{"id":6649,"date":"2020-06-26T19:40:24","date_gmt":"2020-06-26T23:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/?p=6649"},"modified":"2020-06-27T00:29:24","modified_gmt":"2020-06-27T04:29:24","slug":"how-to-explain-woodworking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/2020\/06\/26\/how-to-explain-woodworking\/","title":{"rendered":"How to explain woodworking"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"570\" height=\"465\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/IMG_5542_edited-2.jpg\" alt=\"woodworking dust collection\" class=\"wp-image-6650\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/IMG_5542_edited-2.jpg 570w, https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/IMG_5542_edited-2-150x122.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For the 500th post since the inception of this weblog in 2008, I would like to present the Grand Unified Theory of Woodworking. Concocted while emptying my dust collector, this offers deep insight to woodworkers and non-woodworkers alike as to what really goes on in the shop.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so: You start with a tree. Then, to produce a masterpiece you <strong>merely<\/strong> remove the exactly correct tiny pieces of wood (as shown in the dustbin pictured above) while retaining the exactly correct wood in the workpieces, which you then simply join together. Done.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I present this ridiculous notion only <strong>to make a couple of points<\/strong>, which are hardly original but bear repeating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The people who see and use what we make almost never <strong>understand<\/strong> the effort, time, skill, and expense required to make high-end woodwork. Perhaps this is only due to the nature of the craft \u2013 wood seems so accessible to work. More likely, it is partly or even largely the fault of woodworkers (like me). Most of the things we use in our modern world are made in huge numbers by computer-controlled machinery. In some cases, the consumer\u2019s hands may be the first to ever hold the product. I think <strong>woodworkers<\/strong> should affably convey an understanding of what goes into our work to those who encounter it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Second, we woodworkers<\/strong> are similarly apt to forget that making excellent stuff is really difficult. Not to be whiny, but it is healthy to acknowledge that we are always dealing with some degree of workmanship of risk from which even the gadgetry of modern woodworking does not shield us. As a mostly subtractive process, woodworking can be unforgiving (again, see dustbin). For me at least, I have to remember to go easy on myself, trust my hard-won capabilities, and be always open to improving my skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s simple, really. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For the 500th post since the inception of this weblog in 2008, I would like to present the Grand Unified Theory of Woodworking. Concocted while emptying my dust collector, this offers deep insight to woodworkers and non-woodworkers alike as to what really goes on in the shop.\u00a0 And so: You start with a tree. Then, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ideas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6649"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6649\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6680,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6649\/revisions\/6680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}