How do you work? One piece at a time or many.

[Ed Morgano]

I'm wondering how everyone else works in their shop. I've tried working on one project at a time and I get impatient when I'm waiting for glue to dry or finish to dry etc. I usually end up rushing things which leads to some type of disaster or another. I've also tried working on several things at once so I can switch to something else when I reach a point where a project needs a day to dry etc. However, right now I'm working on 6 candy dishes and to some degree I feel like I'm doing production. So, how do you do it? Thanks for sharing.

[Scott Hackler]

Ed,

I used to be a one thing at a time turner, but in the last 6 months or so I started doing multiple projects at the same time. Some of the reasons were waiting on finishes to dry and some were because of the tedious nature of the wierdness! I have a little "turner ADD" and so the complex idea things get worked on randomly and I find that helps break up the long process involved without getting "burned out" on those pieces. For example, there is a sulpture piece sitting on the shelf that still needs 10+ hours of piercing work and another 5-10 hours of work making the other elements. I started this one around JUNE 2011!!!! :)

I do, however, find it refreshing and fun to move into bowl rough out mode. Just one rough out after another and into the DNA soak. Piles and piles of curlies everywhere just make for a real good day in the shop.

[Curt Fuller]

Ed I can totally relate to what you're saying. If impatience was a learned thing, I would have a PHD. Gradually over time I'm realizing that it's necessary to let things sit and go do something else, but it's hard for me. My biggest hangup is letting rough outs dry sufficiently. I'm like a kid at Christmas when I think I have a great piece of wood in the works and it just drives me nuts to let it sit and wait the weeks or months it takes to dry out. Finishing is a nerve racking thing for me too. But luckily, Keith Burns introduced me to his 10 minute finish and it really works well for both my turnings and my patience.

[Robert McGowen]

I tend to work on one piece at a time. I either do segmented work or turn mesquite. The mesquite can go from a log to a finished vase or bowl in one sitting. I can work on a segmented piece for an hour or all day. Since I am using dry wood for them, I can walk away from it when something else comes up.

[Dick Wilson]

Ed, My hat is off to anyone who can stick with an hours long piece without ending up behind the uncertain curtain. I can't. I just came up from my shop where I worked on 5 pieces this morning. I have had as many as 8 or 9 going on. There have been days when I feel like I have accomplished nothing. Then that is followed up by the day or days that I am buffing 3-4 pieces.

[Jack Mincey]

I like to have many pieces going at any one time so that I can work on finishing them as the mood hits me. I will have upward of 100 rough outs dry to drying at any giving time. By doing this my pieces are completely dry when I get around to finishing them up. For small items like my crow or turkey calls I find that I do better work by turning 6 to 30 at one time. One gets into a rhythm which makes for better work and quicker after the first couple in this production mode.
Turn Safe,
Jack Mincey

[David E Keller]

I tend to have a bunch of things near completion that lack one last element... Honestly, I could finish a dozen pieces today if I'd just take time to make the finials... I just haven't felt like making finials lately! Some pieces just need a final cost of finish after a little hand sanding. Since I don't sell my work but often donate stuff, it's kind of nice to have some things that are almost finished... It only takes a little time to get then ready to go out if I have a request. The other reason that I 'quit' on pieces... They never seem to look as good in reality as they did in my head, so I lose interest in the latter stages.

I can relate to the turning ADD Scott mentioned... I've had trouble finishing this post because I started thinking about a piece I'm working on!

[Reed Gray]

Most of my work is production, so it is more efficient to do a bunch at once, especially bowls. Each different thing I turn takes a minimal amount of set up work, and different tools. I don't do much 'artistic' work, which would be more one of a kind pieces. I would turn them start to finish.

robo hippy

[Kathy Marshall]

As far as the actual turning, I turn 1 piece at a time. 99% of the pieces I do are turned once, from start to final size, dry or green. Once the turning part is done, all bets are off. I think you might have noticed the many pieces on my workbench that were in various stages of finish coats when you were here for a visit. I swear I'm going to finish them all off one of these days! I tend to finish off my favorites 1st and I've got some that have been sitting there for close to a year, patiently waiting for that last coat of WOP.

[Donny Lawson]

As far as the actual turning, I turn 1 piece at a time. 99% of the pieces I do are turned once, from start to final size, dry or green. Once the turning part is done, all bets are off. I think you might have noticed the many pieces on my workbench that were in various stages of finish coats when you were here for a visit. I swear I'm going to finish them all off one of these days! I tend to finish off my favorites 1st and I've got some that have been sitting there for close to a year, patiently waiting for that last coat of WOP.

