I have taken the liberty of capturing Barry's comment on the HOT TOPICS thread and begun a new thread, away from the "how much turning is involved" conversation. It seems to me that he raises an entirely different topic - how do we reach out and what do we do when reaching out to new turners.
======== From Barry Elder ================
Well, deep subject of a million thoughts from a million people! After spending thousands of hours, maybe, cutting up many trees that had been destroyed by the hurricanes of 2004, I remember becoming hypnotized by all the shavings coming off the wood, seagrape, in this case, how the piece changed with every revolution on my 1236, and I learned how to make that lathe dance and sing and turn beautiful pieces out of God's wood that he had given to me, or I should say US! And then, I think about how many new turners have tried to get started, struggled, and went on to something else that wasn't so complicated?! Did we ignore them, deny them, refuse them, or have we nurtured them to become our survivors?!
I know a few have taken them in hand so they can learn the beauty of the wood that grows all around us, and Bless You for it!
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Taking Barry's observations as a starting point,
How many of us do reach out to new turners?
How do we go about bringing them in and nurturing them?
Do we go looking for them, or do we wait until they come looking for us?
How might we improve our outreach?
Is there a place for us, as a group, to lobby for the re-institution of shop classes in school?
If so, what would that look like (full-time teacher as we remember, or volunteer extra-curricular)?
Having new turners come to my shop is one of my favorite things to do, and we do that as much as time allows. It is extremely rewarding to see the light come on. (All new turners and non-spindle-turners get the skew lesson!)
Most communities big and small have a yearly festival or celebration of sorts, wood turners or wood turning clubs can set up a booth at these events to provide exposure to the public. All it takes is one time for a young person to see the craft and they usually add it to the life long bucket list of crafts they want to try when the time is right. YouTube videos are also exposing more people to the craft when they are able to watch the process from start to finish on their phone or computers.
>>>John, how do you find the new turners? Are they drop-ins to club meetings or do you have some active way to seek them out?
Jim, I make an announcement at local demos and sometimes at regular club meetings that beginners, relatively new turners, or anyone else is invited to come play in the shop. I give out my phone number and email address. Note that I don't have visitors every week, but usually once a month or so, occasionally more often.
Perhaps someone wants some beginning lessons, to work on some specific things, or just new turning ideas in general. I've had semi-experienced turners come to learn turning spindles, knobs, for sharpening, to get some wood cut up, or whatever, non-skew users have come for a skew lesson, and very new turners come for a general lesson. Some just want to come visit the shop!
I also show wooden things around to friends and people I meet and if I see a spark of interest invite them to come take a look and maybe try it themselves - this has resulted in introducing several brand new turners to the lathe. Some have come back repeatedly. When a family comes to the farm to see the animals I sometimes show them the shop and some things I've made and offer beginning lessons for their older kids (teens) if it looks like they are interested.
Also, if someone want's me to make something for them to buy, I usually offer for them to come to the shop and help pick out the wood and make a design, then "help" at the lathe. I give them some hands-on introduction to chip-making and they help with sanding and finishing. One girl I've known since she was 6 wanted a conductor's baton for her graduating fiancé - I told it would be $75, or if she came and "helped" it would be free! This would make a much more personal gift. She may never touch a lathe again but at least she knows what it's all about! And who knows, she might want to take up turning some day! The same with people who come to get a custom "magic" wand made - kids might remember that magic afternoon and decide to try their hand when they get older.
The problem gets to be not enough time! One guy caught me at the August meeting and said he'd like to come and I hated to have to tell him the first opening I had was in October.
Most turners with some experience come just once for something specific. So far I've never charged for a lesson, but I might consider if a beginner wants lots of lessons. Some people bring a present of wood so I guess that's payment of sorts.
BTW, as for introducing kids to turning: the prez at a club meeting in Asheville NC pointed out some years back that the Harry Potter books about to be released offered a unique opportunity educate kids about woodturning. I learned to make wands, bought a mini-lathe, and set up in front of a bookstore for some of the book releases. Man was that a hit! Kids were fascinated. If they wanted a custom one I let them pick out the wood blank and the handle style and turned it right in front of them while they watched. (I also had some pre-made for sale.) One families who got a wand at one book release for their son came to the next one to get one made for a daughter who was too small the first time!
I posted this photo before, at one of the wand-turning sessions. Good clean fun!
