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Our Patriot Turners-

We lost one of our long time members, @HandyDan. He passed away last week. He was an active member here in our turners forum. The post by @DuckSoup really says it all. Thanks, Bob, for helping us remember what a great guy Dan was.

Dan's Obituary-

Higgins-Reardon Funeral Homes and Cremation Services

Daniel Joseph Hunkele Obituary Jul 16, 2026 - Higgins-Rea...

View Daniel Joseph Hunkele's obituary, send flowers, find service dates, and sign the guestbook.

A week or so ago @RustyFN learned he was in the running for honors from the local gallery where he has some of his pieces shown. Rusty gave us an update-

We all think he was robbed!!!

Rusty didn't let that deter him, however, he was back in the shop working on some more of his bowls from a board!

He got lots of questions on his techniques and gave us further insights with this post

Thanks Rusty for taking the time to help us understand this!

We had entries in both our "What's On" and "What's Off" your lathe this week!

From What's On, @calabrese55 showed us the fantastic mixed media vase he completed. Lots of great comments-

Check it out here-

From What's Off-

A set of salt/pepper grinders

Member @Gordon asked a question about technique. Specifically on how to get a flat bottom on the inside of a bowl.

Check out his post and see if you can offer suggestions, ideas and/or special techniques.

What's Coming Up-

If you missed Tod Raines live presentation, last Friday, the replay is available on Youtube-

Registration- https://streamyard.com/watch/sYAqzt5GK9GT

For The Newbies-

We saw Rusty's Basket Illusion entry at the art gallery. Maybe you wondered how the beads were done. Mike Peace shows us the Carter Beading tools in this video.

Here's a neat little turning that you can make, give to the grandkids and send them home!

Speaking of grandkids, Alan Stratton has a project to make for the latest addition-

Most turning demonstrations (video or live) direct us to SEE what we should do. Tommy Tomasic takes that one step farther and helps us to know what to LISTEN for-

Expand Your Horizons-

Seems the flavor of the week is creating beads and basket illusions. Carl Jacobson's method-

How do you finish your turnings? Glossy, flat or somewhere in between?

M. Saban-Smith turns a pet urn and adds a glass like finish. He describes his coloring/finishing process in the video.

Stuart Batty explain why negative rake scrapers can do what other tools cannot-

Turning Time With Easy Wood Tools-

With all of the beading examples, this week, don't forget that Easy Wood Tools has 4 negative rake beading cutters that fit several of the EWT Roughers!

Mark Dreyer will be demonstrating Easy Wood Tools at the Powermatic Experience!

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1395936019236164&id=100064593376431

Toolmetrix uses Easy Wood Tools for teaching!!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Dau5IFfleWP/?igsh=dWNkaTU1ZnVtanU1

Nathan McCollim uses EWT Tools for offset turning, including the Joyner Offset Jig!

https://www.facebook.com/reel/4169226906554605

Check out more EWT demonstrations!

https://www.woodcraft.com/pages/store/milwaukee

https://www.woodcraft.com/pages/store/birmingham

https://www.woodcraft.com/pages/store/tulsa

https://www.woodcraft.com/pages/store/san-antonio

@Jordan Martindale

New Turning Items-

From Axminster, a new professional grade lathe-

Cindy Drozda's upcoming Tool Talk will discuss offset turning designs. Niles Bottle Stoppers has a sale on them.

Niles Bottle Stoppers

Joyner Off Center Jig Kit - Niles Bottle Stoppers

Jig to create off-set turnings; pendants, box lids, bottle stoppers, goblets. Great for woodturners, decorate box lids.

Robert Sorby has a new line of turning calipers

Robert Sorby Ltd

Find a Stockist - Robert Sorby Ltd

If you are about to upgrade your lathe, might as well get a freebee!

Wood Turners Wonders

Reliable & Affordable Woodworking Lathes for Your Shop

Explore our premium wood lathes built for precision, comfort, and reliability. Find the right fit for your workspace and take your turning projects to the next level!

Everything Else-

From Ron Brown's latest newsletter, a little about pricing and selling

The True Value

 

If you’ve ever stood in your shop, held something you made with your own two hands, and thought about putting a price tag on it, you’ve probably stumbled into the grand, old mystery: how on earth do you decide what it’s worth?

 

Here’s the plain truth—the price you pick is almost never the same as its true value.

 

Whenever folks ask me to help them put a dollar amount on their work, I wish I had a quick, simple answer for them. But I don’t. My response usually starts with a handful of questions and a few fair assumptions, because every situation—and every craftsman—is a little bit different.

