Woodturners Make The Same Things Over And Over

There has begun a lot of interest in the woodturning world over the last few decades in making one of a kind items. While the thrill of turning a unique piece every time has a lot of appeal, there is also the satisfaction that comes of making familiar things time and again. In fact, many of the one of a kind are really the same old thing revisited.

Take for example the salad bowl or for that matter the wooden bowl for a variety of purposes. In some sense every bowl is unique and can be designed for that purpose. Type of wood and for that matter wood grain can be chosen differently and thus the finished items will be different. In fact the act of turning will be slightly different as each type of wood and each grain carries with it a unique tactile experience.

At the same time a bowl will have bottom, a rim, a diameter, a wall thickness and a curve to the wall. Varying any one of them will alter the final product, yet each is a familiar feature to be cut. Similarly, candlesticks will have bottoms, tapers, and tops as well as other familiar features as will urns, vases, spatulas and so on.

It is this kind of variety in the midst of familiarity that allows the wood turner to continue the craft with enthusiasm day after day. While in a sense the same cuts are performed over and over, the results are infinitely varied.

In addition, there exists the challenge of attempting to exactly duplicate a piece of work. This is impossible in some sense for the woodturner as no two pieces of wood are identical in the first place. However it is possible to ignore the grain and texture of the wood long enough to focus on the difficulty of duplicating the thickness of the wood and the fineness of a cut to an exact measurement. Such things strain the resources of most turners and raise a challenge with each attempt, thus keeping the game alive.

In some strange way the human eye allows for minor variations in two or more turned objects to be ignored. This allows for four turned legs of a chair to appear to be identical when there are really minor variations. It also keeps the attempts at turning perfectly matched items from being wasted. Actually it becomes a spur to improve with the next attempt.

There is a challenge in the familiar and a challenge in the exotic. Different woodturners find satisfaction in different types of turning or in the same types of turning on different days.