The Happiness of Working with Wood

 

I have just returned from 5 days of woodworking in Almonte and Rosewood Studios taking Excellence With Hand Tools.

In this course, I learned how to use a variety of hand planes, scrapers, chisels, spokeshaves, draw knives, etc. to prepare wood from rough sawn lumber to a smoothed state (without sanding, I might add). I also learned how to tune-up and sharpen hand planes, scraper blades, and chisels (at least as critical as knowing how to use them). And I learned how to make hand-cut dovetails for boxes and drawers. There were a number of ancillary issues like understanding wood's behaviours with moisture variances here in North America and some brief examples of how to design with this in mind.

This is the first course of a 6-week or 12-week Furniture Making course. There are then up to six months of further coursework you can undertake as well as individual guest workshops on various specific aspects such as boxmaking and so on.

Fine Woodworking is a craft. It's not something you become truly competent at until you have at least five years of practice - you need the experience with the wood, with how to avoid and resolve problems, with how to understand the way to get the best look out of your wood (including how to rough saw the wood in the best ways), in furniture design, in the use of various production machines like steam benders, veneer thickness planers, etc. So before anyone asks, no, I'm hardly qualified to turn out Masterwork Furniture.

On the other hand, I've started to rehabilitate a lot of old woodworking tools from around my Dad's shop (some were Granfather's). Old planes (transitional wood/metal planes, a hybrid rabbit/shoulder plane, several smoothing planes), old chisels, a spokeshave, a draw knife, and so on. I've purchased some additional high-quality woodworking tools. I'm going to start working towards having a good workbench at the family homestead. Then *maybe* I can start producing small projects.

I would like to take the remaining courses, but probably won't be able to this year. The course is continuing today and I'm not there and can't afford to be (should have looked into government sponsored retraining options sooner, but the idea didn't occur to me until late last week).

Whatever else I do know, spending a day working with wood gives me the feeling of having achieved something, having worked on building something that will be of some use to someone and that will hopefully improve the world by its existence. The last three or so years of being on software projects that were cancelled or never deployed has really quashed that feeling for me at work.

I need to recapture that sense - I think I went into engineering in the beginning to understand the world a bit better and to design and construct things to make the world a better place.

For a long time, when I was working on computer systems for the RCMP and later the military, I had that. Even working on some telecom projects and on point-of-sale systems for Canada Post, I had that. But many of the other projects left me wondering why I'd committed so much of my time and effort and feeling rather hollow at the end.

Well, working with wood looks like it is full of challenges, but at least if you apply yourself, you can produce something tangible and concrete. Eventually, I should be able to produce things that are useful and beautiful as well.

I've taken most of this year off of work. I've reconnected with old friends too oft ignored. I've spent some time (a diminishing resource) with my folks while they're still here and somewhat capable. I've started to learn how to work with wood to produce quality products. I've learned how to make home-made jam (the art of canning) and I've started to write a bit.

Still up on the year's list: A visit from my cousin in Missouri, spending more time with Dad learning how to Weld and Braze, working on consolidating the skills I learned at Rosewood, learning to sew by hand and with a machine, maybe learning how to kill and process chickens for food (from a friend who does this) and attempting to become competent at pastry work. Somewhere I have starting on the road back to better physical shape as well.

I suppose it is small wonder I've felt busy enough without work in my life. Truth to tell, I needed the recharge. I will have to start seeking 'paying work' again soon, but my life feels much more balanced than it did at the start of the year.

So maybe the year I turned 40 wasn't such a bad year!