Popular Woodworking 2006-10 № 157, страница 5
Out on a Limb When the Gospel Truth Isn't True Wh hen the package landed on my desk, my first instinct was to call the police. Inside the plain brown wrapper was a homemade book made by a reader of our magazine. In the handwritten book, the reader detailed in very small and neat handwriting almost every inconsistency, mistake, misstep or gaffe that I had made in my writings on woodworking. I've been a journalist for 16 years, so getting cussed at is nothing new or particularly ego-bruising for me. So I took a couple hours and looked over the book in detail. And though I didn't agree with all the guy's criticisms, in truth, he made some good points. I've been writing for this magazine for almost 10 years now, and it's fair to say that I am not the same woodworker I was when I walked in the door. You're probably expecting me to say that I now know a lot more about woodworking, but the truth is that I feel like I know a lot less. When we all enter this craft we seek a set of rules to work by: Tenons should be a predictable thickness, we should switch to the next-finer grit of sandpaper after a definable amount of time, handplanes should always be laid to rest on their sides. These rules are handed down to us by parents, shop teachers and woodworking writers. The rules are passed around and repeated like currency until they seem to have real value. But I've found that the more I learn about woodworking, the less and less strict these rules are. Many of the things I took as gospel, such as the holy writ that thou shalt always finish both sides of a workpiece, are just absolutely and patently untrue. For me, the fabric of maxims has started to fray and unravel at the edges. And I am also
convinced that this is a good thing for both me and the craft. Here's why: In June I had the good fortune to spend a day shooting some photos with Michael Dunbar, a Windsor chairmaker with a critical mind. He argued that the way woodworking writers repeat these commandments actually causes a contraction of the corpus of woodworking knowledge. The rules that we spout are repeated ad nauseam and actually shut down debate among craftsmen. Or - worse - make them stop doing an operation that was working fine. That's not to say that there aren't a handful of hard-and-fast rules for the craft: Wood moves, glue sticks and saws cut. But after that, I invite you to challenge authority. Dunbar and I talked at some length about one of the classic old wives' tales: Always store handplanes on their sides, not their soles. "Look at old photographs and paintings of craftsmen at work," he says. 'And tell me what you find." So I did. I spent an afternoon poring over my old books and looked at drawings from the 16th century up to the 19th century. Every image I could find showed planes resting on their soles. I'm sure I missed a few drawings, but I'm convinced - for now. So do write us if you disagree with something you read here. Send me an e-mail (chris. schwarz@fwpubs.com). Just don't make me another book - I've already got one. PW Christopher Schwarz Editor CONTRIBUTORS MICHAEL DUNBAR When furniture historians write about the revival of Windsor chairmaking in the 20th and 21st centuries, a name they'll certainly mention is Michael Dunbar. With a degree in French and an early career as a newspaperman, Dunbar might seem an unlikely hero of traditional chairmaking. But since 1971, Dunbar has completely immersed himself in the craft, built hundreds of chairs and taught thousands of students to do the same thing at The Windsor Institute in Hampton, N.H. In his first article for Popular Woodworking (on page 73), Dunbar, explores the marking, measuring and organizational strategies you can use to avoid mistakes. DAVID CALVO From classical European ornamental carvings to abstract contemporary embellishments, David Calvo has carved it all. He studied with world-renowned carvers Frederick Brunner, Arcangelo Cascieri and Adio di Biccari, and trained in high-end furniture-making. Now, he's in demand as a teacher and speaker himself (you may have seen him on "The Woodwright's Shop" with Roy Underhill, or on "The American Woodshop" with Scott Phillips). In his first article for Popular Woodworking (on page 53), Calvo discusses the basic set of carving tools necessary to get started in the craft, and reveals how to refine the tools' edges for optimal performance. Our Privacy Promise to You We make portions of our customer list available to carefully screened companies that offer products and services we believe you may enjoy. If you do not want to receive offers and/or information, please let us know by contacting us at: List Manager, F+W Publications 4700 E. Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, OH 45236 10 Popular Woodworking October 2006 |
