The question below about turnings golden age got me to thinking about the forum participation. I try to keep up with 5 forums and to me all seem to be down. Is it just the time of year, are turning forums going by the wayside, or are people simply not turning.
I am not turning much right now. My Dad has reached the end and I've been spending more time in Atlanta than I am at home. when you get home you have to catch up on all that needs to be done at home and I don't get to play on the lathe much. Don't have any way to predict how long this will go on but obviously turning is not high on my list of priorities. However it is a great stress reliever which is why you still see a few things coming out of my shop.
So is anyone else turning or are forums simply going out of vogue. Some have said Facebook is taking over. I don't do facebook so don't know.
John. I prefer the forums, and at this point, I don't do Facebook either. Too much big brother stuff, and I don't feel the need to live my life online!
The forum activity seems to ebb and flow.....as does shop time for me. Lately I have been busier than a one-armed wallpaper hanger who works by himself!
In the last month, I did manage to turn a natural edge bowl out of ASH from the 3rd Winchester Battlefield [Civil War era] and some bottle stoppers [which I don't do many of those, but had some small pieces of spectra ply I got from Willie Simmons at his Central Virginia demo]. They turned out very nice.
I for one really appreciate the forums and most of the folks who are regulars have developed into a broader community of support. For example, a few days ago, Dick Coers posted a solution to a collet chuck problem that I and others were having, and he gave info that helped me use the set correctly and self eject the collet.
John, I think the number of forums is a big part of the problem. You said you try to keep up with five. How much time are you willing to spend on the computer following the forums rather than spending it in the shop? I follow four plus the WC turning chat. Two of the boards (WC and WOW) are fairly active, the other two or segmented and are not real active yet they do take time to read even if I don't post all that much. The end result with the number of forums plus facebook and other social media all are diluted. Also, we can't forget the subscribed YouTube channels and blogs.
It's a small wonder there is as much activity as we have yet when has an actual question gone unanswered?
I started shifting to FB in 2008, finding that it worked for me. I have 3 pages myself, one for woodwork, one for penmakers and another for Pens For Canadian Peacekeepers. I find it works best fro me althought I do come back to WC weekly.
I monitor the forums frequently but really don't spend a lot of time there. when I come in the house for bathroom breaks or lunch I check the computer. I get notices on my phone which is in the shop and of course first thing in the morning and last thing at night. If I do it that way I rarely have to spend more than 5 or 10 minutes at any given time.
When you consider that I rarely sleep past 6 and I working in the shop or yard until at least 6 that evening, you can get a lot done. IN the summer months when it stays light later i often work until 9pm. I rarely just sit down. that's not me.
My turning is off just a little, but getting close to sending off 15 bowls. I'll post a picture after two more coats. I'm going to work on a marketing plan for heritage work very soon. I had two great jobs this year, equaling 27 bowls and vessels from 3 family trees. Sure a lot better than standing at an art show all day to sell 2 or 3 big items!
I visit most every day but just don't post much-never really have. I don't turn much that is post worthy. This time of year I spend more time outside working in the yard or canoeing/kayaking and hiking. I still turn a little now and then. I am in the process of finish sanding some Beech bowls that I once-turned and packed in shavings while still wet. It's amazing how oval they end up after sanding.
I suspect many people are just very busy because its spring -- at least in rural areas, that means yard work, getting gardens ready, and getting outside to enjoy the warmer weather.
Take today, for example -- about 4" of snow so far this morning, so I just may take the dog for a swim in the pond!
The snow is for real, but the swim is just a joke. Worked outdoors all day yesterday (in a T-shirt, fer cry'n out loud!) cutting/dragging firewood off the hill and getting material for fences, chicken coop, hoop house, and stone walls, and now I'm sore and watching the snow slide off the roof. Need to get some computer work done.
May get to turn a bit tomorrow -- need to get a few bowls finished for a market where I'll start displaying (and, we hope, selling) soon. No progress on the new shop in a month or so -- just too busy.
