Wood and the story of the Bronze Oak Leaf

pure lust

I love wood.  Everything about it.  The smell, the texture, the way a freshly handplaned board shimmers in the light.  However, you can’t let your obsession with that new pile of air-dried cherry paralyze you–staring wistfully at it instead of sacrificing a small percentage of it to the floor as sawdust.  That’s the problem we novices face every time we head to the shop.  The crude drawings are complete; the cut list has been done and redone, scribbled out and done again; now I actually have to cut something.  Boy, is this the perfect board for this rail.  I hope I don’t screw this up . . .

The “Bronze Oak Leaf” is the symbol of an apprentice in a great series of books called “The Ranger’s Apprentice” by John Flanagan.  The series is geared more towards teenagers, and nowadays an eleven-year-old (my son) seems to qualify.  Anyway, my fondness for white oak notwithstanding, I thought it an apt title for a novice woodworker’s adventures in learning the craft.

Hopefully this can wind up a place where we can share ideas and maybe a chuckle or two over the stupid things we do while we learn how to do things once and do them right.