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