I seemed to have lost all interest in turning - and woodworking in general.
I've got a relatively new and barely used DVR XP, a bunch of sharpened turning tools and even dragged out a bunch of "been drying for four or five years" worth of claro walnut, ash, maple, cedar, apple, pear, apricot, . . . and a bunch of small blanks of exotics, hoping to some how restart my woodworking. I looked through my file folder of images of pieces from WOW and elsewhere I thought I'd someday have a go at turning. I went through my sketches.
Zip. Nada. Not anything that makes me want to try turning.
Charlie, you have so much talent and specialized expertise that you can set turning aside for an indefinite time and chase only that which challenges you and piques your creative "other" interests. You are not required to "conquer" your wood turning doldrums, and you shouldn't try to force enthusiasm upon yourself.
Charlie, try a new and different challenge; pens, scoops, 3D work. Get some time off from the mundane: do something you have never attempted previously! Good luck but don't leave us all alone out here in the forest with no one to guide us !! Please! Philip
I'm going crazy wanting to turn. LIke you I have a gazillion sketches of ideas I want to try. Now that I can't possibly try them until I get the new shop up and running it's driving me nuts.
I have 2 hobbies and I switch between them and it keeps my juices flowing. I started weaving rugs 30 years ago and stopped for 10 years while turning and now I switch between them . Some days turning in the AM and weaving in the PM. Works for me. There is not enough time and/or energy to get things done😎
For me, I do have some ups, and some downs, but the downs are mostly related to sanding... it has to be done. When I discovered turning, that was when I discovered what I should have been doing with my life all along. Always knew I had to work with my hands. Maybe it relates to the question "Do you ever get any pieces that you just can't bear to part with?" Nope, I can't wait to see what is inside the next piece of wood. Maybe you need a new groove for a bit...
I'd suggest some road trips. Regional turning symposiums, other AAW chapters, even pottery destinations. I get inspired by textures and glaze techniques, along with the colors of all periods of design. So add museums to the road trip list.
I love rough turning, and the creative process, but I sometimes hate to finish anything, because that means sanding and the tedious part of the process -- really holds me back a lot. I've recently collected a number of burls, but I seem to lack the spark to dig in the way I would have 10 years ago.
A road trip to experience & photograph wood art -- and in your case, sculpture -- might be helpful. Given your posts and interest in kinetics, I would not be surprised if you are more of a sculptor/inventor than a turner at heart. Maybe a time spent problem solving by inventing, designing, creating something new, with no conscious thought of turning, may result in a lot of fun, a creative outlet, and who knows ?, maybe a restored interest in creating 3-D objects utilizing the lathe. It is, after all, a tool or means, and not an end.
My hang up now is finishing pieces, and sanding is a great part of that. I have tons of turned pieces, most of them waiting to be finished. Thankfully, most of them have been sanded to the 320 grit stage. For some woods, that may suffice, but unfortunately, on some there is still a long way to go.
Charlie, teaching someone gets me going, especially kids!
Here at the farm I am mostly overloaded with llamas, horses, bees, peacocks, fences, firewood, mowing, construction, maintenance and more and have little time for woodturning. But when a kid, young or old, shows and interest I drop everything.
It is so rewarding to watch how they soak up everything, learn quickly, and the big smiles when they go home with something. Most want to make something to give for a gift but all seem genuinely excited about the process and you can almost feel the joy of accomplishment.
You never know how these kids are affected in the long run - some may turn out to be famous woodturners or artists and support families with wood, some lives may be enriched for many years!
I say kids, but over the years I have had dozens of people come to make something on the lathe or otherwise in wood, from about 10 years old to teens to 20-something to old people like me. Most are teens. A few were disadvantaged kids who had no way to buy a present but took home a present for mommy they "made" themselves. Some may not have good home life and really, really crave just the attention - it doesn't matter in the least what we make. :-)
We have made tops, pens, magic wands, bowls, rolling pins, conductor's batons, riding crops, honey dippers, tobacco pipes, flutes, routed signs, boxes... can't remember them all! These people are almost always new to the lathe or even new to making something. Most of the time they help plan and select and mark and "help" turn and I do the parts that need skill, then we both sand and finish.