I turn a bowl on the big lathe and usually pens or something smaller on the other lathe. Kathy, when you go from start to finish on a bowl,doesn't it warp after it sits a while? I tried that a while back with a Hackberry bowl. I took it down to about 1/4" thick and put on several coats of mineral oil. After 2 days in the house it would not sit flat and it warpped all over. No cracks though. Is there a secret to this?

[Scott Hackler]

........ I tried that a while back with a Hackberry bowl. .......Is there a secret to this?

Welcome to Hackberry! Hackberry always warps on me when turned side grain. Though turning a goblet or something like that, end grain, doesn't move too bad. A lot of the warping from turning start to finish thickness have to do with moisture content of the wood before starting, slowing down the drying process and the variety of wood.

[Roger Chandler]

I am probably my own worst enemy when it comes to "hurry up" ..........I usually turn one project at a time....sometimes it has multiple parts [body, pedestal, finial, handle/knob, etc] On rare occasions I may have an interim piece to turn while something else is drying.

Most of the time, I take on a project too big and too involved for the time allotment I have............then I get in "hurry up" mode, and that is not good..........I hate it taking days to finish something..........but that is what is necessary to get some of these better finishes we see................finishing is likely my weakest point in turning, but we should all turn to finish, that would serve us better.

I have recently picked up the General Finishes Woodturners finish that Bernie recommends..........I am anxious to try it out soon to see if it shortens the finish process for me. When I get some time to do my next project, I will post my opinions about it.

[Joe Meirhaeghe]

I usually have a lot of pieces in the works at some stage. I mainly use green wood & mainly turn deep vessels that I air dry. So I have to keep a number of rough outs on hand at all times. There are days I'll work on 5 or six different pieces all at different stages, then there are days I'll spend the whole day just hollowing out a 300 to 450 lb turning. I try to rough out wood as soon as possible after harvesting it. Rough outs will keep much better than logs. I don't care if a rough out hangs around 2 or 3 yrs before I get back to it.

[Baxter Smith]

..... I took it down to about 1/4" thick and put on several coats of mineral oil. After 2 days in the house it would not sit flat and it warpped all over. No cracks though. Is there a secret to this?
Donny, when I turn something thin and let it dry and warp, I usually leave the tenon or recess partially there. Once dry, you can either jam chuck it or if you have a vac chuck, use that to finish up the bottom so it will sit flat. If you leave a finished recess in the bottom, you can just flatten the outer ring the bowl sits on. A sheet of 120 sandpaper glued to a piece of plywood can flatten it if you run the bowl back and forth across it enough times.

I sometimes have 2 or 3 things at some stage of applying finish if they are going to take a half dozen coats over several days. I tend to alternate between between roughing out things and finishing them so they don't build up.(The ones in the finish process that is) When I get some new wood I tend to just focus on roughing out the pieces that interest me for awhile. I did a quick inventory at the beginning of the new year. With more than 200 roughouts of bowls, platters, lidded stuff, and over 50 roughouts of HF's, I should focus more on finishing. But....why....I am just having fun.:)

[Ed Morgano]

I did a quick inventory at the beginning of the new year. With more than 200 roughouts of bowls, platters, lidded stuff, and over 50 roughouts of HF's, I should focus more on finishing. But....why....I am just having fun.:)

Baxter,
I think you're going to corner the market on roughouts and become rich! That's my prediction for 2012. :D

[Kathy Marshall]

I turn a bowl on the big lathe and usually pens or something smaller on the other lathe. Kathy, when you go from start to finish on a bowl,doesn't it warp after it sits a while? I tried that a while back with a Hackberry bowl. I took it down to about 1/4" thick and put on several coats of mineral oil. After 2 days in the house it would not sit flat and it warpped all over. No cracks though. Is there a secret to this?
Depends on the wood, mesquite warps very little to not at all, my sisso bowls will oval a little on the sides but still sit flat. I've only had a few where the base warped enough for them to rock. It seems that the desert woods are a good candidate for green to finish turnings.

[Alan Trout]

Ed,

I am a concept to completion kind of guy. For me I tend to stay focused on one project much better than many so that Is how I typically work. My regular work days are crazy enough that waiting on something is not a problem. However I am always working on ideas and keep a sketch book with me to put down ideas as they come.

Alan

[Rich Aldrich]

Typically, I rough out a lot of green turnings, mostly bowls. Then I go to finishing. Typically, I will spend a week end or two roughing, then another weekend or two finish turning. I turn a piece until it is done, then move on to the next. If it is a set of salad bowls, I normally finish turn and sand the bowls but do the bottoms all at once so I dont have to change from the chuck to the doughnut chuck. Sometimes I do this with bowls even if they are not a set. Once the bowl is completed I apply finish right away but not when they are on the lathe.