Logic

t m w d - b u t c h e r is tossed around amow us. I gneae we've all u d it nrrw and then. Probably the meaning of it v n r h depnding on whether om in referring to oneself or to someone else. Nonetheless, a wod-butcher. badcdy, is a fellow for whom things go wrong. That's one way of lookins at it. Anothe~is that the woodbutcher is aimply a rough-cut outsider, go. iq his own way, doing odd tMngs. and not mally giving a hoot a b u t how one is supp o d to do It.

The

un to our own scrlution, our own mathods, and f m l l y a result-however odd-that suited us better? I suppose if you're an easygalng p e m n living out in the muntry snd about to build a house i n the woods, you can lust aort of let go. relax, and Iive

the whole experience. There will be a long period of time, and things will aimply happen, rind the house will grow. Slowly, perhaps disorderly, but it wlll take s h s p ~ .

With most (though not dl) cabinetmekern it is diffeferent. In the making of furniture, Sometimes our wood-butcher acemnpllsbea detake. occur much more quickIy and are, in a senna, mow difficult to correct. Them rather startling results-for batter or for is leas leeway in furniture I h n witb a rumworm. Often it is for worn. After all, the term doen have a derogatory implication. shackle house. Thera'n got to be method in e nay. We like t o be I wonder though-it means mistakes, but the way you work, w mimtakee by what measure? According to emphatic a b u t thin. But as I think of it, whom? Are they miatakee only when com- subjectively now. method is onIy part of ohonld pored t a a "this-ia-how-om-d~~-~-it" m l e ? what a good craftsman needs. coma first-at Imst to some of us. I ' mpmbOr ace they misfakea made conuciously. or even unconucidy, because of some con- ably rather backward about them th-a, but for me logic in primary. And it Ian't the flict with om's own iniler s l e w Them is logic of p-s or m e t h d . The thing that something- deep inside most of ua that often wants to sort thlngn out before beginning comes first to ma Is a sort of fealing down the doing. It wants to know tha why before h i d e , which 1 suppose in the Logic of pur.pow. At lesst at thu beginn&, tbiu is so. the how. Later on,another branch of that logic mey lead me into method; but first I have a need U n d y , most of us are t w late askins the todetermiaetbe meaning of what lamabout queetions; they come inretrospect. and then wlop the term wwd-butcher in a g d way to do, or attempt to do. I suppose that fk@t to sum up the situstion. But could it be that logic is connected to the place innide where the thing tbst c a u d us to malre t h e mis- we sort matters and tab airst dwp breath. takes, that diverted us from the "this i u We have to feel good abnui what we am how," is the very & k g thm might hava led embarking on; even if it's the start of n long,

diffxult job of v ~ o u definite s pmctlsmt~ we still have to fed good inside, there bas to be nomething ~antral about the whole thins tbat adds up for ua

For some of ue it's logic first and mtlsd aftorward. Though i n teaching itg apt to be the other way amaad.'Lew themethod flret," w m nay. "Youll pee the l a c of I t latm on."Bg and large. thin approach worka, and I think one o f the reanom that it works in tbat it 10 not so very o f i m q w s t i o d . Sooner or later. however, we encounter the student, a certain type o f prson reelly, for whotn questioning corns& naturally, a d then things suddenly become more cornplnx. Logic and metbod am in n cMr.kmand-egg mlatimahip. And though we'va never aorted out that conurtd~um, we must, in the cnna of logic aad method, get thingn fairly right,
1 tbhk that it you p t that "wuy+insi& thing" W t e n e d out aod arrive at the poiat where you want the experience. sense its meaning, and feel tbat it wiil be worth the d a r t , then you will not r e d y ba at odds with youroelf. You'll think more dearly. You won't rajact methods simply bscauee they nre b a d on other people's q a r i m c e s . Many of t h m erpeciencea u e worth acquiring; we should accept them and be grateful. There in a certain kind of
parson who

mnsures. One pmon will say, "I made all t h ~ miatakw, e this and that is wmog, that's not the way you're supposed to do it." Another might say, ' l mnde them mimtokea, tbat M t the way 1 d y wanted to do it, I dddt really mean to do this-it j u t h a p penad* And maybe it juat hnppend b e csuw the source u f energy for the doing came from outside tbat pemon'a inner eelf, outside that place whera t b g n are first
uarted out.

