This entry was supposed to be posted back in February when it was cold, but I got distracted so its a bit late. Now that we are under contract on our new house, my desire to get in the shop has increased once more, as there will actually be a place for my furniture to live. Maybe my slump was just due to not having the need or room for additional furniture.
Now that I have moved a few degrees North the garage shop is not as sublime in the winter. Luckily I have been able to do something productive with my time. Since my lathe is inside, I continue to rough turn some bowls from the wood I picked up last month. The cold has thankfully kept many of the blanks from checking, so I can take my time. I had a chunk of pear I saved from my friends tree. I figured that was dry enough to finish turn. It checked more than I thought it would have and resulted in kind of a bowl on a stand.
This last weekend we went up to Baltimore to the American Craft Council show. It was a lot of fun, and was very inspiring to look at the work of some really great woodworkers and other artists. By far this was the most impressive art/craft show I've been to, and we are already planning on making the trip up there next year, but we will take the weather forecast into account. Brian Boggs was there and it was truly inspiring to see the level of craftsmanship and eagerness to share his wealth of knowledge. I got home and reread his magazine articles, and watched The Woodwright's Shop episode with him.
While I still have lots more blanks to turn I really think of turning as a side interest to furniture. So I decided to start tuning up some tools. My hollows and rounds were sharp, but some (many) irons did not match the plane soles, and my sharpening skills have improved, so they were the first to go to the stones. I also tuned up an interesting copper/brass soled skew rabbet plane. All of this in preparation for making some mouldings for picture frames.
Something I have been thinking about since starting the Krenov-inspired table is skills/wood/deliberateness. I love happening upon the perfect piece of wood. As my skills improved (through practice) I began focusing on the grain, and which piece of wood was best for what part, and making the piece flow. While I don't profess to be great at it, finding the right pieces for the sideboard was enjoyable, and I think the attention to that shows now that it is completed. I tried to do that with this small table, and succeeded in someways, and there are other parts I wish I could switch for something else. I can blame it on my short supply of maple as opposed to my ridiculous shop supply of cherry in Houston. But I think the real reason is I got to a point and said enh, its good enough, or I rushed. I got tired of one step, and just called it. Now that my time is in shorter supply, I made concessions that I wouldn't have previously.
Additionally, taking the 6 months or so off was detrimental to my skills. I can still cut a decent dovetail, but its not as tight as it used to be, and the chisel doesn't fit as perfectly in my hand. So each task/process/joint took longer than I thought it should. My shop is just as functional, but I don't have a defined workflow anymore, adding to the feeling of taking longer, and more out of touch with the work. I also fell back into the habit of working with not quite as sharp tools, since my sharpening stuff isn't out all the time.
Eventually we will move and my shop will evolve, my workflow will be reestablished, and hopefully improved. Until then I have to wade through an endless supply of project ideas, and questions. Do I work on small "throw-away" projects designed as skill builders? I would love to do that, but then I'm not making anything, one of the fundamental reasons I enjoy woodworking was that there was something tangible and useful that comes from my creativity and work/time. For many other goals/hobbies, practice is essential, you don't become a great musician by only performing, and you don't run a marathon runner by only racing marathons. You take your time, practice and build up to those goals. So why is woodworking (or any craft/art) different? I bet Brian Boggs has cut more joints that were tests/practice than he did joints in all the chairs he's made. I would love to obtain that level of craftsmanship. How do I get there? Do I just toss any piece that isn't right? I guess I could save it and use it to test for next time. Do I only accept the absolute best? If I do will I ever complete the list of project i have made? Do I want to improve/work on techniques; hand tools or turning or just complete a project. Its easy to become an overconsumer of information, or even of inspiration. There is an endless supply of projects I would like to take on, and the preference depends on the mood/time etc.
Is it the journey (process) or the destination(product)? Obviously it doesn't have to be one or the other.
