Selasa, 08 Maret 2016
Pursuit Of Perfection
Woodworking for me is akin to the pursuit of perfection. I thought about this today as I started breaking down some pine stock to build the next project. (More on the Stanley Miter Box rehab soon)
For me there is no more true moment than when you drive a handsaw into the fibers of a board. If you over-think it there are a hundred factors that go into every cut you make, and the more perfect you make your cut, the less work you have to do on the other end.
A square, vertical saw cut is much easier to clean up on a shooting board.
So I try to practice perfection every time I make a saw cut. Most of the time I succeed to varying degrees, and sometimes I fail. Sometimes I fail miserably. Perfection comes closer with practice and dedication. Perfection comes closer with every step towards mastery, with every hour closer to my 10,000. Its the satisfaction I get with hand tool woodworking that I never quite achieved in years of plugging in my tools.
Dont get me wrong. If your path is a powered path, that is fine with me. I dont expect you to take my judgement and use it instead of your own. I have my share of power tools and I use them on occasions when I think theyre the right tool for the job, and sometimes they are. They certainly excel at repetition and drudgery.
The only thing that every bugs me is when I hear a primarily power tool woodworker wonder why anyone would care to rip a board by hand with excuses like "Its so much slower," and "It takes so much effort" and the mentality that its a tough thing to do. When I get the occasion to do public woodworking demos and Im working with hand tools, people react like its a magic trick. Like Im David Blaine levitating before their eyes. Kids love it and enjoy the work at face value, adults are cynical and keep looking to see if Im tricking them somehow.
