Ever Happen to You?

Re: Ever Happen to You?

Tom MacGregor

>It works both ways. I bought out the dregs of a picked over bin of soft maple offered to me for a get-this-stuff-out-of-my-way price at a local sawmill. Two 4/4 pieces 6" wide were 100% heartwood with tons of color and popped some nice stripe when planed. This unexpected gift sat on my shelf for a year until I realized that I wanted to resaw and bookmatch it to become a case for my Irish pennywhistles.

Not a waste

Thomas Skaggs, Foothills of Mount Level

>I don't see it as a waste. The figured wood added beauty to one of your creations. Regardless of the audience or intended use it made an ordinary project special.

But having said that, if you have any more "scraps" of that stuff I'll be glad to take them off your hands. ;-)

Tommy

Re: Ever Happen to You?

Bob Hackett

>The figured wood adds life to what could have been just an average project.It`s sure to attract attention whenever it`s used and then your friend will get to tell the story behind it.

The up side is that your friend gets to entertain guests in more ways than one and maybe generate afew commissions for the craftsman/friend who made it.

I don`t see any down side.

To answer your question,yes it happens alot,and it`s far more satisfying to know my friends are using my projects rather than have the wood sit on the shelf.More than afew of them have dropped off other figured wood as gifts to return the favor.

Mainely,Bob

It's supposed to happen that way.

James Watriss

>With few exceptions, pieces of woodwork are supposed to be actually used. Tables, chairs, cabinets, dressers, and yes, cutting boards. But unless you plan to keep every single thing you ever make for yourself in some desperate act of... something... the end result is that the thing goes to an end user, who will use it. And really, sometimes there's a certain worth to something that's showing signs of wear.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not really so interested in Antique Roadshow's idea of the value of patina... it seems to me that they seem hell bent on allowing just about everything to continue to decompose. I've seen people go to extreme lengths to keep an "authentic" finish intact, despite the fact that that finish was not original, or if it was, it had been buried under years of neglect polished out with linseed oil and wax, and other stuff... until it was essentially black and grubby looking. That holds no value for me.

On the other hand, I recently acquired an old 22" wooden sorby plane, that has light spots where frequent wear occurred, and the iron, while lamentably short, shows further signs that the plane did in fact get that much use. Old kitchen tables bear signs of some abuse, and decades of stories of families growing up. Hell, there have even been times in old bowling alleys that I've wondered if there would ever be any way of getting my hands on the first 10 feet or so of the wood from any given lane... the part that's all dented up, from decades of people enjoying a relaxing few hours with some friends. The part that shows statistically where the bowling balls land... and the parts where people goofed. I'd build that into something useful, dents intact.

Regardless, your job as a woodworker, is to create something worthwhile and of value. I promise, you didn't use up the last stick ever of curly wood, either.

Let these things go. Do your best, make it useful, and let it go to whomever's going to use it. I'd laugh my balls off at you if you bought a $300 set of Lie Nielsen chisels and never used them. It may feel weird to spend $300 on a set of 5 chisels, and spend a couple hours getting them tuned and sharpened, only to hammer them into something, but it's what they're for, and it's why you buy them. I'd also laugh if you really thought you were going to make someone something that should never be used. Same logic. It's what you build things for... to be useful. It's a waste of the wood, otherwise.

Some things are useful strictly for their aesthetic value... there's something to be said for something beautiful, and it enrichens people's lives, in various ways. But scraps are scraps, and they go to the scrap bin... unless they're big enough to be used in a cutting board. Then they get a new lease on life.

In the end, your work, effort, and your beautiful wood, and that minute fraction of a fraction of an inch of tool steel that you had to grind back... all of those are only wasted if what you make is ultimately useless. Would you really feel good if you went to their place in 5 year and saw that they hadn't really used the cutting board all that much... that they really didn't need it, and it was all covered up in clutter and garbage?

Re: Ever Happen to You?

Dan Clermont in Burnaby

>Thanks for the responses guys. I love figured woods and am very lucky to have quite a bit of it.

I do have pieces left over from this exact same board.

Guess my problem is I like to look at what I have created and enjoy it for awhile before handing it off to somebody.

Last year I made a serving tray for a local benefit auction. I spend allot of time trying to get the design right, lots of time selecting nice curly maple for the handles and then had to quickly throw it together and get it out the door. Hardly had enough time for a picture.

My mother in law and parents are classic examples of people who really enjoy my work and go on and on about it which makes me want to make them more porjects. The tenant that got the cutting board didn't even thank me :(

I won't kick him out. He lives above my workshop and never complains about noise, shavings and crap all over the place.

Dan C