Shop Floor Aesthetics

The first couple of times I taught Introduction to Historic Woodfinishing about forty years ago, I would send a “tools and supplies” list for the participants to acquire on their own, and indicated we would be working on their own projects and work exercises in the class.  It did not take me long to realize that at least one person in the class would arrive with the wrong tools and supplies (usually making substitutions that were inadequate) or arrive without a project, in which case we were running around last minute to come up with some pieces of wood for them to work on.

A turned walnut spindle for each student to learn finishing on curved surfaces.

A pile o’ hardwood and luan plywood panels for each of the exercises.

Ever since then I have found the only way to fulfill the syllabus was to provide everything for every student, an undertaking that is not an inconsiderable resource sink.  But, this way everyone gets the full experience I have planned for them.  (I found the same hurdles to my Japanning classes and employed the same solutions.)

For the past several days I’ve been assembling all the necessaries for my upcoming class, including bins of work pieces, supplies, tools, and cases of jars.  Among them is a couple hardwood panels (one mahogany, one cherry) to compliment the plywood panels that suffice for most class work.  To that end I spent the day yesterday resawing six cherry panels (22″ x 11″ x 5/4″) and mahogany panels and am working through hand planing them.  My approach is to usually flatten cross grain and finish along the grain.

I don’t know if it has been the recent months of absence from Shangri-la or the fact that I am completing my seventh decade, but this morning my shoulders and hips are barking.  Loudly.

Nevertheless I enjoy immensely the shop floor aesthetics at the end of a very productive day.