Hello Harold;
I noticed that you stopped by and took some time to post some warm and kindred spirit words.
....and what you call my 'library of blogs' is indeed only words and thoughts from over the past year here at LJ, One should see my library of journals that surround me from my past, some never seeing the light of day since I carved words on their skins of paper, with pencil and pen….words….words and more words, but these are my daily medicines of my soul….and still I write.
I notice you mention and are a follower of the 'eastern thought' on woodworking. I myself was first trained in western thought, pertaining to wood and how to work the wood. Thought I knew just about everything there was to know….and then even if I didn't, well that that I lacked could be fixed by going out and getting an-other power tool//power machine. Learning to work the wood by hand was not on my agenda….and so the years rolled on by as I became a hacker of wood, working the money tables for gain-full enterprise.
My crisis as I like to call it, in woodworking came about when one day I read a statement by Ted Benson; where he stated "that Japanese carpentry has highly evolved and that they, (Japanese woodworkers, temple builders) have developed over four-hundred wood joints." Haha, and I thought the dovetail was some-thing as I worked it by jig….LOL. I could not shake those words out of my mind, and so I started reading and meditating on the ways of eastern thought. I should pause and reflect here that there is the line of thought also that states the Japanese learned their craft from the Chinese and Koreans, so now we go back….receding in time some more.
Western thought and eastern thought, timber framing and post and beam vs traditional home//barn building and furniture making. All my power tools soon started taking a back seat, (and yes I still have those power tools and machines, plus I still use and buy more of them) but they don't give me joy any-more….as now my joy comes from working the wood by hand.
Over 'four hundred wood joints', some lost in time, as the eastern way became fiercely competitive and guarded within the individual families….still there is hope. And yes, you have stated correctly, "As people become more exposed to eastern crafts I think the old cultural bias will fade. For me this is one of the promises that the internet first held, so much knowledge as well as lessons learned over the course of generations." This is what I see as a major shift that is taking place in the field of woodworking, the learning again of the old ways with wood joinery, which in turn brings with it the satisfaction of being able to look at a piece of furniture and say….I did that by hand!
I will add that one of the major stumbling blocks in woodworking is the ego, and with all those wood joints concerning what eastern thought has given us, there remains not much to be seen by the eye of the beholder. Much of what makes up those joints in detail is soon buried within the wood, once the joint is put to-gather and so where is the praise for what can not be seen. Also there is the time factor, which is increased when working by hand vs machine, which often means….how many mouths must I feed. And then also, how do I do a 4-5 minute video on making a hand cut wood joint….duh, but again there is a satisfaction that I never knew.
So much to talk about here, and so many words….and then this could also be a blog story for the rest of my appointed time on earth before I cross over. I do hope I have not lost you or bored you with these words….and yes I also spent a little time at your website before writing this reply….where I saw that you in-deed do like making beaut-i-full 'wood art', and so I likewise say,
Thank you.
GODSPEED,
Frank