Sawdust on the Floor

My woodworking shop is located in the backyard of our home here in New Jersey. Most of the time I work there solo, as I’m sure that most woodworkers do.  However, over the past year, my two grandsons have been known to share an afternoon with me in the shop. Their visits normally centered around them wanting me to build them a wooden sword or some other toy that only the vivid imagination of a boy can conjure up.  These simple project normally are made from wood from my scrap box, and only take a couple of minutes to do.  These same projects often end up back in my scrap box at the end of the day. 

The only other fascination my shop has held for them so far has been my dust collector system. For some reason that I can’t even begin to fathom, the large collection of sawdust is like Mecca to them.  They have spent countless hours dumping the sawdust out of the bag, and then vacuuming it back up again. I don’t understand or question the wisdom in this, for me it’s cheap entertainment.

Recently the purpose of those visits has changed. The youngest grandson has joined the Cub Scouts.  It’s his first year in the scouting program, and so far he appears to really enjoy it.   The scouts have help bring him out of his shell, while Jake never has been shy, he has always been more reserved then his older brother, Joey. At a recent Pack meeting, the scouts were visited by Saint Nick, and as a gift each of the scouts were presented  with a “Pine Box Derby Kit”.

The boys were delighted. However, some of the other parents stood there with looks of horror on their faces, as they had no idea on how to transfer the blocks of wood into a race car.  Me, I thought cool, something I finally understand, woodworking.

If you’re not familiar with the pine box derby, it’s an annual event that the scouts hold.  Each scout is given the same kit, that includes a small block of clear pine, 4 wheels and 4 nails that will act as the axils for the car, and told to go home, make a car and of course have fun.  As many of the scouts are quite young, this is a project that is intended to be done with the assistance of  an adult.  In our case, that privilege falls upon me, the family woodworker.

And that brings me to my unexpected pleasure.  Over the past two weekends Jake, Joey and I have been working on their cars. Joey isn’t a member of the scouts, but he got very excited when Jake and I talked about how we would build his car, so I made a trip to the local scout store and purchased a car kit for him.  He won’t be allowed to race his car, but he didn’t want to be left out of the fun.

When I took these young guys into my shop and turned them loose to use my tools, it was like I turned them loose in a candy store. Using some basic hand tools like the coping saw, they cut out the shapes of their cars.  Then they used files, rasps and sand paper to smooth out the surface of their cars.  They also used a Dremel tool to add some details to their individual cars.

Will their cars win any awards for beauty, not really.  Nor will they win any awards for the most detailed cars.  That’s not what’s important here. What’s important is the sense of accomplishment that both boys felt.  It’s also very cool that they were able to use their hands to build something.  Both were constantly beaming as they showed their handy work to me, their grandma and mom.  Their workmanship was crude, needed more sanding and more detail work was needed, But in all honesty I think that their cars are some of the most beautiful pieces of work I have ever seen.

Watching these two young guys having fun, doing something that I dearly love to do was priceless.  Being able to share my shop and its tools with them was another priceless event.  This wasn’t what I expected when I agreed to help make their cars. But I am so happy that it turned out as nice as it did.

In closing I want to thank you for letting me ramble. I also want to thank the scouts for giving me the opportunity to spend time in my shop with grandsons.  And of course I want to thank Jake and Joey for an unexpected pleasure.

I’m sure that we have all heard that old cliché that goes something like this, ” A true craftsman doesn’t blame his tools”. As a woodworker I have for years accepted that as somewhat of a gospel.  A concept that we should always aspire to.  But lately I have began to think that saying might better if it were reworded to say that “A craftsman is only as good as his tools”.

It really doesn’t matter which avocation, or hobby you choose to aspire to, most people consistently try to do their very best at that endeavor. Having the right tools, equipment or supplies has never been considered to be a deterrent to achieving those goals. So why then why should craftsmen or craftswomen be held to a higher standard ? 

I have been a woodworker for over 30 years now.  Over that time my woodworking skills have improved.  With that 30 plus years of experience, comes the knowledge that there are times when your woodworking tools will define the level of workmanship.  For instance, if the knives in my jointer are not aligned properly, or are dull, these will have an adverse affect on my work.  Same could be said for a tablesaw that has run out in the blade arbor. With a tablesaw operating as such, there shouldn’t be any reasonable expectation of a smooth clean cut for that saw.

But I have been a woodworker for some time, and I also have had access to other skilled woodworkers, who have helped to develop my skill and knowledge sets. So I can now see that the tools, not my skill as a woodworker can be the cause for less than stellar workmanship.  But what about the new woodworker.

Many new woodworkers enter into to woodworking at what I consider a real disadvantage.   They’re new at this and don’t know if they really can do this.  And as such don’t want to spend a lot of money on tools and equipment, just in case they either do not have the skill set, or find out that they really don’t like making sawdust. Myself, I find the idea of not liking to make sawdust, almost criminal, but that is beside the point here. What is important is the guy or gal goes out and purchases what normally amounts to the cheapest woodworking tools they can find. 

Fast forward to the point that they begin using their new tools, and either because they haven’t developed the skills yet to do good woodworking, or the tool doesn’t perform as expected, they feel that woodworking is not for them, and they give up trying. Developing the skills to do good woodworking is just like every other avocation  in the world, but it takes time and practice to develop the skills.  The lack of experience normally prohibits this new woodworker from having the ability to determine if it is really them, or are they expecting something from there tools that just beyond the ability of the machines.

If this newly minted woodworker listens to the pundits, and their clichés, about never blaming their tools, they are truly then lost  and may give up on woodworking.  But if the clichés were changed to a craftsman is only as good as his tools, we might  all be better off.