I had some time this week to do a little of what I like to call “shop healing”. My schedule can get so hectic sometimes that I start losing focus and I feel like I am spreading myself too thin. That’s when I know its time to get re-centered and re-calibrated. Since I am between projects, this was the perfect time to go all zen on my shop.
I started by tweaking my setup. An inefficient space is a frustrating space! My tool cabinet was originally mounted in a little alcove behind my oscillating spindle sander. This made it very difficult to reach the tools, which kind of defeats the purpose of my “handy” cabinet. So I moved it over to the other side of the shop and cut my big storage rack down to half-height. I was already starting to feel the tingly sensation of peace and harmony.
But I didn’t stop there. My next mission was sharpening. All of my chisels and plane blades were ready for a touch up, so I pulled out the Shaptons. Once I got started, I just couldn’t stop. So over the course of two days, I lapped every back and honed every bevel in the shop! I was getting so close to intergalactic oneness at this point.
So with a couple more days to kill, I decided to finish off my woodworking vacation with a little hand tool practice. Now you guys know I am not the type to mill up my project lumber using bench planes only. As long as my Powermatic jointer still has juice, you won’t see me flattening boards the old-fashioned way. But on occasions like this, I will select a very special board that I will refer to as “The Offering”, and mill that puppy flat and square using my trusty #5, #7 and #4 bench planes. I just go to town on The Offering until its flat or I run out of wood. Any stress that was in my head goes through my hands, into the plane, and ultimately escapes in the form of a wispy shaving. If someone were to observe me at this point, they might even hear me semi-consciously mumbling, “That’s for that stupid house that won’t sell!” and “That’s for that credit card payment I forgot to pay!” Life’s too short to hold on to these things, and the wood is all too happy to help me rid myself of them. If you haven’t tried this, I highly recommend it.
The grand finale of my week was getting some practice cutting a few half-blind dovetails by hand. I don’t do this often and I needed some practice before I teach the Guild members how to do this on their Shaker End Tables. It proved to be a great way to test the edges on my newly sharpened gear.
Although I am incredibly busy, I love what I do. Its hard to call it work when I would be doing this stuff with or without a paycheck. But its incredibly important for me to occasionally get back to basics and spend some quality time in my shop. And while I am no neanderthal hand tool junkie, its interesting to observe what tools I go to when I am in the stress-relieving re-centering mode. I had absolutely no desire to use electricity in the shop this week. But when it comes time to flatten my next project board, you can bet you’ll be hearing the sweet hum of a jointer and planer coming from my shop.
Feeling refreshed, renewed, and reconnected with my shop, I am ready to take on the insanely busy month of March.
How sweet it is! Quiet enough to hear your tunes and nothing but pretty shavings. Nice to know you can do it even without the power tools isn’t it?
You know, I think that’s a really large component of this whole thing as well. Proving to myself that I CAN do these things by hand if I choose to. Sweet indeed.
Shannon,
I recently helped my brother in law and sister by fixing their solid core front door. Whomever installed it in the opening did a terrible job. The hinges were poorly mortised, the bolt didn’t line up with the strike and the door drug in several locations. I grabbed my 40B, my 62, my 60.5, a couple chisels, a long straight edge and a sharp knife. After about an hour on the door it was trued to fit the opening (it wasn’t square from face to face, but the gaps were even when reinstalled). I had been working in their basement garage and was left to my own devices during the hour’s work. Eventually my brother in law stopped down asking me when I was going to get started because I had been so quiet. I told him I was done. There was a nice pile of shavings on the floor and the air was clear. He’d figured his whole garage would have looked like someone ran a vacuum in reverse. As Matt says, I truly had sharp blades and straight grain…and enjoyed every minute of the Zen. Thanks to you guys for teaching a Normite the power of silence.
Jay
So does ending the week with hand tool techniques mean you have to go back to the beginning of the week and sharpen again? :-)
In the past I’ve found the hammer (or, in some cases, a sledge) as the key to working out those frustrations. Of course, it doesn’t hone any woodworking skills, but it does release the tension – and in the case of swinging the sledge, it gives me a completely new set of pains to focus my mind on…
It does feel good to get the shop in good shape. I just wish I had the time to really dive in and make my shop look like it does in my head, but in the meantime I figure an hour here and there gets me that much closer.
