Dam you!! I had to click on it to see what you were talking about!

Lucky for me, I kept scrolling further in and after only about 5 minutes, realized it was a waste of my time.

Much prefer watching people sawing HUGE logs!!

Interesting thing about time spent making a bowl.  For me, I have no idea how much time it took as it might sit on the lathe for a month before I get back to it.

Once in a blue moon, i might have a full day off and do a start to finish piece, but rarely.


People considering buying a piece ask me how long it took and i make it up and maybe embellish the story a bit to make it more interesting.

On average, one of my bowls might take a total of 6 to 8 hours, which includes sitting to give my knee and back a short break...plus a run to the bathroom or 2.

My bowls sell at a minimum of $160. Not worth selling for only $20 or $40. Nonsense to price it per inch of diameter.

Sometimes the wood alone costs close to $100.

Dam i am a (edited out) for punishment like Ralph.  I have nothing else to add.

I don't want to belittle this guy BUT
Videos like his IMO just aren't helpful in any real way.
They give an unrealistic amount of time, an unrealistic cost basis and as Reed said a safety concern.
Be a little skeptical when you come accross videos like these, you'll be better off in the long run.

There are certainly differently different teaching styles for different groups of people.
My point was be realistic about the time it actually takes. and don't mislead others.
You could spend 5 of your 20 minutes getting a stuck lid off the paint jar.

People like this never mention how much time all the background tasks take and then they wind up eating that time.
Yes you can save time doing things in batch runs but you still need to factor in all the mundane things.
material cost
cutting sanding sheets
sharpening tools
machine up keep
cleaning equipment
mixing the paints
Vacuuming up the mess
the list goes on and on and on.
If you don't factor these type of things into your products pricing, then you're doing them on your own time for free.
If it's just a fun hobby, then fine.
Just don't tell me "Make a $20 Bowl in 20 Minutes" when in actuality, you probably yielded a $1.50 profit after everything is factored in.

Thanks a lot Ed. There are a few minutes I will never get back.

Bill Neff wrote on Feb 15^th, 2021 at 10:00am:

I generally agree with that but there's one German guy (Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or ) who does great work but because he has an international following doesn't do any commentary.  (After all, how many of us could follow along with a German commentary?)

I did production turning for the better part of 15 years, doing maybe 800 bowls a year for that time span. Efficiency it intelligent laziness. So, first off, you always round off the corners on your turning blanks. On a bowl that size, rounding it off before you put it on the lathe can take a bit more prep time, depending on how it is done, but it saves you time when you start turning. A bowl like he turned, for me, would have been finish turned in 3 to 4 minutes. When I first started, it would have taken me as much as 45 minutes. Just his processes tells me that if he gets another thousand or so bowls under his belt, he would be a lot faster, and I am taking into consideration that he is doing this as a video, rather than how he turns in the shop every day. I will put up a challenge to him in a day or so. I left a comment and he said he doesn't agree that cutting the corners off makes any real difference...

robo hippy