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Knowledge You Can Build On — Est. 1998

Abingdon, VA – Tree Cutting & Portable Sawmill

How many will I make tomorrow?

Posts

How many will I make tomorrow?

#1

How many will I make tomorrow?

Barry Irby

I've been making Christmas ornaments. I made a big batch three years ago and they did not sell. This year I dropped the price and they all sold in a heart beat. Now I need more. Started making them day before yesterday. Completely disorganized. Could not find anything. How does the chuck fall off a pin vice in a drawer and hide from you? I spent the morning walking in circles, scratching through piles of stuff, making blanks, Thinking and rethinking. Managed to make one. Yesterday I made two. Today Six. This is what my friend who sent all over the world setting up plants to make aluminum cans would call a classic startup curve. So, tomorrow? 1 to 2 is doubling. 2 to 6 is tripling. So do I have to quadruple tomorrow? I think I will be lucky to make 6 more.

Re: How many will I make tomorrow?

#2

Re: How many will I make tomorrow?

David Walser

I feel your pain. I just turned out some presents for our grandkids. When my mother saw them, she suggested making a bunch to sell. No way! It takes me way too much time to be doing this for money. I'm in it strictly for the pleasure!

Re: How many will I make tomorrow?

#3

Re: How many will I make tomorrow?

john lucas

Well I made 10 mirrors, 10 wine stoppers and 10 Gift ornaments in the last 2 or 3 weeks. I would do more but I'm baby sitting 2 grandkids along with my wife and still have lots to do around the yard which eats into my time. A friend came over the other day wanted to get a mirror for his wife. I said well I can just make one now. He said he didn't have long to stay. It was probably the fastest mirror I've made. I turned the good side of the mirror in 6 cuts. 3 pull cuts to get the shape close, 2 push cuts to really refine and clean it up and then one sort of pull/push to round over the outer edge. I turned the handle in a little over 5 minutes. Nothing fancy mind you but had it done, sanded and a coat of finish on in less than 30 minutes.

Re: How many will I make tomorrow?

#4

Barry, approach this project like a production....

JamieDonaldson

...turning job. I made 16 ornaments in 2 days last week, but the dyeing and gloss finishing took longer than just wiping on a finish. Prepare the blanks and turn in batches, globes together, finials with quick friction finish such as Mylands, then fit them together. I use a 1/2" hole drilled all the way through the globes, then hollow, and all the tenons on the finials are sized 1/2" to fit.

Re: How many will I make tomorrow?

#5

Re: Barry, approach this project like a production

Barry Irby

I agree. Even today I turned all the bells and then all the handles. I got better as I went along. At first I was shocked at how much I had forgotten. It was like a man poking a sharp stick at a spinning thing. Had not turned hardly anything in two or three years. Actually stopped and watched John's video and one by Allan Batty. It really did help.

Tomorrow I may try for ten. Running the lathe at 3500 rpm is a little odd. I normally turn bowls and 800 or a 1000 is really crazy for me.

Re: How many will I make tomorrow?

#6

George Balock

Re: Barry, approach this project like a production

George Balock

Barry,

I feel your pain. I turned over 40 birdhouse ornaments this season, working on the weekends only. After a while I could turn out 8 in a day. It's a matter of making your dimensions standard and getting your tools and materials all lined up and ready to go.

George

Re: How many will I make tomorrow?

#7

Re: Barry, approach this project like a production

Barry Irby

I get distracted. Or bored. I chase squirrels. Today I decided for no apparent reason to turn one with a globe on the end of a handle. I hollowed the globe and put some beads inside and glued in the handle. Its Not a baby rattle, its a maraca. In miniature. Next time I go to a Mexican restaurant I can be part of the rhythm section. I turned a second one, but the beads apparently got caught in the glue and do not rattle. Its for people that got no rhythm. The silent majority. I also found a little scrap of walnut that had a terrible knot on one side in the center. Turned it into a little bow about 4" in diameter. And six bell ornaments.