... and forum activity is absolutely predictable, at least on a relative seasonal scale. Highest traffic is in Jauary and February, lowest in July and August. The graph looks like a sine curve and hasn't changed appreciably in the whole time I've been watching it. My best guess is, as Brad said, in the Spring our thoughts turn to lawn mowers and outdoor activities. Not to say we don't do a lot of turning, but we've got a lot of other stuff going on, and posting goes down. In the dog days of summer, unless your shop is air conditioned, you probably are spending more time vacationing or at least lying in the shade somewhere. And when there are fewer posts, there are fewer visits, but not many questions are unanswered, no matter what time of year.
One question that intrigues me as moderator of this place is what would you folks suggest for off-season forum activities that would be interesting and/or informative to our readers? For one thing, I'm actually biting the bullet and launching a WoodCentral presence on Facebook. I'm not sure what it will be -- a group or a business community page. I have to figure out how to cross-reference it to this site and reach out to a lot of folks who might not even be aware that we exist. I'll be needing some of you Facebook aficionados to like and share whatever it is, so we can multiply our reach. It could take me a while to get a handle on this stuff, because I've never had any interest in having my life hung out on the Facebook clothesline, or dealing with reading posts from a thousand friends I never knew. )
Suggestions always welcome. This might also make a good chat topic some evening.
Crazy busy, it's hard to monitor what's going on...grandkids in little league, kitchen's still not done, classes to teach, big garden, a couple of turning commissions, motorcycle needs the carbs overhauled (all 4 of 'em) time to start mowing.....
This time is busy for me. When I get back from Europe it is working on the garden, orchard, bees, fencing, mowing, animal care, shearing all the llamas and alpacas (big job!), and starting on the new barn. I have a turning class for four beginners but probably not much turning myself for a few months.
I like to follow the forums every day but I really don't have anything new or original to contribute, perhaps just an occasional reply.
Our Maine Turners is a den of antiquity, very few turn for a living, some are dedicated but must are laid back.
It seems to me that the turning boom came right along with the back to the land movement of the 70's.
Not many young people have the means to buy a lathe and tools, so it is more like a rich old person thing.
That said, there is a new worldwide interest in crafts, people of all ages and ways of life are sick of plastic and electronics, and woodworking seems to be in a revival, specially green woodwork, there is something atavistic about wood, so it feels right to work with it and wood does not lies to us.
So people young and all and of all genders, are rediscovering the joy of working with our hands and enjoy making everything themselves as much as possible.
From what I read about the "maker movement", a large percent of it centers around laser cutters, CNC routers, and 3D printers. Then for woodturning, you add in the carbide insert scrapers for woodturning, and you don't get a group of folks that want to learn hand tool skills. I guess it could just be called a different path to a result.
I only follow this forum and WOW. I'm sure there are other good ones out there, but these seem to fit me well. I used to follow a few others, but just don't have the time. I haven't really even posted much in the last few months. Just been too busy with other things and haven't really had much productive to say. Unfortunately, my shop time has paralleled that, but I'm hoping to change that in the next month.
>>From what I read about the "maker movement", a large percent of
>>it centers around laser cutters, CNC routers, and 3D printers.
It may be a large percentage somewhere, or perhaps that is the most visible segment or a result of the fad "maker" label being claimed by the computer/laser/3D crowd.
I have visited and know some in a local Makers club. Much of what I saw was centered around hands-on development with component electronics, programming for robotics and control (eg. Arduino programming), chemicals, shaping things by hand, and things made of new and common materials. Yes, there was an interest in running store-bought cutting and printing machines but not a dominate faction.
I know many people who are quietly inventing and making things by hand with metals, ceramics, cloth, animal fibers, wood, glass, paper, and stone who just don't fly the Maker flag.
I am just a follower of this form, I enjoy it very much.
One thing to look at is pintrist. https://www.pinterest.com/ I tend to go there for project ideas. My wife and her friends got me started there. She was a fabric artist and many artists and craft people hang out there.
Aha. Yes, I've stumbled into Pinterest once or twice and found it (p)interesting, although it's another rabbit hole waiting to happen for the unwary. I'm not sure how Pinterest could serve us, but I'm open to suggestions.
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