? for David DeCristoforo

[David Cramer]

Hello David

I am a rookie turner and have been on SawmillCreek for a few years. Since I am asking, "please" be honest with a few questions and put modesty aside as I really am curious and want the truth:).

Okay....How did you get to the level that you have so quickly? Please explain from when you first started to how you have attained such a high level in the woodturning community. I have seen some of your work and am literally blown away! I know you are smart guy and obviously a quick learner, but some of your pieces seem to be quite a leap in such a short time. DVD's, extreme patience, etc...?

How much time would you estimate that you turn a day, or per week, or whatever ratio you can come up with?
Besides Mr. Keeton:), where do you get your wood, meaning are you cutting logs yourself or buying turning blocks from a supplier?

There are some amazing turners on this site and I mean amazing, including Mr. Hackler, Mr. Schlumpf, Mr. Fuller, and dozens more, but you have seem to excelled at a faster than normal rate, much faster:eek:. When you get a chance, please fill in the missing blanks as I cannot be the only one who is curious. Have a nice day!

Gratefully,

David

[Betty Fox]

It's probably just a super power us mere mortals can never achieve. :)
*holds out kryptonite*
Any reaction David?

[David DeCristoforo]

OK. First of all, I really hate this stuff. But I'll try to give you a straight answer.

To begin with, I'm not that good. I have, over the last fifteen months, I have managed to acquire only a rudimentary level of skill. Compared to "real turners" I would be in maybe the eighth grade. I have always had a good sense of proportion and design. But my lathe skills are barely adequate to produce the pieces I make. I have been asked to "do a demo" twice now and I have declined both times. I recently summed up my "technique" in this manner: I take an interesting piece of wood, mount it on the lathe and get it spinning. Then, with great trepidation, I begin to carefully stab at it with oddly shaped pieces of sharpened steel. I truly believe that anyone who watched me work would, in short order, be rolling their eyes toward the heavens. There is no "magic" involved, no "super powers", no "tricks" that I could reveal. If my ability to do this seems to have evolved at an "above normal" rate, I would attribute that to the fact that I have spent the greater part of my life working with wood and tools. It's not like I was a complete novice at woodworking. I had to learn some new techniques and acquire some new skills. But the basic understanding was already in place.

[Alan Trout]

David wrote,



I have always had a good sense of proportion and design. But my lathe skills are barely adequate to produce the pieces I make.


This is really what it is all about. There are plenty of people with wonderful tool skills. It is the sense of proportion that is hard for many to learn. Many have that natural sense or can see the shape others cannot. In my opinion that is the difference between the art and the craft.


Alan

[Scott Hackler]

I have followed David's turning path, like everyone else, ever since he showed up on here and I believe there are three things that attribute to his pieces. First he DOES have a great sense of proportions. Although sometimes his forms stretch the norm, they are well proportioned. Second he has prior experience in woodworking and knows how to finish wood. This is a big deal, because even a well turned item will look terrible with a crappy finish. And lastly he has done what a lot of us should do, stay with a particular form and refine it to the point of perfection. Too many times we tend to jump around onto different projects and forms. If you look at the "masters" their signature pieces are all similar and recognizable. Each time David produces another Amphora form, its technically better than the last.

Good question and even if David doen't want to realize it, he is a natural at this craft.

[David DeCristoforo]

Talent and skill should not be confused. Talent is innate. Skill can be acquired. But I believe that each and every one of us is "talented". We are just not all talented in the same way. You could be a talented machinist or a talented gardner. It is our social structure that causes us to value one talent more than another. It may be important to the human spirit that someone be able to play music or weave a beautiful tapestry. But it is just as important that someone be able to grow a tomato or catch a fish.

[Dick Wilson]

I have followed David's turning path, like everyone else, ever since he showed up on here and I believe there are three things that attribute to his pieces. First he DOES have a great sense of proportions. Although sometimes his forms stretch the norm, they are well proportioned. Second he has prior experience in woodworking and knows how to finish wood. This is a big deal, because even a well turned item will look terrible with a crappy finish. And lastly he has done what a lot of us should do, stay with a particular form and refine it to the point of perfection. Too many times we tend to jump around onto different projects and forms. If you look at the "masters" their signature pieces are all similar and recognizable. Each time David produces another Amphora form, its technically better than the last.

Good question and even if David doen't want to realize it, he is a natural at this craft.

Scott, DD is indeed a natural at this. And, yes, turning a repetative form certainly contributes greatly.

David, I am also pretty sure you are fanatical about your finished work. A more probative question would be: how many turnings have ended up in the burn barrell because they didn't meet your high standards? I also suspect you listen! So many times I see turners who don't want any suggestions. I know a couple who still bring show and tell with forstner bit holes in the bottom. They have advanced to covering the bottoms with felt.

Before I forget, keep an close eye on John K. I have had the privilege to meet John and see his work in person. I was totally blown away to find out he has only been turning for 2-3 years.

As far as David and John have come, well, only a woodturner can really appreciate their work progress.

[Prashun Patel]

Some people are blessed with perfect pitch in turning. Some have to do a lot of trial and error to discover it. We rest can compensate for some of this shortcoming with practice and critique.

That's why I'm an advocate of more constructive CRITICSM on this forum. Everyone's very supportive here - which is great for the beginner so's not to discourage. But for the rest of us that are already sucked in, criticism can only help us improve.

[Reed Gray]

David,s eye and sense of form is a super power. I could look at a piece of wood like he works with for a hundred years, and not see in it what he sees. I can see form in basic bowls, plain and simple.

