One of the key points I need to make about a woodwork business is that product choose is critical. You want to produce or make something that not a lot of other people are making or doing. For instance lets say you turn a pretty nice burl bowl and you would like to make a living turning bowls.

Following a little market research you find that there are 100 other business in you local area who are making burl bowls, damn. My guess would be you are likely find it hard to make a living turning burl bowls with that much local competition.

So break the market place down and find a growing trend in the turning market that you can exploit. Darrell Feltmate feels that there is a growing trend in small lathes. So why not develop some bowl and spindle patterns specifically for "mini" lathes and market these. Patterns are very sale able to the hobbyist turner and a growing market according to Darrell.

Wood Turning - It Can Be A Small World

By Darrell Feltmate

One of the things that we have seen change in the wood turning world over the past decade is the growth industry in small or “mini” lathes. While there is some debate over what would make a lathe a “mini” there is some agreement that any lathe that could make a bowl no larger than ten inches in diameter or turn a spindle no longer than twelve inches long is indeed a “mini.”

These are not toys although they are a lot of fun. They are quite sophisticated machines capable of great precision and finely made. While they suffer under the usual buyers caveat of “you get what you pay for” a mini lathe is quite a bit less in cost than its older brothers. Also the tooling tends to be smaller and thus less expensive as well. Much of it can even be made at home for even greater enjoyment.

With all of that, it may not be the cost that is the underlying factor in a person deciding to purchase a mini lathe. Instead there are two alterations in the modern industrial world that make the mini lathe a great deal. First there is the need to have a hobby and to create. Many of us are busy at work in jobs that have set scenarios that stifle individual creativity and we need to break out in our off hours. While painting or music work for some, they are not for all. Wood working is a hobby choice that appeals to many.

However, there is the accompanying idea that wood working requires a large workshop with noisy machines and a lot of mess. Today many of us live in small apartments with perhaps an empty room that has no space for large work benches, table saws and the like. Besides which the neighbors are only a cinder block away and they really do not want the scram of large machines at 2:00 in the morning or for that matter at 3:00 in the afternoon. Surely, in some areas space could be rented but that means going our again after work with all the additional hassles not to mention the expense.

Enter the mini lathe. Typically, these are quiet little instruments no louder than a sewing machine, yet they can make all manner of beautiful objects. Items such as writing pens, candlesticks, tea lights, personal tool handles, jewelry, ornamental mushrooms, Christmas ornaments and small bowls are just few of the possibilities. In these sizes many exotic woods now become affordable and the beauty of the world is at your finger tips.

A mini lathe can be set up in almost any room and are even small enough that a portable work bench is an inexpensive stand that can be moved anywhere. Tools, accessories and finishes are easily stored in a small box. Yet, from this simple space comes a work of creation, beauty and wonder. Truly this is a solution for the stress and creative needs of the modern world.

Darrell Feltmate is a juried woodturner whose web site, http://aroundthewoods.com , contains detailed information about woodturning for the novice or experienced turner as well as a collection of turnings for your viewing pleasure. You too can learn to turn wood, here is the place to start. Wondering what it looks like? Follow the page links for a free video. http://aroundthewoods.com

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