What do you hate the most about turning?

Nothing to really hate, but ... :)

Mike Rubes, Apex, NC

>Hi Carole,

There's really no part of turning that I hate. Every part of it is fun in a way. Some parts are more fun than others, though. I would say the part that I like least is the frustration I sometimes get in trying to dry bowls. If a drying bowl cracks, I always feel like I could have done more to prevent it from cracking. I've tried several different ways of drying, alcohol, wax and wait, anchorseal and wait, pack with shavings and wait, etc and think that there really isn't a "one good" method for drying, but rather that some woods will work better one way, some another. What I am missing is the knowledge to know which way with which wood!

Still, it is that uncertainty in the drying process which I like least about turning.

Re: What do you hate the most about turning?

Ruth Niles

>I have to agree with Russ, Ron and John Lucas, there's nothing I "hate" about turning. Oh, a few little things get annoying but, as someone already mentioned, I find the annoying things a challenge to find a better way. If a piece of wood is onery, chipping or cracking, I toss it and start another. "Life's too short to turn crappy wood"!

Turning is my therapy, it's satifying, there's a finished product to love, I support myself with my turnings (*no, I don't make enough for most others to consider "making a living" but it's enough for my life style) and I don't have to buy mulch! What more could anyone possibly ask for? I often say I should get a job so I can have weekends off...... ; )

Shavings in the shorts!

Gary Evans, Tallassee, TN

>

Re: What do you hate the most about turning?

JanManuel

>Oak is the worst....there have been a few jobs I've turned in oak, that the side of my left hand starts to get sore to the point of bleeding a little...from all those splintery bits hitting me....i've taken to covering that part of my hand with a band-aid of some sort in self-defense...

Now, Corian.....the dust/shavings from that you barely notice it's there....it's not nearly as obnoxious....

Re: What do you hate the most about turning?

Jorge Castaneda ~ Downeast Maine

>Molly,

A suggestion is to work outside on windy days, when you must be inside for whatever reasons, put a fan and a dust collector near each other and work on the gap between. Noisy, but better than smoke inhalation.

Jorge

My sore back!

Ray Thompson - Middletown,IN

>I can only turn for 15-20 minutes before my back starts to kill me. Flat work doesn't bother me for the most part but the lathe will do me in quickly. I know it's to low but it fits my wife and it's her lathe;)

Ray

Re: My sore back!

John K Jordan

>>I know it's to low but it fits my wife

>and it's her lathe

Besides looking into getting your legs shortened, have you tried one of those wide elastic back/kidney support belts with velcro fastening? I keep on near the lathe for when my back starts to complain - it helps a lot.

JKJ in East TN

Re: What do you hate the most about turning?

John K Jordan

>>splintery oak

The last spindles I turned with bloodwood were the worst I've seen - needle-sharp splinters everywhere. I was surprised that the surface came out so nice.

JKJ in East TN

Well, there are a couple of things...

David

>1) $ that you find out you will spend only after you purchase a lathe and the endless parade of "gotta haves" that you don't really "gotta have".

2) The near certainty that eventually health problems will follow without good air filtration system that I can't afford.

3) When the wood is so blasted hot coming off the piece that it is all I can do to finish a pass.

4) My impatience in developing proficiency.

5) Somebody above said they only had 3 hours a day to turn. A day??? Are you kidding? I get maybe three hours a week if it is a good week.

Re: My sore back!

Ed in No.VA

>Ray

Raise the lathe then build a platform for her to stand on.

Re: What do you hate the most about turning?

Chris Wright

>Not owning all of the cool tools I want!

Re: What do you hate the most about turning?

RonZ

>I almost do have a chuck for each jaw so I don't hate it so much anymore.

I don't like:

Getting such a late start in it on life

Hands, trigger finger, turner's elbow and many assorted aches and pains that occur when I turn

While I'm not thrilled at sharpening, I do enjoy the pleasure of using a tool I sharpened well.