Shotgun Elm - Lidded Box from Demo

[Roger Chandler]

Well, the demo went over very well last Saturday.....lots of compliments on it. My frustration level rose a bit, because the heat made us have to cut the demo short.......temps were 105 degrees and up, and we had no A/C, so I had to skip making the whole box and only do parts of it.

I had to stop hollowing, [watching hollowing is as about as fun as watching grass grow!] move to the fitting of the lid [not completing the inside of the lid either! ] then moving to making the outside of the lid and the knob they wanted to see done [did not get to finish that step either completely and then they wanted to see me finish off the bottom with my Rubber Chucky reverse chucky, so I had to jump to that ............

What that left me was a less than desirable project..........but demo's are not about the finished product, but the process and the audience learning how to.............so I brought it home.......it has been mocking me for almost 3 days!!!:mad::rolleyes::D

I took a few minutes this morning to finish it. Still in my opinion a less than perfect box for sure......that stop start, hurry up, stop start process left me with very little options in finish turning this box. Not enough wood left to make the lid perfect with the box, and I had to form another tenon on the bottom, so the bottom is not hollowed all the way down to where I had drilled a hole for the depth originally...........but it is close.

Our club president told me that demo pieces are throw away pieces, usually because it is about the process, sequence and you don't have time to do a project at a demo...........:(:( I don't like it but it is what it is!

This piece of elm had a number of shotgun pellets in it...........most came out during the turning, but I was able to keep two of them in the turning........this one has a story, so I decided to post it, although I do not feel it is up to my personal standards.........the finish is still a bit wet in these pics.........likely I will add an additional coat or two of WTF...............comments welcome!

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[Bernie Weishapl]

Looks pretty good to me Roger. Sometimes watching hollowing is like watching sanding. lol I haven't turned much because of the heat here. We had several days from 107* to 112*. A city about 80 miles from us was hotter than death valley at 118*.

[Roger Chandler]

Looks pretty good to me Roger. Sometimes watching hollowing is like watching sanding. lol I haven't turned much because of the heat here. We had several days from 107* to 112*. A city about 80 miles from us was hotter than death valley at 118*.

Wow............112 degrees............that will sap your strength just thinking about it being that hot! I almost chunked this box in the wood pile because of my frustration at not being able to at least finish turn it at the demo, but decided it was worth saving, especially with the shot in it ...........glad I could save a couple of them to show!

[Jeff Nicol]

Roger, Just about every demo I have done that is of any size never gets finished unless you are the project of the day. I started bringing a group of turnings showing the steps that I would do to get to the finished piece. I would mount each in sequence to show the main objective of each step and then mount the next piece and so on, then I was able to get to the finishing portion no matter how the time table turned out. Takes some prep work before the demo, but does not leave you feeling like you failed. You can either save the parts for a future demo or finish them off and have a bunch of finished products.

No matter though you did a good job under tough conditions and ended up with a piece that has a story like you said and that is not too bad! The last demo I did was ruined by a huge thunderstorm in an outside venue, but later the sun came out and I was able to spin a few miniatures for the kids and others.

Keep giving your all and thats all they can ask for,

Jeff

[Roger Chandler]

Roger, Just about every demo I have done that is of any size never gets finished unless you are the project of the day. I started bringing a group of turnings showing the steps that I would do to get to the finished piece. I would mount each in sequence to show the main objective of each step and then mount the next piece and so on, then I was able to get to the finishing portion no matter how the time table turned out. Takes some prep work before the demo, but does not leave you feeling like you failed. You can either save the parts for a future demo or finish them off and have a bunch of finished products.

No matter though you did a good job under tough conditions and ended up with a piece that has a story like you said and that is not too bad! The last demo I did was ruined by a huge thunderstorm in an outside venue, but later the sun came out and I was able to spin a few miniatures for the kids and others.

Keep giving your all and thats all they can ask for,

Jeff

Thanks for the tips Jeff.........you have some really good ideas for a demo that is not long enough to finish turn a project. Thanks for the encouragement as well! :)

[James Roberts]

Roger, if that's as bad as it gets, you've done pretty well. You have the story and a pretty nice looking box to go with it, add to that all that you learned and it looks like good day in my book. Well done sir.

[Peter Fabricius]

Roger;
The box turner out looking pretty good even if you did encounter issues during the demo. Remember what Jeff said above, it is a little like Martha Stewart showing a project, she always has the parts completed to different levels and then whips out the finished project at the last moment to show her audience. A story board with the parts of the project can also be a real help for the audience.
"You did good" and now you have the completed the box as a reminder of this demo and your memory.....
Well done. I will re-look at the video later and we can chat then.....
Peter F.

[Roger Chandler]

Roger, if that's as bad as it gets, you've done pretty well. You have the story and a pretty nice looking box to go with it, add to that all that you learned and it looks like good day in my book. Well done sir.

Thanks Jim!!!

[Roger Chandler]

Roger;
The box turner out looking pretty good even if you did encounter issues during the demo. Remember what Jeff said above, it is a little like Martha Stewart showing a project, she always has the parts completed to different levels and then whips out the finished project at the last moment to show her audience. A story board with the parts of the project can also be a real help for the audience.
"You did good" and now you have the completed the box as a reminder of this demo and your memory.....
Well done. I will re-look at the video later and we can chat then.....
Peter F.

Looking forward to it Peter!