David, doing a demo is a good learning tool for the demonstrator and the audience. You have to stop and thing about what you are doing so you can explain it. I consider how and why just as important as what. You can find out what people want to know by the questions they ask, and they will ask about all the things you forget to include when you demo. For me, the mentoring and teaching is as much fun as seeing a nice piece finished.

robo hippy

[David Cramer]

David

Thank you for responding. Life is a journey and in the case of most of the people on this forum, woodturning is a huge part of that journey. I was just very interested in your journey after seeing your work and finding out how long (short) you've been at it. To Mr. Keeton, I apologize and wasn't trying to slight you in the least by directing my questions specifically towards David. I didn't realize that you have not been at it that long either, but regardless, your work still impresses the heck out of me.

Remember, just because you know how to do it doesn't mean it's easy, far from it. There are a lot of highly skilled woodturners on this site that again, blow me away and it is an acquired skill for sure. David's work stood and perplexed me as I couldn't believe his level of work that he has attained versus his relative short time being on a lathe.

Sorry David if I embarrassed you as that wasn't my intent. If any of you "woodturning studs" want to elaborate as to how you got to where you got, I for one will find it very, very interesting. Please don't think of it as bragging, because it's not. I am asking because I have to be honest, it's very, very motivational for a guy like me. Seeing the photos definitely help but the story of how you got there really perks my interest as well.

Thanks,

David

[Michelle Rich]

WOW I am now a woodturning stud. I make such progress each & every day. I finally reached nirvana.

[David Cramer]

WOW I am now a woodturning stud. I make such progress each & every day. I finally reached nirvana.

That would be "studette" for you Michelle:).

[David DeCristoforo]

"...how many turnings have ended up in the burn barrel..."

None of my work has gone into the "burn barrel" except those that I have totally ruined through ineptness. At this point, the lemons sit right next to the bowl of sugar. But this gets into some interesting territory. In the mid 1980's I acquired a very "Japanese" perspective to making things. Japanese tradition holds that objects made by human hands have a life of their own that must be respected as must the materials nature has provided. For this reason, it is incumbent on the maker to do the best possible work he or she is capable of. It would be a dishonor to destroy the work because it was imperfect. I used to simply take a hammer to anything I was not happy with. But I was younger and wiser then...

"If any of you "woodturning studs" want to elaborate..."

Woodturning studs??? Scheech....

[Josh Bowman]

OK David......answer the questions.

"How much time would you estimate that you turn a day, or per week, or whatever ratio you can come up with?
Besides Mr. Keeton:), where do you get your wood, meaning are you cutting logs yourself or buying turning blocks from a supplier?"

[David DeCristoforo]

"OK David......answer the questions."

Awright awready....

"How much time would you estimate that you turn..."

I really don't have that much time right now. We run a small "family" business" that is extremely demanding when it comes to time. So my turning comes in bits and pieces of time. It's rare that I can get a whole hour or two to spend at the lathe let alone a whole day. So my pieces tend to take a week or two or even longer to get done. I would love to have more time and maybe, if my stuff begins to sell and actually generate income, I will be able to justify spending more time at it.

"...where do you get your wood, meaning are you cutting logs yourself or buying..."

I get wood wherever I can. I buy some wood, mostly from the same sources everyone else around here buys wood. I get some stuff from a guy on ebay, mostly maple burl caps which I would love to have a truckload of! I don't have a lot of "discretionary" funds so I only buy those if they are not bid through the roof by someone else which is not often. I also visit the local "wood dump" here in town and there are some arborists who look out for burls and figured wood for me. But that is always totally green and wet. I would rather have dry stuff because I really don't want to wait for years to turn something. I have used the DNA thing but even that is pretty slow when an idea is buzzing around in your head!

[David DeCristoforo]

"Too many times we tend to jump around onto different projects and forms."

I hope this is not taken the wrong way but I believe that is because you are following your head instead of your heart. I know this because it is exactly how I, years ago, left the path of "artisan/maker" and became instead a "cabinetmaker" and architectural woodworker. I was not really able to follow my heart because I was always making what others expected me to make. So many times, I would have a "flash of inspiration". But when I tried to persuade the client or the architect or the "designer" to let me do it, it was always countermanded. After a while I just stopped offering and made what they wanted. And it's not like I have some special receptors for inspiration either. Inspiration can strike anyone at any time if only we allow it to. But more often than not,our conscious mind gets in the way. If you think about it, I'll bet that the times when inspiration struck, you were not focusing. The air is full if inspiration and ideas. they just float around out there. When the mind relaxes, channels open and inspiration comes through. That's why we often wake up with an idea. Sitting around trying to have an inspiration is a waste of time.


When I took to turning, I just needed a creative outlet and it's the first time I have ever undertaken something like this without a preconceived thought of what I wanted out of it. I just let it come out. I had ideas, sure, and lots of times I found (and still do) that I lacked the skills necessary to manifest them. And I was totally taken by some of the turned pieces I had seen. But I never wanted to make those. I wanted to go wherever my heart took me and I think that is, more than anything else, why my stuff has evolved in the way it has.


Right now, I'm totally "into" these "amphora" pieces. They have generated a lot of excitement and may generate some income as well and that is good. But that is not why I am making them. It's just where the path has led and I'm having a lot of fun with them. If and when the day comes when I am no longer enjoying them or the path veers off in another direction, that is where I will go.

I have been thinking about Scotts comment all day and I wanted to respond to it and maybe answer the original question a little better as well.