ia flexible even about this: He

ucceptm the need for method, for certdn way8 of doing certain things, and yet m&n his own adaptations end interpretrtionu. And he doaa it all wlthout be@ 3t odd.

with h 8 e I f .
So your way of going s h u t doing things d l ba an Interpretation of n o m d i m g basically sound. If won't be @t the laws of wood, for instance, or of f e m work or the simple truth of gwd end bad joints, but it will be a esFiee of pewonel adoptatlous. It wilI be youra, with a flaxibiIity and a final idea-aketcbeaof whine1 In Hnglloh brawn clurjty of your own. Even your m i s t a k ~ s Crudm wk. Puoels w m firat tntended lo bs in ash, sllghlly d l 1 be personal. And I thhk personal d a - a n v e x , with tim C U N ~ of rhagrdn fwming m slit t a b s are, if I may msy no, l w painful and Aftar four days' work on t ? mI ~ d i ~ a d them. d mow enriching than mistakas made through other people'a methods or other people's

I ' m thinking again of our wod-butcher.

S o m m m o t s e llttle article on the subject. It was very personal and full of selfirony, s mslly charming little piece. and,nn I FBC~II it, the writer m i w d lot of mesamges that said. in effect, " W e l l ,speak for yournelf. I hope you don't mean me.* Does it really mnttur w h m he meant? It's the aituation that ia interesttng, and we all recognixe it with it8 ciminess. haste, e n x i e t ~ , and distractions, and lhat feding in the end about what "might bave been."
Cobinor in brown mL S6nmhlng for pmponlms of d m 8 with the hslp of m h - u p that includes
one rLdepisce.

aon't thmk tnere 18 any goon reason l u r denying the fact that mmt of us bave experienced that sort of disappointment. Nor do I look back on these instance. as being especially painful m tragic or aomething not to be talked about. Ithink that that kind of kxperience aimply be1cmgs to a way of lmrning t o r m h i n people. Maybethe learning goes qainst some people's grain, which muses thin mqueaking and uparks in their work.
1

--

There ere different khdn of craftsmen j u ~ t as there are different kind. of people. In eswncu, I suppose, there are the practical oms and tbe dreamers. And the diatance between them i s not only ambition,but alao e state of balng. One person calls himsalf a wood-butcher because his methods m not efficient enough and be iu 1 0 time, and time fa money. Another peram admlts Mm. e l f to be a wood-butcher becauar someh o w his fmlinga have become deral1k-d and thinga have gone wrong. not in rehfion to time and money, but in relation to something that i s . for hlm,even more important. Maybe this outsider or dreamer craftsman is what we call too poor to be miserly: He CBR afford io dnm. It occurs to me that the center of all this,the dtfference between one wmv and another, in e ganerodty, a kind of c&. As long e m we have a feeling that comes from our core and lends n bit of warmth to what we do end ~ O & B the people tbat our doing brings as in contact with, then thorn 6f us who at times can be called wood-butchars are doing rethmr well, really. Our frwtrat i m s are a s i p of afacerity and the fact that we want to do bstter next time. We probably w I I . And there i s no doubt thst a bit of humor fn the situation of tba present will help ue to do better in tbe future.
Cabinet of Engltsh brown oeA p n a h of n s p a i d mnple. HejSht oj Fuse STcm, Iaal haight 198cm. dapll120nn.Wow finlsh 1977.

w m ~ n ~ 8 The a : dmwers rnof Slvsddrh aah wiih a d d m a texturn For thn dwm, the Joints wow mode wlth 011 riw msmbars the @ a m thicknar. toter. tlw wrt~wl p r u wera p l o d thinner, msuhins in a ahding that amnlcales the horlrontol l i n e af thu mblnet.

