in the dumps.

The sad fact is these people are happy with what they produce and I'm not going to change their minds. So I focused on reproducing their grand designs faster and cheaper then they could. After I explain to them the per page cost of using inkjet cartridges they get the idea. Then I show them how my digital output looks compared to theirs and I have them sold.

Selling turning is the same thing. First educate the buyer to what quality looks like and how it is accomplished. Back it up with a guarantee of satisfaction. Then (hopefully) you can start offering your products for a higher price.

Re: cheap bowls

Barry Turner

>I thought we we talking about the same bowls, but maybe not. The ones I saw were at a booth across the street from the demo tent towards downtown. They were perfectly machined nested bowls. They were all rather shallow and both round and oval shapes. The rims were evenly cut, not like your natural edge rims. These were nice bowls, but there was so much "sameness" about them, they were just boring as hell. Every shape was the same, just different sizes. They were like utility maple bowls from a bowl mill in Vermont, not individually crafted bowls by a turner.

Re: cheap bowls

Edward

>What wood(s) were these bowls made out of?

They sound awful!

I would think that even with a coring tool, it would take at least an hours worth of labour just to cut the bowl blanks, return them, sand and put on a simple finish. Never mind obtain the wood, prepair it to be mounted on the lathe and then schlep this stuff down to a sale with the additional costs of the sale, etc. $38 (US ?) per bowl seems to be a pretty low return. What do you think. This looks like a wholesale source to me.

Edward

Re: cheap bowls

Barry Turner

>Well, they weren't awful bowls. Maybe they were from and artistic point of view. They were oak, cherry etc. They weren't awful, they just looked too mass-produced.