Hello and good morning everyone, its starting to get a little cold down here where I am at, that cold front moving from Canada on down has dropped the temps to the 30's for day time highs, ohhhhhhhhhhh yeah its that time of year yall! I gotta tell you, I am hot natured and the heat is fine and good til I step out in it, then its tough, I tend to sweat alot, I will be soaking wet just trying to do average work out and around the place. I take freaking cold showers generally all the time during the warmer months and try to keep the shop as cold as my AC will get it. Hell I can sit still and concentrate then begin to sweat, its ridiculous. Oh but what I love most of all about this time of year is hunting season, it doesnt really matter what type game we are after as long as its in the woods and I have my kids with me. We are planning our first weekend of deer hunting this weekend and in a couple weeks or so the really fun stuff happens, its duck season! This cold front is really gonna be pushing the ducks down south so we are looking for the migration to take effect. I have been slammed as always in the shop with wholesale orders, my guy in Cali has upgraded his order 2 times since placing it and then emailed me yesterday saying he didnt care what I sent him just add another $1,000 to it and surprise him! I had to have a talk with the one guy I hired on a couple months ago to help out with the wood turning and lighten the load on me. The guy is so enthusiastic to work, its so hard to find a guy with that enthusiasm ever. He has come along way in learning to turn, his quality is all that but he just cant get the dimensions right, I dont care how hard he tries, checking them 2, 3 times with the micrometer but he cant seem to get there with them. I demand they be to as close to the my desired size, they can be over a couple .001" but can in no way be under, the shaft has to be spot on so they fit tight in the bushing. I told him it had been a couple months and it was coming down to the nut cutting, he had to show me what I want or we are going to have to talk. I gave him 30 blanks and told him that I better see 20-25 pieces in pristine quality and the sizes better be on the money. He told me he took his time measured them more than once and felt good about them. I am not an ass most of the time, I wasnt an ass to him this whole time he was showing me the pieces. I grabbed one out of the box, put the mic on it and say what the OD was under by .015", you wouldnt think that would be much but when you install the bushing on the solo stem the wood of his stem would have been smaller than the bushing, you would have felt the clear transition between the two and that aint cool. Out of the 30 blanks, 14 were under and had to go to the trash, The remaining pieces were a little over on the OD or the shaft was to big by .010", you wouldnt think that such a small variance in size would make much difference but when the size I gave him is already a little larger so that I have to beat the wood into the bushing it makes alot of difference if its just to much larger. I am sorry but I know it can be done, I do em all day long at the required size, my other guy can get them to spec, its not that hard, you just have to slow down, take a tiny bit off, stop the machine, measure it and if you have to take another hair or so do so. I dont understand how the guy cant see it, its just put the mic around it, squeeze it tight and look at the reading. Sometimes you have to zero it out to make sure you get an accurate reading but all you have to do then is close the jaws secure and hit the zero button. His feelings were obviously hurt and he was discouraged but he had to know, I did not say anything, I just picked up the stems, put the mic on em and let it tell the story. I dont want anyone purchasing any of my pieces and they not be the best that comes out of my shop, I dont want to see any nicks, tools marks or imperfections due to turning. They all have to be accurate and precise, consistency is a must. He asks me "Cant you fix them" say what? I didnt hire you to have to come behind you, I have so much on my plate, I am not going to spend my time fixing your work, that is absolutely unacceptable! He swore to me he would get it, I have lost dollar after dollar hoping this guy would get it, I needed to learn how and be good enough to depend on him. I pay really good, I dont expect you to work any harder than I would and I pay by performance. My other guy can make anywhere $40-50 to maybe even $60 dollars an hour if he digs in and has a good day. I dont mind how many times you take a break, I dont mind how many times you take a few vape hits, just do your thing and I will be more than happy to pay you what ever you have turned. Its tough finding good help, help that will show up, help that is going to do the job the best he can and something I can appreciate. Running a business is tough. Sorry for my rant, just had it on my mind is all. Now to something more positive, had a conference call with one of the guys from Haze Vaporizers last Friday, I sent him some samples out the Monday prior, he had them in now time, he liked my work, wanted a pricing breakdown and wanted to talk about we could do together. He said he had to talk to the other guy and he would be back in touch with me soon. I must say I am anxious to get a thing going with them, but am a little nervous whether or not I can really take on more responsibility's being as how its mostly me, my other guy quite a bit, my trainee I have had for the last two months, but I was thinking ahead and hired on another guy to help with the turning and I must say he is catching on fairly quick. I really need quality help and thats a damn hard thing to find in my neck of the woods. Hell just wood turners alone are few and far between. Thats why I have to give them a few weeks to get the hang of it, sacrifice wood and time hoping like hell they will get it. Oh but I am trying to stay positive, I have so much work to do, the popularity for my work is exploding and I have so much to be thankful for. I gotta believe there are even more brighter days ahead!