It is rewarding even when the kids are on the other side of the world. I have made hundreds of little finger tops and other things and taken, shipped, and given to missionaries to take, for example, to an orphanage in Romania where the kids have nothing, no toys, some not even socks. (others sent the socks!) I once ebay auctioned a big platter to benefit a young mother who eventually died of cancer - it didn't help much but it probably helped a little. Another thing that makes woodturning rewarding: donate a bowl or vase or platter to a local nursing home or assisted living home.
This is one way I stay excited about turning wood and who knows, maybe even change a life in the process.
Charlie, as Brad said above, turning isn't an end, it's a means to an end. Whatever the gratification might have been in your recent past, maybe now your mind needs to concentrate on the ends that make you happy. My hunch is that those may include a lot of out-of-the-box interests that will call for a whole arsenal of skill areas, including turning.
I started my career as a woodworker, but eventually I realized that I needed to be solving problems that went beyond just woodworking, e.g., design, architecture, mixed media, manufacturing, publishing, etc., all of which were informed by my woodworking and turning experiences, but none of which were solely vested in them. You've already demonstrated your avid curiosity about mechanics and sound and animatronics. What else is lurking in your head?
Turning (or woodworking) for its own sake isn't meant for everyone. You might want to consider your wood-related activities as means to other ends.
Hi Charlie -- As a nearly exclusive bowl turner, last year I hit the same speed bumps in the road as you
describe! What pumped up my interest again was "a turn" -- (forgive the pun)-- towards making something totally new and functional -- turned wood and colored glass bird feeders! I have always enjoyed feeding birds, have made many flat board bird houses & bird feeders, but never had made a bird feeder, completely turned on the lathe. This variation of turning gave me the needed rejuvenation -- there is much needed design & creativity work involved, spindle work, bowl work, platter work, glass work, mechanical component parts, proportion considerations, and introduction of other media (glass & brass).
A typical wine bottle bird feeder with all turned parts might have a total of 7 to 10 turned components.
For example, I enjoyed the time spent experimenting with the cleavage process needed to cleanly cut discarded colored glass wine bottles into cylinders, without any cracks or breakage. I also found a way to use old brass door knobs for deflecting the falling seed from the wine cylinder above. These bird feeders can also utilize those old "less than perfect" bowls & platters that you might have stacked in your shop that were never quite right for a salad bowl or for a gift to a good friend. The finished bird feeder, resurrected from unused turnings, incorporating the colored glass wine bottle cylinder, has made for many nice gifts to family & friends, with "over the top" grateful feedback, from all the recipients to date.
(The birds really like them too!) Try one Charlie, I think you will enjoy turning again!
A few pictures are attached.
Best Regards,
Lee Tourtelotte - Minnesota Woodturners Assoc.
leetourtelotte@msn.com
PS -- Sorry -- I couldn't figure out how to upload the bird feeder pictures to this posting, that are stored on my computer? If interested, send me an email & I will send you several pictures.
Artists of every stripe (visual, writers, musicians, all) are subject to being "blocked" at one time or another. There's a whole branch of psych that specializes in "treatment of the disorder". Worst thing seems to be to try to fight through it as the more energy you pour into the fight the stronger the "wall" gets. From experience and conversations with others, I find the best thing to do is relax and do something completely different for a while. The Muse is a fickle bitch and you may just piss her off enough by ignoring her that she'll get tired of being ignored and relent; especially if you take up with a different muse!
As Ellis mentioned, find something else to play with. The motor skills for turning wood will get a bit rusty but they'll polish up just fine when and if you're really ready to do more.
I hear what you are saying, but from personal experience be really certain that you want to step away permanently - maybe you just need to step away for a few months. Two years ago we felt that we needed to make a long distance move to another part of the country due to medical issues that I was having. In the haste to accomplish this move, with no option for a shop where we were going to be moving to, I sold my lathe, a ton of turning tools, and a large stash of great wood. As it happened, the move did not take place, and a different doctor changed my treatment and prognosis - now there isn't a day that goes by that I don't regret selling off my "stuff" - and I sold it off at a fire sale price to get things done. Now there is no money to replace things that I had been acquiring over the years when I was still working, and it looks very much like turning for me is over. Just be certain that you are really ready to give it up permanently.
Find another talented friend to collaborate on a piece or two that would be beyond each of your individual abilities. You can find new energy just bouncing ideas back and fourth.
Or find a young person who is showing interest and talent, and teach them some of your tricks. Something about sharing your knowledge is very rewarding.
