Thomas Jefferson once said, “l’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.” I was told from my earliest days in business that opportunity is often disguised as hard work that is why many folks overlook it. I took these pearls of wisdom to heart very early and they have proven to be very accurate.

Think about your own successes, in business, on the job, raising your family and learning to turn wood. Nothing worthwhile comes without a lot of effort. Even things which seemingly come naturally to some require much effort to perfect.

I used to struggle with sharpening my lathe tools. My friend Kirk Deheer used to go to great lengths helping me understand how to grind a bowl gouge and why certain settings worked and others didn’t. I really struggled for a long time. Finally one day, the light came on and I understood. It took a lot more effort to flesh out the sharpening process, but today I do pretty well sharpening lathe tools. That understanding led to jigs and fixtures which make sharpening relatively automatic for most folks without all of the effort I went through.

We all know individuals who seem to be a natural at turning wood or golf or tennis or fishing, etc. Turning wood didn’t come naturally to me at all. It hurt. I presented HHS lathe tools to the wood so incorrectly that a wood lathe equated directly to pain in my world for many years. Then one day I was shown how it is supposed to be done and after a while the pain was gone. Now, after many years of study, lathe work is virtually effortless and I enjoy it immensely. When you put forth the effort until you break through your reward is a tangible accomplishment.

I have had the privilege of turning in public for over a decade now and I love it when folks say “You make it look so easy.” Now, it is easy, but that only came after a lot of work. Some folks think I have a very glamorous job of demonstrating turning to the public at Woodworking Shows and Wood Turning Symposiums all over the country. What they don’t think about is how much work it takes behind the scenes. They don’t think of all of the preparation, building inventory, turning samples, designing packaging, building pallet after pallet, loading and unloading 18 wheelers full of merchandise and display stands. They don’t see us days before the show opens preparing the show booths, stocking merchandise, setting up displays, etc. They don’t think about how much effort and planning goes on during the off season getting ready for show season. Yes we are very lucky, mainly due to the amount of hard work which goes on behind the scenes. Show season for us means months of preparation beforehand, then 3 to 4 months of very long days 7 days a week with no breaks until the season is over. That is how we make our own luck.

Every successful person I know especially in the turning world works very hard at their craft. It might not be obvious and that sometimes is by design, but you can easily see when someone has not put in the needed effort, it shows. I recommend that if you want something and are willing to put in the effort go for it and don’t quit until you have accomplished what you desire. After all, wherever you go, there you are.

Here is my inspiration for this week’s message:

Deut 28:12 NIV The LORD will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.

Prov 14:23 NIV In all hard work there is profit, but merely talking about it only brings poverty.

1Cor 3:13 NIV each builder’s work will be plainly seen, for the Day will make it clear, because it will be revealed by fire. And the fire will test what kind of work each has done.

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Overstock Sale

Save 33% on Gouge SetUp Blocks

The show season is over and we need to reduce our stock of Gouge SetUp Blocks for sharpening HHS Bowl and Spindle Gouges.

Ron Brown's Best Gouge Setup Blocks™

It Only Takes Two

This will set the correct arm angle for sharpening 4 HSS wood turning gouges.

  These have been modified to work with the  OneWay Wolverine Varigrind #1 gouge grinding fixture used for bowl and spindle gouge sharpening. They are milled from HDPE and are extremely durable. They are calibrated to work only with 8" grinding wheels. They won't work with 6" grinders, sorry.

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