Now that I have moved a few degrees North the garage shop is not as sublime in the winter. Luckily I have been able to do something productive with my time. Since my lathe is inside, I continue to rough turn some bowls from the wood I picked up last month. The cold has thankfully kept many of the blanks from checking, so I can take my time. I had a chunk of pear I saved from my friends tree. I figured that was dry enough to finish turn. It checked more than I thought it would have and resulted in kind of a bowl on a stand.
 |
| Small pear bowl. |
While I still have lots more blanks to turn I really think of turning as a side interest to furniture. So I decided to start tuning up some tools. My hollows and rounds were sharp, but some (many) irons did not match the plane soles, and my sharpening skills have improved, so they were the first to go to the stones. I also tuned up an interesting copper/brass soled skew rabbet plane. All of this in preparation for making some mouldings for picture frames.
Something I have been thinking about since starting the Krenov-inspired table is skills/wood/deliberateness. I love happening upon the perfect piece of wood. As my skills improved (through practice) I began focusing on the grain, and which piece of wood was best for what part, and making the piece flow. While I don't profess to be great at it, finding the right pieces for the sideboard was enjoyable, and I think the attention to that shows now that it is completed. I tried to do that with this small table, and succeeded in someways, and there are other parts I wish I could switch for something else. I can blame it on my short supply of maple as opposed to my ridiculous shop supply of cherry in Houston. But I think the real reason is I got to a point and said enh, its good enough, or I rushed. I got tired of one step, and just called it. Now that my time is in shorter supply, I made concessions that I wouldn't have previously.
Additionally, taking the 6 months or so off was detrimental to my skills. I can still cut a decent dovetail, but its not as tight as it used to be, and the chisel doesn't fit as perfectly in my hand. So each task/process/joint took longer than I thought it should. My shop is just as functional, but I don't have a defined workflow anymore, adding to the feeling of taking longer, and more out of touch with the work. I also fell back into the habit of working with not quite as sharp tools, since my sharpening stuff isn't out all the time.
Eventually we will move and my shop will evolve, my workflow will be reestablished, and hopefully improved. Until then I have to wade through an endless supply of project ideas, and questions. Do I work on small "throw-away" projects designed as skill builders? I would love to do that, but then I'm not making anything, one of the fundamental reasons I enjoy woodworking was that there was something tangible and useful that comes from my creativity and work/time. For many other goals/hobbies, practice is essential, you don't become a great musician by only performing, and you don't run a marathon runner by only racing marathons. You take your time, practice and build up to those goals. So why is woodworking (or any craft/art) different? I bet Brian Boggs has cut more joints that were tests/practice than he did joints in all the chairs he's made. I would love to obtain that level of craftsmanship. How do I get there? Do I just toss any piece that isn't right? I guess I could save it and use it to test for next time. Do I only accept the absolute best? If I do will I ever complete the list of project i have made? Do I want to improve/work on techniques; hand tools or turning or just complete a project. Its easy to become an overconsumer of information, or even of inspiration. There is an endless supply of projects I would like to take on, and the preference depends on the mood/time etc.
Is it the journey (process) or the destination(product)? Obviously it doesn't have to be one or the other.
It's me again. Your comments on perfectionism struck a chord with me (the part about accept only the absolute best). I've seen this first hand. My father was a perfectionist, and you're absolutely right - he didn't get anything done. I've taken his example to heart. I try to be as good as I can be, but I'm willing to fix mistakes and move on. I too have a long list of projects that I want to do and I'm not getting any younger.
ReplyDeleteLately, I am focusing on being more perfect in the original design concept. It's one thing to make a slip of the chisel, but quite another to have a design flaw, especially if it doesn't become apparent until the project is completed. I'm practicing sketchup and trying to do more mockups. However, even here perfectionism would be counterproductive; if one tries to design it to death it will also not get built.
You know what they say. The perfect is the enemy of the good.
P.S. I'll copy this to a text file in case I need it again.
Mark