Before you turn

[Ron Coleman]

Before you start turning do you plan your piece, make sketches of what you want, look at wood and grain orientation? Or do you just put a blank on the lathe and just start hogging off wood and see what develops. I'm interested in the actual thought processes (if any) that people go through before they start making chips.

For myself, I get the best results by making sketches of the rough blank and then overlaying sketches of what the final piece might look like. Sometimes I even cut out a template to use as a guide while rough turning the outside of a blank. I find this method gets me close to a finished piece a lot faster than looking for a shape to develop inside a spinning piece of wood.

Would enjoy anyone's thoughts on their design process.

Ron

[Neal Addy]

I spend a LOT of time staring at a blank before it ever goes on the lathe. Studying the grain pattern, inclusions, figure, etc usually gives me an idea of what shape and orientation I want to go for. I usually have a general form already in mind when I select a blank so it's really a matter of visualizing the actual lines I'm going to be using.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Ron I have some idea of what I want to do and then I look at the blank to see if it fits the idea I have. I really don't sketch anything out. Sometimes I put a piece on the lathe and just see where it goes. I also look at pictures of pieces and see what I can do with a piece of wood. I don't like to copy things but to put my signature of something similar.

[Richard Madison]

Ron,
Depends upon what one intends to make. Your approach is a good one.
For segmented pieces, a detailed plan is a must. Sometimes a VERY detailed plan.
Neal turns beautifully formed pieces that show the best that the wood has to offer. His approach is obviously very successful.
For stoppers, one sometimes just puts a blank on the lathe and waits for his/her muse to speak. Failing that (maybe I'll get an email from my muse), what shape haven't I made lately?
Study the blank to visualize the stunning piece that is inside; make sketches, engineering drawings if needed; draw profiles and cut 'em out; etc. Or just turn some wood and see what happens.
Different strokes.

[George Guadiane]

Most of the time, I find the wood, take it to my sawyer who cuts it while I direct him, one cut at a time. I make blanks to sell, but might orient a whole log to get that one BEST piece in the log for myself, then sell the rest.
Once I get past that point, I like to make a blank "true," rounding it and squaring up the top and bottom, I often sand with 80 grit and rub it with oil to get a GOOD lock at the curl and grain.
I try to see where the figure appears to be in the blank, and which end should be up to show it off best. I cut a tenon and chuck up the piece.
I am fortunate to "see things" in three dimensions, so by the time I know what the proportions COULD be, I cut the blank to the proportions that it "should" be for maximum eye appeal. Sometimes more for form and proportion sometimes more for figure.
Even my bandsaw segmented and "OATS" stave segmented blanks are turned on the fly.
I used to try to make a "no sanding" cut with my gouge, not thinking about form... Left me with some pretty straight lines, no curve... Now I think of the curve before the cut. If I can't get the gouge to work right, I go to the 36 grit gouge. It always works.
I guess, at the end of the day, I am in a constant state of flux, taking each new piece of information and adding it into the equation to try and arrive at the best finished piece. I think that because of that, when things go wrong (like blowing out the bottom of an otherwise finished piece), I just keep looking for a way to get a good outcome.

[Jim Becker]

I like to put the wood between centers and play with it a bit, but I usually have some idea about the basics of what I'm going to create with a particular piece of wood. Between centers is important so it brings visual balance to the end result based on the actual wood and figure inside of the piece...band sawn circles are not always presenting the most favorable orientation and I tend to avoid them most of the time.

[TYLER WOOD]

I put the log between centers and start roughing. Stop, look, drool, after a little while of doing this I start seeing the piece in the wood. I start turning the piece BAM!!! Tool catch or blow out because of checking, or something. Stop, look, rethink, start turning again.

I never have a real good idea of the shape of the piece to start with. It's a guessing game for me. But when The wood start turning, it's like a turture device, cause it starts talking to me. I just listen to the wood and it tells me what it wants to be. Never second guess what the wood wants to be. It will never work!!!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

For something small like b/s I often put the wood on the lathe and let the creative juices flow....except...once in a while I'll get a piece of wood say that has some extreme grain contrast. Then, I'll try to put as many curves in the b/s to maxmize the display and contast in the wood. For bowls or HFs I'll look at a blank and try to figure what form I can get out of that piece of wood. Then sometimes I make a drawing and turn to that form.....UH well......One of the above!:D

[Malcolm Tibbetts]

Ron, this is probably not what you're looking for in an answer, but... Some of my more complex segmented pieces (pieces with stories associated with them) will reside in the back of my mind for months or even years before I start the process of creating a blueprint. By the time I actually start the construction process, I have a pretty good idea about where I'm headed.