Statements

I believe that the world is complex beyond comprehension. That is not to say that nothing can be said about the world, but merely that whatever is said is, by its very nature, incomplete. Counter-intuitively, the less is said, the closer you are to it.

I believe that people are by their nature good, but they sure do some silly things. The silliest being thinking they really understand something.

The belief that we have mastery over the laws that govern nature has lead us to play with the levers. More often than not, scars follow us where we have steered.

We explore the world around us. We fill pages with words and the air with sound, and mistake this for that.

How can you be a scientist with such a view?

The answer might be in the problem. To listen to the world without making a sound, to traverse the fields without leaving a mark. To explore that without this.

Then come statements, flawed tools and fractured mirrors.

Silly Frustrations

Merry Christmas!

So, today has been a day of silly frustrations.

One was when my aunt innocently asked if I could make a table for her like the one that I made for Kristin, the oak hall table that stands in our entryway. I asked her how much she wanted to spend on it, and the answer was $40.

That amount is reasonable when you consider that she is trying to replace one that she bought for $40. And I know that my aunt meant nothing by it... truly I did. I actually was not upset, except...

Except somewhere deep in my head there was a part of me screaming about how on earth she could think that table was only worth $40. A handcrafted, solid oak table with traditional and solid joinery and a French rubbed oil and wax finish. It was not what she meant, and my reaction was illogical and completely silly... and yet it was there. Oh well. I feel bad cause I did not react well, even though my aunt meant nothing from her innocent questioning.

Frustration number two was when I discovered that the professor who has been blowing me off for literally months suggested that I contact a different professor in a different department... a department that had a Dec. 1st deadline for applications.

I am starting to feel adrift. Sigh.

I am going to bed. Tomorrow is a new day.

A piece I am really proud of

I am really proud of this piece, and not because it is so well done, or that there is anything in and of itself that is extraordinary. I am proud of this because it is less than $15 of lumber, and was completed in less than 10 hours total. Even better, it was built during free-time in a 40 hour work week. This is big on some many levels. I will admit that I have been having issues with getting pieces completed while working a full week. Additionally, I am so nit-picky that most of my pieces are taking longer than would be profitable. But this fish tank stand is not only solid and well built, but I think it looks attractive to boot!

So, now our house has no less than 7 pieces that I have either built from scratch or repaired to usability, and that is pretty cool to me. :)

~ matt

Finishing Touches

Getting close

Chasing the wire

A mere filament of steel hangs on the end of the blade, catching the light filtering into the window. I flip the blade over and work the other side, forcing the stubborn wire to the opposite side. This is called chasing the wire.

A red paste, a mixture of material worn from the stone and the water, coats the blade and my fingers. Every couple passes I move my finger gently over the blade, feeling for the wire.

And then the wire is gone, and I know it is time to move down in grit. This stone feels smooth to my skin, but the steel knows differently. The blade slowly becomes polished to a mirror finish from my efforts, and the edge disappears, splitting the light so that none is reflected back to me. I cannot feel it, but here too is a wire which must be chased from side to side.

Finally, some sacrificial hairs from the back of my hand are offered to the blade. It passes through them without so much as a tug, leaving barren skin in its wake. I doubt my razor is this sharp.

Fitted into the plane, the blade seems almost hidden, and the space given to it is just enough to let a thin sliver of light through.

Time to get to work.

The plank of cherry is rough and ugly from the mill's saw. The tree it came from probably saw the sun's rays before I ever did.

On the first pass, the plane sings me her song. A sweet note, as shavings thin enough to see through are peeled back from the plank. With every pass, the light red cherry wood is exposed, shimmering and luminescent in the sun's fading light. The depth of the wood's figure is exposed. Each pass is a cascade of notes sung by the blade, the siren calling forth the hidden beauty in the wood.

People ask why I do not work with power tools. It would be easier, they say. Faster certainly. They know nothing of this hidden secret, of this simple joy. It is a delicate thing, easily severed by the table saw's buzz.

About a year later

It has been about a year since I decide to set up a shop in the garage, and what a year it has been.

Well, not that it has been particularly eventful. But a year ago I was pretty significantly in debt, looking at the end of a crappy job, and not really sure what I was doing with myself.

And now I am mostly debt free, looking at the end of a decent but low paying job, and still not really sure what I will be doing with myself.

Grad school is still on the docket. Looking at Fall 2012. But the job situation is still very much in the air. I thought I had a job for a year, but 2 weeks in the boss approached me to say that they do not have as much business as they originally planned on. Now I have 2 more weeks, and then I am back to looking. Sigh.

The plus side is that my woodworking is getting much much better. I am slowly accumulating tools, and my skills are developing. I might try to make some things, and see if i can sell them to support myself through the winter. I really tried to take some pictures of my completed work, since this blog has absolutely none of my finished pieces, but it seems my poor lens decided it did not want to focus. I will retake them, and post them soon.

