08-08-2017, 05:17 AM
Steve,
I watched a couple of Richard Maguire's videos and enjoyed them. Very solid information, well presented, with interesting insight. I recommend them; thanks for the referral. The concept of the sole of a wooden plane burnishing the worked wood was new to me. I will continue to follow him.
There is much to learn. Like you, my head knowledge surpasses my hand knowledge. While trying to balance that, I do believe in the value of both.
I agree with your comment that it would be quite pleasant to live at a slower pace, fully enjoying the craft. I have noticed coexisting paths in sharpening, woodworking and photography. One is the fast paced, more automated path. While much of this work may also be of good quality, the key word is production. There was an old ad for one of the industrial dovetail routing jigs, stating that the craftsman could cut forty drawers in an hour. In our secret lives, many of us wanted to be that man and cut forty drawers in an hour. In reality, most of us would not cut forty drawers in our lifetimes, however, the mystique was powerful.
The second path is represented by those who prefer to lay out and handcut dovetails.
In photography we have those who work with automatic everything and email their images to be printed, and those who prefer to control the process, either with film or digitally. Each path has its place, and in truth, some follow both.
In sharpening we have those (including some capable professional carpenters) who sharpen by stopping at the big box store and purchasing a new chisel or use "never need sharpening" kitchen knives. We also have the obsessive ones like us. We are not entirely impractical. Some of us, like Maxtheknife, are professional sharpeners striving to turn out a fine job in a cost efficient time frame. Some are knife makers, striving for perfection. Many of us are just fascinated. I am quite happily in that group. That gives us the luxury of being able to be non competitive. We can learn from our shared experience.
Ken
I watched a couple of Richard Maguire's videos and enjoyed them. Very solid information, well presented, with interesting insight. I recommend them; thanks for the referral. The concept of the sole of a wooden plane burnishing the worked wood was new to me. I will continue to follow him.
There is much to learn. Like you, my head knowledge surpasses my hand knowledge. While trying to balance that, I do believe in the value of both.
I agree with your comment that it would be quite pleasant to live at a slower pace, fully enjoying the craft. I have noticed coexisting paths in sharpening, woodworking and photography. One is the fast paced, more automated path. While much of this work may also be of good quality, the key word is production. There was an old ad for one of the industrial dovetail routing jigs, stating that the craftsman could cut forty drawers in an hour. In our secret lives, many of us wanted to be that man and cut forty drawers in an hour. In reality, most of us would not cut forty drawers in our lifetimes, however, the mystique was powerful.
The second path is represented by those who prefer to lay out and handcut dovetails.
In photography we have those who work with automatic everything and email their images to be printed, and those who prefer to control the process, either with film or digitally. Each path has its place, and in truth, some follow both.
In sharpening we have those (including some capable professional carpenters) who sharpen by stopping at the big box store and purchasing a new chisel or use "never need sharpening" kitchen knives. We also have the obsessive ones like us. We are not entirely impractical. Some of us, like Maxtheknife, are professional sharpeners striving to turn out a fine job in a cost efficient time frame. Some are knife makers, striving for perfection. Many of us are just fascinated. I am quite happily in that group. That gives us the luxury of being able to be non competitive. We can learn from our shared experience.
Ken