FORP 2013, or “How I Spent My Summer Vacation Working Like a Dog and Sweating Like A Horse”
I’m back home again after an exhausting and exhilarating week of “vacation” in Barnesville, Georgia, a guest at the remarkable millwork and lumber brokerage facility of Wyatt Childs, Inc. The purpose of the visit was to participate in the much-touted “French Oak Roubo Project,” or FORP for short. The event was the brainchild born from a chance intersection between vise-manufacturer and all-around smart guy Jameel Abraham and Bo Childs, with plane maker Ron Brese as the matchmaker.
The enthusiasm and excellence on display were indeed (and will no doubt remain) a critical motivating force in my own quest to become a skilled woodworker. I encourage you to find folks like this to hang with on your own path to excellence. A genuine highlight of the week for me was to get a visit from my oldest mentor, who has retired just north of Atlanta. He is the best woodfinisher I ever met, and “To Make as Perfectly As Possible: Roubo on Marquetry” is dedicated to him and his father, the man who first introduced me to Roubo.
Several of the participants have blogged excellently already – Jameel and Ron, Chris Schwarz, Justin Leib, and Jeff Miller – so my remarks are decidedly brief.
I believe FORP 2013 may be viewed some day, and that day is not far off, as one of the seminal events in the renaissance of the modern/historical “blended” woodworking movement.
All week the attitude was not whether we were rich or poor, famous or anonymous, etc., but rather that we were all woodworkers, accomplished and passionate about our activities. And we were all doing, not merely hearing or watching. While it was not a worship activity, there can be no denying that it was a profound fellowship experience.
Thanks Jameel and Bo for making this happen.
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