~matt

New Job

So, my bout of unemployment was very short lived, and I am now gainfully employed. Hooray!

But, that means my shop is still full of unfinished projects. It means I need to get my applications for Grad school together in my spare time. It means my reading is getting neglected (although to be fair, it might not have anything to do with not having free time).

The job is lawn care. It is interesting, I suppose. I mean, I have never done lawn care specifically, so I am learning new stuff. But, it has exposed me to something that I have not experienced in a while.

It has been a long time since I have been talked down to.

I think people just assume that since I am working for a lawn care company, I am an idiot. Or uneducated. Or somehow less worthy of respect.

It is frustrating certainly, but thankfully it is only the occasional person that does it, and I tend to have a pretty thick skin about this kind of thing. But, there was one lady who was just nasty. I about broke and asked her who she thought she was, to be talking to me like that... but I held my tongue.

Oh well. It is work.

Trying again to keep up with this

Well, hello to whomever actually might be reading this. Sorry for the long absence. Got busy and lazy, and the blog just did not happen.

What happened in the last 6 months, you might ask?

I finished the workbench, and it is solid and does its job well. Think the legs need to be dropped another 1-2" to make for easier hand tool work.

Build some furniture. A small bedside table for my mom, a hall table for Kristin, another end table, a butcher block... Not a whole lot for having been gone for 6 months, but it is something. Been about a year since I picked up this little hobby, and I have learned a whole lot.

Got a job for the summer. It was a good one, and I worked with some really cool people. Was doing some good work on water conservation. At the end of it all, presented a proposal to make the whole thing work better. Still waiting to hear a reply from the powers that be on whether it will be taken to the next step. Should be fun if it works out, cause I will have basically written my own job description.

Now, the season is over yet again, and I find myself back to working on my woodworking and looking for work. Oh, and updating my blog again. :P

Will try to post some pictures of my work soon.

And we will see how long I keep this up this time around.

~ matt

Almost done

So close to done. My hands are beat up, my back hurts.

Legs are on, and this thing is solid. I stopped by a woodworking shop today, and the bench they had for sale for $1800 was so flimsy I thought I might break it. Not so with mine.

It is not perfect. There are errors, mistakes a plenty. I learned a lot in this project, that is certain.

But it is mine. I made it. All myself. With only hand tools.

~ matt

Cutting joints

"Fit thirty spokes into the hub of a wheel.
It is the space between the spokes that makes the wheel valuable; thus the vehicle can be put to use.

Bake clay and make it into cups.
It is the space within the cup that makes it valuable; thus the cup is useful.

Cut out doors and windows.
It is the space created by the doors and windows which makes them valuable; thus a house is useful.

Therefore, what has substance is beneficial.
What is without substance is useful."

Coming together

"Life, death, preservation, loss, failure, success, poverty, riches, worthiness, unworthiness, slander, fame, hunger, thirst, cold, heat - these are the alternations of the world, the workings of fate. Day and night they change place before us and wisdom cannot spy out their source. Therefore, they should not be enough to destroy your harmony; they should not be allowed to enter the storehouse of spirit. If you can harmonize and delight in them, master them and never be at a loss for joy, if you can do this day and night without break and make it be spring with everything, mingling with all and creating the moment within your own mind- this is what i call being whole in power."

Joints

"You cannot discuss the ocean with a well frog - he's limited by the space he lives in. You can't discuss ice with a summer insect- he's bound to a single season. You can't discuss the Way with a cramped scholar- he's shackled by his doctrines."

Work in Progress

Been a long while since I have written here. Sorry for the long delay, but things have been busy and such. Lets see if I can remember what all has happened since I last wrote.

I built my sawhorses, which is good because they have been holding up my benchtop, and have been serving as its legs. Not an ideal situation by any means, as it is really too low to be ergonomic. The "bench" height is around 25", and I need the bench to be 32" high. Bit of a difference, and believe me, my back feels it.

I worked a lot on my mom's table, which turned into a fiasco. I was trying to use very marginal lumber, and by shear force of will make it work. Well, that is not entirely accurate... The big issue is that I was trying to make these pieces something they were not, namely straight and free of serious flaws. I got to watch my efforts explode in my face, literally. The a piece had internal stresses (caused by a curvy trunk being cut into a straight board) which I did not discover until I was ripping a board in half to fix a bow. My saw hit the place where there were conflicting forces, and then through that place and therein relieving those opposing forces in the appearance of several large and table-top ruining shatterings. I was a bit depressed.

Then I found some better wood from my stack, joined it, and in 1 hour had something better than what had taken me 10 hours before.

At least I learned a lot. I guess. Sigh.

So, now my back is telling me that I need to complete my bench. The big reason I put it off was because it was going to be very time consuming, but it has to happen. I was really hoping to have some piece of furniture done before this point, but it is what it is.

Here is a picture of the mom's table top, the second.



~ matt