Does someone have some wood to donate to a friend?

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1JaredSchmidt

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Joined
Nov 21, 2007
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1,199
Location
El Campo,Texas, USA.
I have a friend that just started pen turning and he need some blanks. I gave him some of mine already. He needs some more and doesn't have the money for more. If you want to donate or sell some for cheap then PM me and I'll send you his address. Thanks! He's about 14 years old.
 
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Jared,

For a young beginner I would suggest that you help him cut blanks from firewood. Any of the native hard woods can have beautiful grain patterns. The blanks don't have to be perfectly squared if you drill them close to center.

Larry
 
Jared, PM me with his shipping addy... I've got some stuff I can send...
 
Jared make sure you tell him about all of us old farts...well not all of us are old except to a 14 yr old, but you catch the drift.
 
Originally posted by Larry Gottlieb

Jared,

For a young beginner I would suggest that you help him cut blanks from firewood. Any of the native hard woods can have beautiful grain patterns. The blanks don't have to be perfectly squared if you drill them close to center.

Larry
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Not to mention a good education on drying wood properly (not that drying pen blanks can be compared to drying 1000 bf of lumber)-- but a good education nonetheless.


PM sent, btw.
 
Have him get some old broom handles. That's what my first pens are going to be, and odds are. They are going to look like it too....;)

That reminds me, I need to get some blanks too...[8D]
 
Jared .... this has gone from your friend "just getting started" to asking for "burls, exotics, acrylics, and other stuff". That sounds like a pretty big step for somebody who is a new penturner. Perhaps he needs to find a hobby within his economic means.
Just a thought.
 
Originally posted by 1JaredSchmidt

He's looking for burls,exotics,acrylics,and other stuff. He has enough of stuff like hickory,black walnut,maple,oak,ash,and cherry. Thanks!
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Jared

It's one thing to ask for a handout, but cherry picking sounds a bit greedy to me.
 
Jared, I'll be sending him some wood tomorrow. While none of it is that fancy burl and the like, the wood I have is premium quality wood! I'm passing on some of mine as I've been blessed through this group when I was REALLY just getting started.

My first woods on the lathe came from a bunch of dowels. It was good practice stuff. Then I scoured the neighborhood for pruned trees and wood in trash piles. Matter of fact, I now have a nice assortment of olive woods, elm, pear, ash, black oak, red oak, silk oak and alot more. All he needs is a saw.
 
I agree with you Ron. I shouldn't have asked for them. I talked with him today,and he said he would be interested in anything. Sorry guys and gals. I hope he gets some nice wood though. He don't know how to fill cracks and such,but he's learning how to turn em pretty good. He's split off quite a few. Just send him whatever you got handy. Thanks Ron for telling me that. I learned a lesson in greediness.
 
Aren't you always offering some of your woods up for trade, Jared? Perhaps you might want to trade him some of your wood for some services...have him clean your shop for a week in exchange for a few cherry pen blanks...

Turning is expensive - I know it better than anyone! At least he has local woods handy that are useful for turning - hickory, cherry, oak, ash, etc. are all very expensive up here. If nothing else, this might be a good lesson for him!
 
A lot of that wood I have is cracked. I gave him a whole bunch already,but he don't know how to turn very good. He lives in Texas and I live in Wisconsin. We want to move down there in about 3 months though. He's put about $600 into penturning and made about $150 already off of some slimlines with purpleheart and some hardwoods. He's selling them from $15 to $20 apiece. Pretty good for a beginner.
 
Jared, if he lives in Texas, especially in south/ southern Texas he should be able to find Mesquite,Mountain Laurel, black locust, Osage Orange, Hickory, I mean there are a lot of great native woods in Texas, that he should be able to find lying around, also PM me your address, I have that bottle stopper mandrel made for you.
 
Originally posted by 1JaredSchmidt

A lot of that wood I have is cracked. I gave him a whole bunch already,but he don't know how to turn very good. He lives in Texas and I live in Wisconsin. We want to move down there in about 3 months though. He's put about $600 into penturning and made about $150 already off of some slimlines with purpleheart and some hardwoods. He's selling them from $15 to $20 apiece. Pretty good for a beginner.
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Ya know Jared ... the more I read about your friend .... the more skeptical I'm becoming. He's already "put about $600 into penturning equipment"? I'd say he's doing pretty well for a beginner if he's already made $150 selling slimlines. Surely he's making enough money to be able to actually purchase his own "burls, exotics, acrylics and other stuff". I think you're stepping way over the bounds of good faith by asking for handouts. The generosity that is found among the IAP is one based on good faith. Maybe you need to spend a little more time watching how our IAP family works and reflecting on what this all means. Get it?
 
Jared ... I want to take a little more time to help you understand what I mean by "good faith" as it relates to IAP. I realize that you're still a teenager ... and a fairly young one at that. At the same time I recognize that you have so many good qualities. I've admired your entrepreneurship and your talent for recognizing good looking wood and cutting it into blanks to sell and trade.

Often times, in IAP, you'll hear members kidding about the addiction of penturning. That addiction goes beyond just turning. It extends into the world of wanting more tools, equipment, pen kits, and pen blanks. Who doesn't want it all? The hard part is being able to apply the brakes. You have to learn to set goals and lay out a plan for achieving those goals. For example, "Do I want a rose engine lathe?" You bet your socks, I do. But, I'm not going to get one by asking people in IAP to donate one. The only way that I'm going to get one is through hardwork and saving money.

It would be grossly unfair of me to come to IAP and say something like, "Oh, look at me. I'm having such a hard life. We just put down my beautiful Golden Retriever and now I need a rose engine lathe to help me overcome the grief of my loss." Life doesn't work like that. You and your friend need to learn to be resourceful but not at the expense of getting others to feel sorry for you.

I hope this helps set you on the right path. I, like many others, enjoy having you in IAP and we like reading your posts. Don't get discouraged by my posts. As we say in the South, "Buck up." Help your friend find a legitimate way to earn what he wants.

I appreciate your friendship. :D
 
Ok. It looks like I have some explaining to do. He works for my brother-in-law (Travis) building cabinets. Travis paid for all of my friends (Andy) stuff. Andy owes him quite a bit of money. Travis gives him a pretty good size space in his shop so Andy owes him for that too. Travis's shop is small (60'x20'). He doesn't want to go to craft shows so I don't know how he'll pay all of his expenses off. We're gonna move down there this year so I guess I'll have to teach him a little bit about penturning.

Doc,I just bought $85 worth of wood from Nolan,including some Rosewood Burl. I've been saving money for years to buy my lathe and pen turning stuff. I've made about $120 in two days at Farmer's Market so that's why I bought that wood and some more pen kits. I'm not asking for wood for me,but for him and one of his friends. His friend (Denver) just started too. He's 16 years old and he was looking for wood too and I told him I didn't have much to spare. He doesn't make much money so I thought I could ask for some. I'M NOT MAKING THIS UP SO I CAN HAVE SOME WOOD! I don't need anymore. They don't have internet either. There's not very many of us Mennonites that have internet.

If any of you have some wood you want to sell me that would be fine too. If I could post pics on here,I would sell more wood and I'd show you what my shop looks like. I'm sorry if I've shook some of you up or made some of you a little angry. Thanks Doc and others!
 
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