@Aezhenn I hope you read my rant above bro, I would love to have you in the shop giving it hell, I would learn ya a thing or two if France wasnt so freaking far away. You ever decide to get this way, I would love to show you where the magic happens and have you turn something for me, hell learn me something, I sure as hell could use a trick or two. I hope you enjoy wood turning and would love to see some of your work sometime. Thanks for stopping by and I wish you much fun turning!
@steama Thanks so much for the talk last week and for getting that piece out to me, you are the man and are a great part of the FC community, thanks for giving me the opportunity to do what I do and for going out of your way to get me the start!
@KidFated. Thanks for your stepping up to the plate also, I have appreciated all you have done for me and thank you for your trying to help in this situation. Be on the look out, I hope to get a free moment sometime the next few days and get a chance to mock up something for the Vapman.
@LazyIdol Just let me know what I can do and I would be more than happy to give it shot. I thank you for thinking of me and my work and would be honored to do anything I can for you bro! Be well and holla when you can!
@Melting Pot Your pieces were alot of fun to make, one of them I swear was the best I had ever done in that species, thanks so much for letting me enjoy what I do for you! I wish you many good times with them and wish you all the best!
@Nugg Thanks for stopping by my man, actually I have spoken to VK a few times just bouncing things around with him. I would love to dress up a VK in any way I could if it were possible. I got to get a few more hands in the shop before I can take on much else. Its almost getting to the point of not being able to keep up. I am working like hell every moment I am not spending with the family, its a great blessing to be in the spot I am in but I dont want to neglect who and why I do what I do for. Thanks again for stopping by and I wish you well!
@NickDlow I am glad to hear you are on board with that idea, thanks for your support! Hell who knows what the future holds or what I might be getting my hands into. I will damn sure let you all know when I have something cooking!
@Melting Pot Now thats what I am talking about, thanks for stopping by and posting the pics! The one on the left has so much character its hard to show it all, you really have to hold it in your hand to experience what fun it was to make, thanks for the giving me the chance bro!
I hope you all dont think I bad of me for not being able to spend as much time here as I would like. I appreciate all yalls posts, your interest and enthusiasm for what I do. If it wasnt for you all I wouldnt be able to take the time out to show how my talents have grown and hear you alls joy! I wish you all well and hope you are able to stay warm!
@Aezhenn I hope you read my rant above bro, I would love to have you in the shop giving it hell, I would learn ya a thing or two if France wasnt so freaking far away. You ever decide to get this way, I would love to show you where the magic happens and have you turn something for me, hell learn me something, I sure as hell could use a trick or two. I hope you enjoy wood turning and would love to see some of your work sometime. Thanks for stopping by and I wish you much fun turning!
@steama Thanks so much for the talk last week and for getting that piece out to me, you are the man and are a great part of the FC community, thanks for giving me the opportunity to do what I do and for going out of your way to get me the start!
@KidFated. Thanks for your stepping up to the plate also, I have appreciated all you have done for me and thank you for your trying to help in this situation. Be on the look out, I hope to get a free moment sometime the next few days and get a chance to mock up something for the Vapman.
@LazyIdol Just let me know what I can do and I would be more than happy to give it shot. I thank you for thinking of me and my work and would be honored to do anything I can for you bro! Be well and holla when you can!
@Melting Pot Your pieces were alot of fun to make, one of them I swear was the best I had ever done in that species, thanks so much for letting me enjoy what I do for you! I wish you many good times with them and wish you all the best!
@Nugg Thanks for stopping by my man, actually I have spoken to VK a few times just bouncing things around with him. I would love to dress up a VK in any way I could if it were possible. I got to get a few more hands in the shop before I can take on much else. Its almost getting to the point of not being able to keep up. I am working like hell every moment I am not spending with the family, its a great blessing to be in the spot I am in but I dont want to neglect who and why I do what I do for. Thanks again for stopping by and I wish you well!
@NickDlow I am glad to hear you are on board with that idea, thanks for your support! Hell who knows what the future holds or what I might be getting my hands into. I will damn sure let you all know when I have something cooking!
@Melting Pot Now thats what I am talking about, thanks for stopping by and posting the pics! The one on the left has so much character its hard to show it all, you really have to hold it in your hand to experience what fun it was to make, thanks for the giving me the chance bro!
I hope you all dont think I bad of me for not being able to spend as much time here as I would like. I appreciate all yalls posts, your interest and enthusiasm for what I do. If it wasnt for you all I wouldnt be able to take the time out to show how my talents have grown and hear you alls joy! I wish you all well and hope you are able to stay warm!