 

Since we just released our Laser Cut Christmas Ornament and Feature Ring Kits, let me tell you a quick story. I started making these back in 2012. We were still traveling on the Woodworking Show Circuit at the time, which was a natural place to introduce these kits to fellow turners. Now, much like a diamond in the rough, a kit in its raw, unassembled form doesn't look like much. So, to show folks what was possible, I turned a few finished Christmas ornaments—complete with detailed finials—and set them out for display only. Not for sale.

 

Well, they turned out pretty impressive. So many folks kept asking for the price that finally, out of sheer desperation, I said, "$150 each." I figured that steep number would put an end to the questions once and for all. We even posted a sign right on top of the display. I mean, who in their right mind would pay $150 for a single ornament?

 

We sold over a dozen!

 

That little strategy backfired in a big way. It wasn't that I didn't appreciate the money, but I was so slammed with the show schedule and my other work that I didn't have the time to make replacement displays. It felt an awful lot like a farmer eating his own seed corn.

 

At the end of the day, the actual selling price of anything is simply the amount someone is willing and able to pay for it, right then and there.

 

A lot of things weigh on that scale:

		How difficult it is to make
		How much time is involved
		The raw cost of your materials
		How many other folks can make the exact same thing
		Where you’re selling it
		Your direct competition
		The local economy
		How urgently you need to make a sale
		How well your audience understands the craft behind it

 

A high-end gallery is going to charge a much higher price—and take up to half the cut—than you’d ever ask at a Saturday street fair or a local flea market. But galleries can put your work right in front of folks looking for high-end items, and in that setting, those big commissions can be well worth it.

 

Then there are places like Etsy and eBay. I sell on both, and while they aren't my primary source of revenue, they’re well worth the effort. The trick is that the items I sell are unique—no one else offers the exact same thing. For me, those platforms act as a doorway, bringing customers back to our main website. If you’re making what everyone else is making, it quickly becomes a race to the bottom on price (just think of carbide turning tools). And keep in mind: just because you see someone listing a custom cutting board online for $450 doesn't mean they're selling tons of them. They might never have sold a single one at that price.

 

Over the years, I’ve sold handmade craft and utility items at flea markets, art fairs, through galleries and specialty gift shops, and across all kinds of online platforms. I’ve also built over 1,000 pieces of custom hardwood furniture on commission. And I currently sell wholesale to major National Retail woodworking stores. In our biggest year, we did a little over half a million dollars in sales. These days it’s less, but we stay busier than I’d like most of the time—struggling just to keep up with production most months.

 

When I price an item today, I look at the material costs plus the honest time it takes to make, package, and ship it. I try to start with a fair, reasonable number—an amount that, if I were sitting on the buyer’s side of the counter, I wouldn't mind paying. If it sits there, I might trim the price back or throw in a little something extra. If it flies off the shelf too fast, I’ll bump the price up over time. And every now and then, if an item just won't move, counterintuitively I’ll raise the price—and much to my amazement, folks start buying it.

 

Here’s a golden rule for the shop: if I design a product that sells like hotcakes but makes me plain miserable every time an order comes in, I either raise the price significantly or stop making it altogether. You ought to enjoy your time at the workbench. Make what brings you joy. Otherwise, it’s just plain labor. I’ve been blessed to reach a point where stepping into my shop every morning feels like a trip to Disneyland, and that ain't a bad way to live.

 

There is no single "right" price for your hard-fought work. Charge what feels fair to you and have fun with it. After all, turning is a pure passion project for 96% of all turners, and it's pretty rare for anyone to clear more than $1,000 a year selling what they make at the lathe.

Safe turning

Thanks for the mention Lew.

There is a lot to look through this week.

The Ron Brown newsletter sounds like a conversation Patti & I have had several times.

Thanks for that link to Dan's obit, Lew. I'll check Tomislav's noise thing out later.

Lew you must have stayed up late Tuesday putting all that together. Will have to check it out later as headed to shop. Thanks for what you do.

On 7/29/2026 at 3:57 PM, lew said:

At the end of the day, the actual selling price of anything is simply the amount someone is willing and able to pay for it, right then and there.

Interesting insights!

I was told once and fully believe that the secret to financial success is to develop the one thing that you can make for $.50 and sell for $5.00 and everybody needs 2, (adjusted for inflation) still working on design any day now

@RustyFN Thanks!

@DuckSoup Thank You!

@Fred W. Hargis Jr Thanks!

@Gerald Thank You!

@BB1 Thanks!

@Rusty S Thank You!