In A World Full Of Problems, Be The Solution
There is plenty to complain about every day. I am issuing a 7–day challenge: every day for the next 7 days address a problem that has been bothering you and implement a solution. Here are some common challenges that every woodturner faces. I bet you can think of plenty non–turning problems you can fix too.
If you are having difficulty because your tools need sharpening and you are not very good at sharpening them yourself, find someone to teach you how to sharpen them properly. If you need a sharpening jig, buy one and learn how to use it.
If you always get catches with a skew chisel, watch some YouTube videos or spend a minute with someone who knows how this tool works. Then practice until you can show someone else without getting catches.
You always get torn grain on the inside of a bowl and sanding to remove them takes forever. Watch some videos on shear scraping and practice until you can sand the surface beginning with 180–220 grit. You might have to learn to use a negative rake scraper to get the results you expect.
You would turn more but the wood is too expensive. Visit the owners of a tree service company and make a deal to get free green wood in exchange for a few salad bowls. This is a perfect solution when you have more time than money.
Your shop has so much sawdust that you can’t walk. Take time to sweep up the shavings and save them for your flowerbeds. Be careful with each dustpan full, there might be long–lost treasures (spur drives, sockets, T–handle Allen wrenches, scroll chuck jaws and/or screws!)
Your scroll chuck is hard to operate, open, or close. Take time to disassemble and clean your chucks and jaws. Re–oil and reassemble.
The banjo sticks and is difficult to move. Clean and wax the bed ways often. I prefer ceramic car polish. Turning green wood coats them with a lot of moisture. You might have to do this every day or two if you turn a lot of wet stuff.
Your tools stick and don’t slide on the tool rest anymore. Dress the top of the toolrest with a file to remove the nicks. This is basic maintenance.
Turned–lidded boxes are always a crowd favorite with threads or without. You can use exotic timber, branchwood, glued–up blanks, or domestic timber, they all look marvelous. Practice until you can get a suction–fit lid or, if you are up for the challenge, learn to hand–chase the threads.
If nobody participates in show–and–tell at your turning club, bring extra things yourself. If you have trouble getting guest presenters, volunteer yourself.
These are obvious issues, but the point is that someone has to do something, it might as well be you. Remember that wherever you go there you are.
Here is my inspiration for this message:
(Matt 6:4 [MSG]) Just do it—quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out.
(Jas 1:22 [MSG]) Don't fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear!
(Col 3:22–23 [MSG]) Servants, do what you're told by your earthly masters. And don't just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you'll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you're serving is Christ.