We&dodwsllrmthsik'tforiq miatakw. T w . uoma of W s a mistah m-

dtslmpiyhmwtbp~fdmwLacectBb f n a r crrlbth. h t d l @ mistrtksm. far awtbar kind of ~~p are m u d by PW hv@ P d h d b%s 'dwp ~ " f 4 f s & T h s r a I s a g r e a f ~ ~
~ m t h a ~ d t ~ ~ ' f ~ t m t h a e a ia a diffmmmldwmn the-pplr lnvolvd

MaybeweddWdm~thlewhnwa
~ a t m O w l ~ , ~ m t o P ~ e m . wceaaa~tl&g,whehrwe'va dono tt a W v w craamsonealwbakmd &piecabanqp&wlW&tm want ta get d m toit, t b +Q tha t4 # o m t h i n g@ Bb4t t k m s h m Agdb~W~dDdtrnbaDml~-

~ d ~ l I f a e s , b R t d d O f & d ~ pwtimts. We that aIlthh h the r s sult of away of-adbsina. Xt h a

It I s m e l t e d , or live& T m . The beM wmk~dni~d~thnmdtofatetal slrpcriwet. t f b tbe WBy we m, wzth or

haaidthatfill~~~tsn'tdrma.

rvl!lmut Ill&
Cerhth shapesare a mula @a way of work-

Ingym saanotdiv~rcathsshu~s with their detuhjrom t l w ~ m f w o ~ k i i ~ t f . h n d iftha~s~baena advwtw lor the doer, the. It in t Inthepic d l a personal e m & . M tbe t&gs we are-muet k i n o w ~ k The .dtfiemace f n o m w o f k ~ U I b e t h , ~ ~ m n w am mfmwa, Them d l l ba a cmah 8 t W Bbwt &a wock of thew who ruly

nwsinmm~od~tuaIhlnreudt wlm%mrhethoda t h ma our awn hpmda a l h 00 on& IWgiEal way. will lend w ta &mr a d mom pmmml rssulEs, hever q-t.
W#

mod# &a terns d pdete~ miiaad~:fi~~trdethtablff-

had tbenft doem%&Per w h t

W ~ ~ ~ Y E OF 8~ -

d lo L t m ldm.

air% Mistakes?
hare is m old saying: A good csblnetmaker c m repair bis own mlnlakes. l'd like to put in them the words some of. Because certainly there are m i a t a h that mn and should be repaired: it i s -equally certain that eome miatakas ore byond repair. Or should be.
I t ' s a matter of honest judgmmnt. Although t h e d a no denying t k t it is also a rnattur of how we b e 1 mbout these things. Aa a rula there are, I balleve, primarily two Idride of mistaken: tho* of the hand and those of the mind. Maybe we hsw gottan a ways into a piece we thought was gdnjg to be very h a only to discover that we ere on the wrong path: hinge are not going an ws had hoped. the pieca taking shape there before us, instead of hoking ktter and more promising, ie losing nomething along the way. Then maybe we have to stop and admit that hare i s a bad mistake. It i s not a technical miutake. a fault in the work Itself. It 10 worse than that: We are on the w r o q rbad.

then. T h e way we decide [onan amateur besin) win depend upon our own persondiffss.
I n a commercial situation I imeghe thet some craftsmen simply must argue t h aeIve6 pad a point of doubt. They may look at something and realize inwardly that it Is not as gwd as they h d hoped. but then a debate takas plmu inside somewhere and e rationdidng vmce is h a d to say. UItcan yet be made better. You ean Ehanga this or that. People won't noiice these details. Then comes a aaductive wblaper. "Maybe it's going to be even better that weyl" And one continues with tth work.

.. ."

I won't p u s judgment on such situations md decisiom. They cam be a matter of surviva1 for a craftsmen who fs preauad sd n commercial swirl and has to live with vario w wmpmmbm.

Not long ago eomeone wrote from far sway to ask me,"Should I make compmmlsesP If so, whet sort of wmpromlses?"I mad and B e i q the sort of p s m n and craftsman 1 reread the letter, reahzing thcw wasn't m I simply cannot contiplle once I rn that much I could nay to my ftlsnd. I ended up I am faltering nnd fumbling in the work. by simply e u w s t i a g that he try to keep This i n not a mstter of aome high-~lams this problem asccmdary, l e t the work heve primsry impnrtqnce, let it answer the quesprinciples: 11's juat that I do not h v e ths tioa. Don't allow the matter of compmmlsee n q y to continue. Consequently, I have to make a dacislom is there anythins that I to b o r n e more important than the work. can save here, parts of this piece I can still This means that the way you work, the redo, or shouid I j u t forget it and basin all things y w do and how you do them. your over again? T h i s i s a situation with which ahop, the way you live are in eome wrt of many of us amateurs are faced now and accord wlthln yourself. You develop a way

