WHO........

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Originally posted by rherrell

Why? Because I can, it's that simple,FOR ME. This is not my job so I could care less if somebody buys it. I do it because I love making things, especially things I have never made before.:);)
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That deserves an Amen.
I make them becuase it makes me proud to have the ability and patience to do it. I equate woodcraft (sub categor penturning) with being a musician....I've chosen both nobbies because they can not be mastered, there will always be something more to learn, something more to practice - there will always be a challenge - there will always be the opportunity make myself proud.
 
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I settled on wood workng as my hobby for probably the wrong reasons. In High School, I was never the guy who was known for being good at everything. So when I found My shop classes and I took to it rather naturally, I found something that I was better at than anyone else I knew. Then people made a big deal over me making even even very simple things. That's an ego boost. I like to specialize in turning because it's even more impressive looking and therefore a bigger ego boost(people seem to think I can walk on water based on what I turn). I turn pens because I can carry a pen anywhere and get that big ego boost wherever I go without looking like I'm going out of my way to show off. (even though seeing what i've seen here I'm, personally, not too impressed with what I make)

In conclusion I do it to carress my ego by impressing people I know
 
Originally posted by ed4copies

Are you trying to impress???

I've had this conversation with a couple members on the phone, but why not discuss it here??

We, IAP members, make pens out of EVERYTHING!! WHY? To impress each other? Or to satisfy a market that exists? Or are we hoping to CREATE a market for new ideas??

I see craft show customers. They don't know a lot about pens, as a general rule. They will buy some things, but do they care about where the threads are? NO, How the threads are made? NO, Can they recognize that this is a KIT pen? Generally, NO.

I see pen show customers (far fewer). They know more than I do about pens. I SEE them looking at the nib - not evaluating threading methods.

This is not meant to CRITICIZE anyone, only to establish.

WHY do we make so many changes?
WHO will be impressed? OR CARE??

and, to me, most importantly,

<center>WILL THE FRUITS OF MY LABOR SELL - IN WHAT MARKETPLACE???
Have I IMPROVED on the product???</center>

<center>Have we considered this question???</center>
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Me plain and simple. I can put kits together and sell the crud out of them. I do it all the time. I do not however get the same satisfaction from it as I do when I create some thing myself without a kit. I have made pipes from kits ( a predrilled block with premolded stem fitted to it), and from scratch doing all the drilling and hand cutting the stem from vulcanite rod. The feeling don't even compare when you sell one that you have created yourself. I will still sell kit pens (lots of them)but once in a while its fun to do it all yourself.
 
Originally posted by ed4copies


So, again I point out these were IMPROVEMENTS. WHAT parts of the kit do you believe NEED improving (after you've added a new gold nib - a need that has been filled, yes, but merely by MANUFACTURING a different PIECE, not hand-making anything.
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Ohhhh Mr. Brown,

This has to be either a severe case of selective amnesia or just one of those "open mouth-insert foot" moments.

Did you not, just a little over a week ago, go into great depths with me over how the "perfect fit" kit could be improved? Do I need to search for the thread and point it out to you my friend?

I do believe I gotcha, but you will never concede so the beat goes on, the beat goes on.
 
Mudder,

We did, as usual, have a very good conversation about coping with the shortcomings of the imperfect fit. But, we did not propose FIXING the transmission, cause we know we are not capable of making a better one, without manufacturing facilities. We evaluated, instead, cosmetic adjustments (within our scope) to compensate for the manufactured miscalculations. I believe this conversation would run on a parallel track to this thread. We COULD improve the imperfect fit.
 
Originally posted by ed4copies

Mudder,

We did, as usual, have a very good conversation about coping with the shortcomings of the imperfect fit. But, we did not propose FIXING the transmission, cause we know we are not capable of making a better one, without manufacturing facilities. We evaluated, instead, cosmetic adjustments (within our scope) to compensate for the manufactured miscalculations. I believe this conversation would run on a parallel track to this thread. We COULD improve the imperfect fit.
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If you follow my suggestions would it NOT improve the kit?


I WIN!!



Originally posted by Mudder

I do believe I gotcha, but you will never concede so the beat goes on, the beat goes on.
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La-de-da-de-da, la-de-da-de-da [:p]
 
Let me confirm that Mudder DID say SOMETHING of value!!![:0][:0][:0][:0]

(Mark the date, probably won't happen again!!):(:(:(
 
Originally posted by ed4copies

Let me confirm that Mudder DID say SOMETHING of value!!![:0][:0][:0][:0]

(Mark the date, probably won't happen again!!):(:(:(
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Hey!

When you figure out what it was please let me know [8D]
 
Originally posted by ed4copies
Just doesn't constitute a reason for ME!

