We read these tips and tricks. These how to videos. We gossip with friends and glean what we can from wherever we can get it. All in an effort to do..what? We have in our heads the image of the ideal craftsman. He of solid build, piercing eyes, not less then a couple grey hairs of wisdom, and one who is smiling serenely. We imagine ourselves in his place. We see the path forward to this goal involves the proper balance between working hard, having the right tools, and studying others techniques.
But I wonder what we really get from all that? As I’ve been building and installing cabinets these past 7 months, I find myself aware of my work, as I work. It seems to me that it is only in this mindset that the very best work can be done. The right tools being close at hand is wonderful, and being able to remember that the best way of wiping excess paint from a paint brush when using a household paint can is to tie a rubber band around the paint can vertically in relation to the can and use the rubber band as a sort of squeegee is a valuable skill. We imagine that holding such precious insight might one day have a sort of currency, as if we might one day be like that cool guy who thought to use address labels on the end of black walnut stock in order to more accurately mark out tenons. These are the building blocks of the master craftsmen facade we work studiously to build around ourselves. What a way to live!
Look for yourself in your work instead. I suggest that it suits a human well. What a lucky person I am. To still be really making things in this plastic age. (seriously, we’re living in the plastic age.) To really interact with the environment around you in a way that is tangible and real feels like such a privilege to me. This is what we used to do, all the time. And now here we are living half our lives digitally. What a bizarre outcome. Just think of how spectacularly unlikely this all is. In this modern what age we’re going going going for is really quite spectacular sometimes.
But I wonder if we know what it is we left back on earth? We have engineered this vast and behemoth system which spits out cars and airplanes and sizzling transmission lines. In near space orbit these days, there are growing debris fields consisting of used launcher devices and dead satellites. We have specialized and educated ourselves to such a degree that we do not really know how to be human beings anymore. We fulfill rolls, and contribute to the civilization yes. But what we (statistically speaking) really want to do for real is watch reality television while munching on some cheetos and an orange fanta. I wonder what it felt like to be a blacksmith in a medieval village , to know that your father was a blacksmith, and his father was a blacksmith. To know that you will one day pass on your trade to your son. What a hard and difficult life. But what a challenge!
In my school days I had typing classes. We sat at computers and typed out printed material with errors in the grammar. Our task was to correct grammar mistakes and practice typing at the same time as quickly as we could. There was a race to among the students to see who could get the highest typing score. Groups of students could sometimes be seen huddling next to another on the verge of breaking a record WPM. (words per minute) But for some reason I preferred simply to slowly and steadily work my way through the material. A steady WPM of 35 was just fine fore me. I needed no 70’s. Perhaps this is explains why I’ve found such solace in woodworking. Above a certain skill level, the work is rarely challenging, it is simply a series of exacting and precise movements to be preformed in the right order with the right materials. But it is the state of mind one is in while carrying all this out that makes all the difference.
Because the point for me is not to reach that fantastical end. Not to finally cross the finish line and become that grand old master, but to grow into the world as the tree approaches the sun seems to me a much more preferable way of looking at things. But these abstract notions hold little water. What I am after these days is craftsmanship in all things. In my day to day goals the object is not to get the boring “work” out of the way so that I can do what I really want to be doing. The object is to always be doing what you want to be doing.
To that end the cultivation of a peculiar outlook becomes necessary. Beyond having knowledge of proper techniques and tools and materials, there is the spirit of the craftsman. A craftsman does not get upset when a joint fails to properly align, because he knows that it is simply because he used the improper registration mark. A quick trim, a clamp and a mallet will bring the piece into its fulfillment. The craftsman at work exists in a special state of flow that is like a dance, or a fire. Things are gradually falling into place in their own manner, at their own pace.
HldBLG 