“Hands will caresss this shimmery surface, a thumb will discover the edge which I am rounding. An edge rounded with my plane. An edge cut rounded…” - James Krenov
The above quote appears on page 32 of A Cabinetmakers Notebook. As many of you know, this book has special meaning to me. This book, and it’s author changed the course of my life. I first read these words, after picking up a copy of notebook from a small wood supplier in rural Saskatchewan who stored his wood in a large barn and decommissioned school busses. Jim’s words encouraged me then to pursue the craft, and they continue to encourage and influence my work, both as a craftsman and as a teacher.
There are many intimate connections we share with our work in this craft, but perhaps none more so, than shearing surfaces and edges with fine cutting tools. Just as the workshop and school came to life when the wood was brought in. My little cabinet has begun to come to life as I began shaping its edges.
My students tell me that the first time they round or ease an edge with a plane, spokeshave or knife, it felt like magic. I tell them, that feeling has never gone away for me. It continues to be one of the most enjoyable things we do in the craft; it is there I feel the deepest connection with the work. The way we can accentuate or diminish a curve, or give an edge a bit of tension or lift, appears so easy, and yet like many things in our craft there is a lot to realizing our intentions. Sharp tools, set just right. How we hold the tool in our hands, and how it responds to varying degrees of pressure as we move across the work, is just the beginning.
Be well and enjoy your work,
Robert