Anyone have experience with making wood products using a lathe?

[TedH71]

As in wood turning, making pens, and such?

[mekasmom]

BIL has a business making duck calls, wine stoppers, turkey calls, deer grunts, etc that way. He orders exotic woods to turn for them. He also uses horn (which is beautiful), and lots of acrylic. He prefers making the acrylic pieces, but I think the natural materials are so much nicer.

[joebill]

Yes, I have been in and close to the business for many years. Do you have questions?....Joe

[seagullplayer]

Someone needs to be making Carrom rings this way and selling them.

[TedH71]

I'm a cnc machinist by trade. Went to school and all that. Now I had to quit my job with my previous company for several reasons. Decided to check out lathe/cnc machines on CL and turns out there's a guy selling a small lathe designed to turn out pens. Was wondering if it was worthwhile to buy it. I need to have ideas of what to make so I could perhaps sell some for extra $.

[Our Little Farm]

Made wooden bowls, candle stick bowls, chair legs, rolling pins, baby rattles etc...
Could not make enough to keep up with demand.

[th_Wolverine]

My dad turns bagpipes and enjoys it, its something he can do on a small lathe

[TedH71]

Sounds like it would be a good small home based business but first, I would need to learn the ins and outs of wood working.

[Travis in Louisiana]

Go to www.woodworkingtalk.com Click on the link "WOOD TURNING" You will see some very fine work. You can make extra money.

[MichaelZ]

You can make lots of neat stuff. A machine run by cheap labor can make the same. So the key to making money is to do custom work and market yourself as such. And perhaps create a line of products that may be customized to give your potential customers ideas. Put it all on a website to create your virtual calling card. Then distribute cards with the website URL on it.

[chrishicks82]

I have a business making pens didn't get to do it much in the last year but about to start up again. I love turning things on a lathe it is relaxing. You can see some of my work here www.hickswoodshop.com
I dont think there is a lot of money in it but it is a hobby that pays for itself.

[fishhead]

Originally Posted by chrishicks82

I have a business making pens didn't get to do it much in the last year but about to start up again. I love turning things on a lathe it is relaxing. You can see some of my work here www.hickswoodshop.com
I dont think there is a lot of money in it but it is a hobby that pays for itself.

The link doesn't work.

[Quercus21]

Originally Posted by fishhead

The link doesn't work.

You'll have to remove www.homesteadingtoday.com/ in the address bar. For some reason when I clicked on it, the address bar was populated with:

www.homesteadingtoday.com/www.hickswoodshop.com


On to my rambling
I do a fair amount of turning. Not as much as I would like, but.. There are many other items you can turn besides pens. There is another tool you might need, depending on your methods, is a drill press. For short things like the pens/small mill etc, I use a drill press. The tall items like the large grinders/mills I use the lathe to drill the holes. When I turn, I really have no idea what is going to fall off of it. I'm just making saw dust/chips.

[Harry Chickpea]

I write on the computer all the time with a pen...
(Just pointing out that the market is limited)

[chrishicks82]

I don't know why it doesn't work I tried it again with the same results the link is in my signature

[fishhead]

Your signature link looks fine to me but the other one has HT in the address. It must be the way it was put in the post.

[joebill]

Long story short, I have a scad of customers who do turnings and some do very well, some not so well. I have one who makes game calls, is in an area where he can do a show nearly every weekend and does a lot of shows that bring him in around 2k per week. Others are lucky to pay expenses.

If you are a good marketer and prone to get what your work is worth, you can do very well. If you are drawn to selling to plumbers instead of doctors, you will be working for entertainment.

My problem was that I have a production attitude in my work, and am not drawn to one-off works of art. I wholesale most everything I do instead of doing shows, so it was more like piecework, with the best pieces selling for the same money as the also-rans.

I quit turning some time back and went back to stuff that lends itself to high production and wholesale. On that stuff, I can gross about $150 per hour, as opposed to $40 on the turnings, but that's just me. It's the opposite with lots of folks.

If you get interested in "turning" a profit, investigate carbide woodturning tools. They will multiply your speed, diminish your frustration and change your hobby into a business if you use them properly.....Joe