Change The World

"The mere act of owning real tools and having the power to use them is a radical and rare idea that can help change the world around us and - if we are persistent - preserve the craft."

Chris Schwarz - The Anarchist's Tool Chest

I have the most amazing woman in the world supporting me. My wife Naomi listens patiently to all my hair brained ideas and ramblings as I piece things together. I understand it can't be easy to put up with me everyday, yet for almost twenty years she has done it with a smile, well, most of the time there's a smile. I was worried my next idea may just push her over the edge into the "not smiling anymore" zone. 

As I worked on the first draft of the chapter on the Maciejowski Bible Footstool, I came across a problem. I needed a way to succinctly show the basics of woodworking joints without getting into a dissertation on them. I decided to create an appendix in the book, something of a brief "Gray's Anatomy of Joinery" section. So I could refer to the page when talking about the cheeks of a tenon, without getting bogged down in explaining in text. 

There are several options to showcase joints, but hand drawing them appealed to me the most. There were other ideas I wanted to have hand drawn for the book as well. Issue being, there was no great place to do this kind of work in our small house. We have a small dining room table, but it's neither comfortable to work at, nor is the flat surface ever free from the clutter of a five person household that includes three teenagers. 

So I proposed an idea to my wife, unsure whether she'd agree or not. I asked to empty out our dining room area and bring in my Father-In-Law's drafting table which he's had in storage for quite a while. 

She didn't even hesitate to say yes.

I cleaned out the area and retrieved the table last weekend and the last few days I've been spending a few hours a day stretching muscles I haven't worked in nearly 20 years. I regularly sketch ideas for furniture and I've made measured drawings, but I haven't done anything I'd consider "real" drawing since the days of drowning myself in art classes. 

The muscles are there, the refinement is returning, and I'm having fun renewing a skill I have not worked on since I was young enough to take it for granted. 

They're not worthy of a gallery, but they'll get the job done. 

Thank you Naomi. 

Ratione et Passionis

Oldwolf