I do look forward to having the time to use hand tools more often so I agree it is nice to have the option to use muscle or electricity.
It
About time grasshopper, now I can sense the calmness from here, it feels good and right.
Peace, love and a shop full of tools, wood and time.
Marc, I feel ya brother. I live in PA where we’ve had record snow fall this year. My garage is uninsulated and frigid. I’m dying to get my wood on. So I think I’m going to move one of my smaller benches to the basement and get out my planes. My wood arrived from Bell Forest today but I had it sent to work and it arrived 2 hours after I left for the day. So with fresh snow on the ground I will wait until tomorrow to go get it. Grrrr. The frustation continues. I need whimsical shavings or I’m going to lose it!
bt
Sounds like me. I have Wednesdays off and I spent the last one sharpening chisels and practicing dovetails. I did a much needed shop cleaning and ended the day by refinishing my workbench top. Made it ready for the shaker table project.
I just finished a sharpening weekend myself having delivered one project with nothing else happening right away. My block plane was better off as a hammer it was so dull. I know how you feel about shop design that isn’t working. I’m in a one car garage that I constantly re-arrange and it still doesn’t work as well as I’d like. I desparately need to make some hanging tool cabinets. Good layout helps you work while bad layout fights you at every step.
I use a lot of hand tools but don’t consider myself a hand tool person (anymore). I love my jointer and planer way too much. My chisels, scapers, planes and saws see very regular use, though. It’s funny, but instead of just practicing some hand tool techniques I have to find something to make. So if I want to brush up on my dovetails I guess I’ll be getting another storage box or something.
Good luck with March!
I’m so looking forward to tomorrow. I have a few hours htat I’ve carved out just for this purpose. I moved into my shop two years ago and was never “quite” happy with the layout. Now that I’ve worked with it for a few years, I know where the bottlenecks are and where the “dead zones” are. Tomorrow is going to be a great day!
Comparing hand tools to power tools is like comparing a canoe to a motor boat. The motor will get you there faster, but the canoe brings you closer to the water. And, I believe, the hand tool brings you closer to the wood.
There is no doubt that machines are far more practical, and necessary if you’re doing it for a living. But occasionally it’s nice to do it for pure enjoyment and not worry about practicality.
DD
Dan,
Excellent analogy to water!
I hate sharpening days. I realize it needs to be done but still… I liked your attitude about getting this necessary shop chore done.
While I frequently put it off, when in the right mindset, this is the work that cleanses the soul.
Serenity now… Serenity now… Serenity now… (Still haven’t sold the house? Jeez!!) … Serenity now… Serenity now…
You motived me to do some clean up in my shop. I spent the day cleaning out the dust collection system. Now there’s a small dust cloud wondering the skies of Pasadena >)
Hmm, hockey, boxing or running up and down Camelback mountain is for tension. Usually, glue-ups cause tension, but I was streaming during the last glue-up so I was conscious of the foul language and I think it helped :)
That was the day you were sharpening; wish I watched; I have some questions and loads of blades needing some.
I will say, though, that I use the hand planes more and more and certainly the hand-saws more and more.
We just put in an offer on a house with a two-stall gar— I mean workshop. If it goes through, I will be doing a lot of tweaking of my layout, as well as generally creating a workshop of my own (storage space, a “real” workbench, etc.), instead of squeezing things in the back corner of my B-I-L’s garage.
It will be a sort of massive “shop healing” just to have a place of my own. Maybe I should call it “shopvolution”.
Marc, In other words…. “…yessssssssss”
know exactly what you mean. I tell all my friends that woodworking is cheaper then therapy.
I spent the whole weekend cleaning up my shop. It was great, I got a new pegboard hung, storage stowed, new place for my drill press, etc. etc. etc. Cathartic? Yes! It feels good on those clean up days when you’ve weeded out and are able to take two huge bags of trash to the curb.
Now the problem is I have all this miscellaneous stuff ALL OVER my workbench that needs a home. Yikes!
My shop doesn’t have electric yet so nothing but hand tools for me. Or an extension cord run to the house, then I just have to decide if I want the saw to run or heat. Thank goodness for cordless drills.
“I had absolutely no desire to use electricity in the shop this week.”
*speechless*
Excellent work on those dovetails…