burn out

[RAIN MAN]

Have any of you ever dealt with "Burn Out " when it comes to scrolling ? I have a great saw, all the tools I need, even a new drum sander. I was scrolling one day,closed up shop, and have'nt gone back to it in about three months. My question is has this happend to any of you ? I love scrolling and I still look for new patters and I'm always in here reading up on what every one is up to, just not scrolling. I'm not bored with my patterns. I have hundreds. Just thought I'd see if any of you have gone thru this and what your advise may be. Thanks, Rain Man

[Janette]

It's easy to do if you put pressure on yourself. I've come close but haven't hit it yet - and hopefully won't! You just have to tell yourself if it doesn't get done, it doesn't get done. I start freaking out when I have a lot of shows booked and not a lot of inventory. I refuse to cross that line of quantity vs quality. I've come close and catch myself, walk away for a bit, then go back to it. Sometimes you just need a break. If you haven't been out there in 3 months, if you find a pattern that you really want to see made, sometimes that will be enough to get you back out there. Walking into the shop and start scrolling- may be all the push you need and the dust will hopefully once again start flying. Good Luck. Right now, I couldn't imagine not scrolling for 3 months, but I have seen people who simply lose interest after some kind of trigger- and just walk away.

[Marsha]

Rain Man,
I have gone through long periods where I haven't scrolled, but I don't call it burn out. I am the type of woodworker/scroller, that needs a reason to do something, ie, gifts, or something for the house, a commissioned piece etc. Unlike a lot of folks on this site I rarely scroll for the fun of scrolling.
So I think what you need is a reason, a special someone you need a gift for, or maybe you need to change the type of scrolling you do, try something different, like making a few scrolled boxes, or some compound cutting.
Just my 2¢ worth
Marsha

[BobD]

Good advice so far! I would take Marsha's suggestion a little farther and suggest that you do a few quick projects. Compound cuts are great because with two cuts, you are done.

Cut some out, apply a finish, and send them out as gifts just to brighten someone's day. All you put into them was some little scraps of wood, a bit of finish, and your love of woodworking!!!

Bob

[Jediscroller]

I hit this quite a bit so I'll do a quick project as suggested or do something unrelated to scrolling (shadow boxes etc.). It's funny, once I sit down after a little hiatus, the bug bites all over again and I'm back to cranking out stuff.

[Gill]

When this happens to me, I take a break from scrolling and either throw myself into another of my interests or I do a different type of woodwork. Before long I start finding new inspiration for the scroll saw, often based on my other activities.

Oh, and taking time out to cut a silly or amusing project helps to recharge the batteries and prevent you from hitting the wall in the first place .

Gill

[workin for wood]

After I do a thorough cleaning of my shop, I hate to see it get dirty again. Takes me a few days to try and figure out how to make something without making dust. Of course, that's impossible. I don't get burned out though because I like to mix things up. Do some scrolling, then do some turning, or make some new cabinets or shop fixtures. This is the time of year too...cut the grass, plant the veggies, weed them, take kids to beach. Pretty soon it'll be too hot to go in the shop, but that's good re-coup time which allows lots of new idea's of what I want to do in the future to creep into my brain. It's probably a good thing to not want to do any scrolling for a little while...refreshes yourself.

yea, that happens to me. I just sit in a room and stair at the walls for awhile.

Actually, I just try to take a simple break and don't allow myself to 'fret' over the situation. If I don't feel like scrolling, I'll mess around with some other things I like to do. We are trying to finish up 35 mother's day gifts for the church. When those get done, I'll will definitely take a break. Most likely do some golfing. The church is starting a website (which I'm a learning to do), so that will take some extra time. Hoping I can learn enough to start a website for my own little scroll/wood/turning business.

[TerryInMich]

By the time winter ends, I'm usually pretty tired of the workshop. Then in the spring I start playing a lot of golf and I find myself missing being in the workshop. So I think the previous advice of varying things is solid. And I like Bob's thought re: compound cuts - they almost seem magical to me since you make two cuts that sort of resemble the goal, but what you end up with feels like something different than what you cut.
Terry

[Greenfield_Bob]

I had a burn out with golf for 10 years I played at least 150rounds a year and I stopped playing. Then I ran my scrollsaw all the time, I started burning out on that, so slowed down. I don't saw as much as I use to, I don't feel burnt out.

Bob