I just want to make sure I'm not missing a GOOD REASON!!![?][?][?]
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The reason is quite simple the way I see it. All these idiots going off on this tangent are using plastics. Wood blanks are a thing of the past. They are going to need tons and tons of plastic. If I were a provider of plastic materials I would not be rocking the boat so to speak.

Chuckie

Edit in: [:p] in cheek!!
 
Originally posted by Mudder


I do believe I gotcha, but you will never concede so the beat goes on, the beat goes on.

La-de-da-de-da, la-de-da-de-da [:p]
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I'm severely disappointed that Lou or some other musically inclined individual did not pick this inference up. :(


You guys are slipping in your OLD age.
 
Originally posted by Mudder

Originally posted by Mudder


I do believe I gotcha, but you will never concede so the beat goes on, the beat goes on.

La-de-da-de-da, la-de-da-de-da [:p]
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I'm severely disappointed that Lou or some other musically inclined individual did not pick this inference up. :(


You guys are slipping in your OLD age.
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If you want me to pick up on the musical inference, you need to get the quote right. It's
La de da de de,
la de da de da
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(RIP Salvatore "Sonny" Bono)
 
Originally posted by PenWorks


Myself :) and my legacy ;)
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Reminds me of my father :). He is a Civil Engineer and told me that long after he is gone...people will continue using the buildings,roads, and bridges he help build. Very true. Thanks Anthony.

Who am I trying to impress?

While I don't really try to impress anyone...there is satisfaction in being able to create a nice pen. I am not very creative and I don't do beaded pens. Not because I can't just because I don't care for them (personal choice).

I believe that my effort is the same using a plain wood and rare, exotic wood anyway so I go for what I think will help me attain better looking pens (even if it costs a bit more).

Unlike some, I cannot afford this hobby without selling some. Not much but every sale helps me keep at it. If impressing prospective buyer means attracting them enough to look and fork out the money to buy my pens, then I am out to impress the buyers.

I do turn mostly for self satisfaction. I use exotics for me because I believe they are beautiful. Much as I want to cater to buyers...I really do not turn for them. I make pens that appeal to me and target clients who share my taste.

Do I try to impress my fellow IAP members? Sure I did, I won't hide that but that peaked after a while and I hardly now. Besides, there are much talent here that mine is hardly worth sharing now. Am I intimidated? Not at all, I just feel that I will post pics if it has something else to share now (not just for show).

Case in fact, I made a few "simple" pens that took me days to complete. Reached a point of almost giving up and throwing it but I persevered. If my intent is just to sell, the pen would long be gone after a few hours.

I short...I do it for myself, my buyer and my IAP friends.

What can I say...I am blabber mouth and a show off!!! :D[}:)]
 
Wow - there a lots of very deep, epistomological responses to this question already!

My response is: I make pens to impress myself. Each new thing I learn is one more pat on my own back...

Just as Mallory said, we climb mountains (metaphorically) because they are there! If there are no more mountains, then we create our own, by modifying the mountains that are there...climbing up with no ropes, so to speak...

But then again, I make pens for enjoyment, so I'm not all that concerned with customers...and I'm also on the bunny slope, as far as the metaphor goes!
 
Interesting discussion!

For me, I am trying to impress myself! The work I do for my livelihood seems to have no beginning and no end. So it is ultimately satisfying for me to do something with my hands, with enough skill that I can look at the finished pen and say "Cool! I made that!"

I really don't sell pens, but if I want to, I can. They usually just get given away. I love to try all different kinds of materials, but I rarely make two, or even (God forbid!) five pens the same.

I never thought of you as money driven! Interesting concept! Just because you accept money for a thing, why does that have to be your primary motivation? Nope, most penturners, I feel, are driven by the creative process, and only sell our stuff so we can afford to make more!

I am kind of bothered by a side aspect of all this, though. Let me explain. I also enjoy writing about penturning. And I have found in my mind that my motivation for doing this is completely different from why I make pens! It is also a creative process, but for some reason I do want to impress those who read my articles. I'm not altogether sure why yet, I just know how I feel. Strange. And I do like to sell my articles for publication - it's kind of a validation for me. I kind of like the notoriety of writing articles, but could really care less about notoriety for making pens. Hmmmmm!(in my best Freudian imitation!) [:I]

Thanks for the thought-provoking discussion!

Scott.
 
Originally posted by DCBluesman

[
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If you want me to pick up on the musical inference, you need to get the quote right. It's
La de da de de,
la de da de da
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(RIP Salvatore "Sonny" Bono)
[/quote]

One word wrong out of 18 is STILL better than 90% ;)

Don't try to blame me for your slipping memory, It won't work.


Here's another for you Lou.

Well, listen everybody,
to what I got to say.
There's hope for tomorrow,
Ooh,we're workin'on today.
 
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