Hanging around here has deffinately had an influence on me, in both what I do and noticing what others do.
We went to Maine this week for a couple days off and in a little shop there was the work of 4-5 local turners. One of the most glaring was some beautifully designed turnings, almost perfect in form, however every one of his pieces had turning and sanding artifacts on it. Displayed close to his were some very nice pieces but not as nice in form with perfect finishes. I had them in the light looking real close. According the to shop keeper, both were decent sellers, but the finer finished ones sold more.
To me that was a obvious example of how important the finishes are to pieces that are being marketed. If I was buying I would have went for the better form if they were equally finished, but the finish alone would have put me off them. A little more time and and attention to detail would definately show up in his pocket book.

My work is for a specific market and artifacts in the wood are not that important for much of it. However, after all the time here I am cleaning them up more then I have in past years, it hasn't effected my sales a lot but it has effected them. Where it has effected it, is I have added a higher quality line, better wood and better finishs at more money, which is taking off nicely. Just goes to show even with an established market a person can do better and the rewards of better pieces do show up.

Brad

well said.

Excellent points, Brad. I was thinking the other day that my process is something like this, with the line length representing the time or effort spent (but not to scale):

Prep
Turn Turn
Sand Sand Sand
Finish Finish Finish Finish
Wait Wait
Buff
Photo

If I had a nickel for every time I've gotten to 400 grit only to discover scratches (and have to go back to 120 grit)... ...I'd be able to buy more sandpaper. 

Ron Sardo wrote on 08/01/10 at 16:34:57:


i was wondering where all the nickels went.

I can understand his logic.  I worked for a mantufacting company who specialized in making products for NASA and DoD.  Some of these parts had a tolerance of +/- 1/1000000 of an inch.  We got several jobs that the tolerance was only +/- 3/1000 of an inch.  We almost went broke because we keep the tolerances much too tight.

However, I think we are in a business/craft that demands us to push the finishes and tolerances to the limit.

It breaks down to time and money for me.
On the lower end line, I really can't afford to spend the extra time to get every little scratch out. However, on a possitive note, the finish quality of my lower end is better then the vast majority of my competition.

The higher end line, I do spend the time. Mainly because the items sell for close to twice what the lower ones do, so I can afford to put the time in. And while they are selling nicely the lower end really is my bread and butter being the majority of sales.

Brad

I don't turn anything to sell, but I have traded pens for more kits.  As I move into other forms...finishing is the easiest as it's always been my greatest joy in woodworking. As a guy who's most valuable asset is time, I don't think I can afford to NOT do anything to the best of my ability. If I get complacent, or lazy (which I inherently can be) then I short change myself.  I think I deserve better than that, and if I give you something I turned.... you do too!
I may end up on the roadside or flea market some day, so Im paying attention to this section.  IMHO, the suppliers - and you know who they are and where the parts come from - are the real moneymakers in the pen game.

I understand what Roger is saying about tolerance, but I think that is comparing Apples to Oranges. There is a big difference in tolerance and overall quality. If you have made the pieces to spec, but still delivered an on-time and under budget product, you would have exceeded expectations.

As for wood things/art/craft items, If you tell someone you can made a wooden pen in a week for $35, (Just an example) and you produce a gorgeous pen made from wood with a very nice, interesting grain, make it from quality product, and deliver it in 4 days, imagine what word of mouth advertising you will get, as opposed to giving her a pen from plain walnut with a bottom of the barrel slimline kit and only a moderate sanding/finish job that will look like crap in 2 weeks.