Spending Time With Professional Turners

Professional woodturners are just like any other high–profile public figure. They are very good at their craft, they are well practiced, they know what they do and why they do it that way and have very good reasons backing them up. They have a focus, a program, and a job to do. If you are lucky enough to be able to spend time with such a professional either one–on–one or in a hands–on class I’d like to share some ideas with you that will help you get the most out of your time together with the professional Turner.

First, understand you are not the most important person in the room. You do deserve your share of attention and you deserve to get your questions answered. Patience will bear big rewards as well good manners, courtesy and politness goes a long way. I am in a unique position to be writing this from both sides of the fence, both as the instructor, teacher, demonstrator, professional circuit Turner, someone who sees over 100,000 people every year and as also a student. It has been my privilege to be in classes with many names you would recognize, Richard Raffin, David Ellsworth, Jimmy clues, Nick cook, Chris Stott, Kirk DeHeer, and many others. Why would I be a student in these classes? Because even with my skill sets at the upper end I still have much to learn from other professionals. I tried to get them to teach me for free just because of my good looks but haven’t had much luck with that approach. So I enroll in hands–on classes when I get a chance and pay my money just like the new Turners.

I find if I listen with two ears, watch with two eyes, and ask questions with one mouth asking politely framed serious questions I get the information I came for. Sometimes I see students arguing with the instructor trying to explain how the student does it. My suggestion is that if the instructor does it differently than you do take that at face value and try to figure out why they do it that way, there is probably a pretty good reason which shouldn’t be too hard to discover. On the rare occasions where I have been able to book one on one time, I found it extremely useful to write down four or five questions that were really important. I waited to ask those questions until it was appropriate, meaning not in the middle of a teaching session. I even went so far as to bring a notebook with my written questions which I thought out as completely as possible ahead of time. No wasted time, no fumbling for words, concise and to the point.

Take it from someone who knows, the last thing a professional Turner wants to see is your photo album regardless of how cool your stuff is. The only time it really pays for a professional Turner to look at your pictures is when you are having a problem and a picture will describe the problem better than 10 minutes of conversation. Please accept this in the spirit in which it is meant and don’t be offended. I love to see your photo albums, it’s the other guys I’m talking about.

Remember that most of the professional Turners that you meet work their butts off for 25 years just to become an overnight success. Most of us will patiently listen to you so we can help you with any difficulties you might have to get you further down the road toward ultimate success because we really do care and want you to improve.