of living, and if thnt conflicts with ammerchl interest. them you must sort it out. H f f h you adapt your work to umrmme or you sol- your mmey probIoma another m y and keep your work what it ahodd be for you Ar I've 8sid to m y d f many t h s kfom: Try to I l v m the way you am.be the peraon in your work that you are in the rest of your life. Eesy to aayt
To return to rep&@ miu&: Aside from gatling on tht wrong road, tham are the "smallmall everyday things tbat happen-Uttb mccideirtu, such as a dent or a acratcb or a fit that i8 not altopatbar what you want it to be. For me, as for any other craftsman. there is a oartain satisfaction in befng abla to saa cluurly and ju+ whuther or not one of them Iesner miutalresl can be repaired hm of them certainly c o n aad should be. All the same, I don't believs inthis bwinese of mixing glue and eawdwt or us- stain. or the variow other rescue methods commonly advertised or recommended among craftmen. who "have b w n st it for fifty
years."

With repemng m i s t k - E B with almost anything d u e we do-there m i a crude way and a fine way of going about it. By allowing ourselves to be cmdu in m ~ m ~ n t like B this-little m f n n m t a of crisis-we jwt might develop haMm that WU spread t h t crudeness inh other parts of our work.

At tbe shop we bad a reddent maftman, wbo, thou& not one of t h tea~hers,wm the w o n to whom we turned atAhea like thie. His nama wse Arthur. He Iwked at that piece for a w b h , muttered. and than want h u t b l other ~ wark he was in tho middls of mumthing. The b y kept worrying.He went over toPuthur. and tbey talked Artbur went dorm into the ba8ement w h e ~ we bad our supply of veneer, from whlChtbe boy bad takenthe&cehussdintbeEabina. Without o a m much, ArtJ~urflicked -ugh the pack of vmeer md pieked out a p a or two, comparing tba pattern be hod aelded w i t h the wood ia tbe top of the mbinet. He a m twk a canriDg chisel-om of h e cbieels wlth a Belf-mmn curveand moved a portable lemp c h e r to the cabinet w h tha boy was atending, shelea; o m cen m i a m his feelinge. w i n g Arthur wlth chisel poisad above his work Arthur made n W I e mugled cut at esch outer edgm of the spot t k t had been m d e d t h u & We all w i n d . Then he took the piece of venesr be had aeleded, comparing it m c e more with the cabinet tog. He placed theveneer on hin bench, atop a small block. clamped it, and made t w o cute. And t h w war a neat, sharp, oval pfece of rosewood veneer. T h i s our master craftsman curufully fittad to the cabinet top. He tested the fit-yea, it was god. We knew that m he g l u d and pmseed thin a h a d - s l p e d p l m into t b ~abipet top it would fit even mom

I m m b m an incident y e w ego at cabinatm a h a ' school. T h e r e was a young fallow, a g o d cabinetmaker-to-be. who waa mar the end of his education: be war doing a very Important piece la m e w w d and wua fust a few daya from completh it. Well the fellow was tmdiq~ the tap of the cabinet, which was veneered. when he sanded throu& the veneer. The patch whew ha bad dona EU was bwdly noticsabk but i t was thare; when you turned the light on and looked closely, thare it was. Naturally, the failow was braken u p h e simply didn't know wbat to do.

t i s w .
Mhur bad made wbat we call a lus, a louse. And with it he saved a c&het. The repair ha did ww so perfect thet when the piece had been polshed and finiuhed even we who had peen this wpalr wark donne could hardly find the spot. Such is true
wmbhip. Maybe far Arthur it was dl in aday's work.
H e had us inexperienced youngstwsaround

him, and similar accidents happened now and then. Was he proud? Perhepa: hasmlled. thin man of few w d . I h o w that had I

b m Arthur, I w d d have been very proud. although 1 would hardly have warn my pride as modestly as he did.