My first demo

Last Saturday was my first live demo. I did it with another turner at a function his church sponsored. The biggest lesson learned was that I took just way too much stuff. I have another demo this week and I think I have most of the bugs worked out.

Another issue I had is with the lathe itself. I am very grateful to the man who let me borrow his small lathe while he was gone for the summer, but it is quite an adjustment. I am used to turning on a large lathe in my shop that weighs about 800 pounds and runs on 220 volts. For the demo, I use a small lathe with a 10" capacity that only has a 1/2 hp motor and weighs about 50 pounds, if that. You can't turn large things or things that are too far out of balance. You also can't take large cuts like I am used to doing during the initial stages of turning. The trade off is the portability. There is no way to transport or power my large lathe when I am at these things. I think the best option is just to remember to turn small things.

I haven't done much turing in the last week or so. I have been busy with related things, though. I made a card on casters for the mini lathe. I have been getting requests for live demos, and had no way to do them because the lathe in my shop isn't portable. I was able to borrow the mini lathe and build the cart from plywood I had around the shop.

My grinder is portable, so I put a shelf to be able to take it with me so I could sharpen my tools on the go. The metal uprights are EMT conduit that will receive a plexi-glass front for safety, just in case something flies.

It's not exactly heirloom quality. My wife said she knows now why I am a turner and not a cabinet maker. She is right. However, it is sturdy, portable, and only cost about $6 for the casters and $9 for the plexiglass. Everything else I had around the shop.

I have a demo coming up this weekend, and another on April 2. Hopefully, I can work the bugs out. I'd really like to scale down. I always seem to over pack, but I guess that is better than getting caught short.

I also sat on my first board meeting for the Arizona Woodturners. The club is buying a new lathe, and has some other decisions to make. I'm glad to be a part of it.

New wood arrival

One of the greatest things about being a woodturner is when someone remembers what you do. Yesterday, a friend at work came to me with a log of black walnut. He said it was destined for the fire pit when he remembered what I did and thought I might be able to do something with it.

It was too small in diameter to get any good size bowls out of, and after cutting it up, one side was fairly well infested with beetles and dry rot. However, there was enough good wood to get 4 good end grain pieces out of. One of these will be turned and given back to the man who gave me the wood as a thank you. As for the rest, I'll have to think about for awhile.




Today, I also went to Woodcraft. After observing and helping with one of their introduction to woodturning classes, I talked to the assistant manager. I am going to be added to the roster of instructors and worked into the schedule to teach. It will be somewhat sporadic, and not a ton of money, but that is not the point. I love to turn, and I love to teach. What a great combination. It will also be good to stay in front of a group as I gear up to do more live demos.

First live demo

Well, yesterday was the big day, my first live demo. It went well for the most part. There were a few mishaps. Lesson learned: don't spill analine dye when you are trying to airbrush something. I met a lot of people and may have even got a few people interested in turning. I know one person is going to join the AZWoodturners.




I actually over prepared for the demo, that is, I had way too much to get to in the time I had allotted. I supposed that is good. I would rather have too much than to run out of things to do. This way, I have more to work on for the next time, I guess.

I primarily did some burning, but added in some dyeing work, and experimented with a little eggshell work. I can't say I particularly liked it, but I also realized what I would do next time to make it a little more appealing.

The piece that got the most attention was a large piece that I dyed white with shoe polish, airbrushed, then burned. In this photo, I have penciled in the music notes, but they still need to be burned. I also have to put it back on the lathe and do some finish sanding to blend the colors a little more.

I didn't sell much, but some good came out of it. My wife brought her mom and the kids to the downtown festival, and when I was in doing my demos, she found out some valuable information about being a part of the actual festival. I have put in my application for next month's show, so keep your fingers crossed.