YOU Have ONE MASSIVE Advantage.
You are the single biggest advantage available when it comes to being good at woodwork. Being good doesn’t mean you have to be an 18th Century cabinet maker, it doesn’t mean you have to make bandsaw boxes. You’ll be capable of working out what you enjoy making and why. What’s important is how you hold yourself to account whilst you’re at the bench.
I don’t consider myself to be a master. There isn’t a ranking system I’m aware of. I’m a professional, but that just means I was able to complete an apprenticeship and so far I have 26 years experience. Anyone with half a brain knows that’s just scratching away at a thin veneer of this vast craft.
I’m also a passionate amateur. I can’t seem to get enough of working with my hands. The amateur side is what I have grown to love the most. But regardless of being amateur or professional, my main advantage in any woodwork I do is being very critical of my work. This snapped into focus today. I hope the take away at the ends gets my point across.
You see, some things come easy to us, some things seem very hard. As much as I detest too many curse filled jobs, inevitably they are the ones I learn the most from. I think applying finishes can be one of the most tricky times on any woodworking project. Woodworkers get very excited about joinery and tools, but finishing can be a neglected art. I can appreciate why many woodworkers rely on their own default system. After all, who wants to destroy all that good work just at the end?
However, if your projects are for clients and they have a specific appearance in mind you have to meet their expectations. I had a personal experience with a table I had to apply finish to. The clients wanted a very cool (in terms of tone) look that was durable, not the golden look that oils impart. I’d had success with water based polyurethane in the past and did a trial board. Everyone was happy.
When applied the coating it turned bad, quickly. The product was in date, used in the right temperature and humidity range but it would just flash off so quickly. The issue was me, but I couldn’t get it right. The woodwork was beautiful. Quarter sawn oak with bread board ends. But I could not get that finish right. So I tried cutting it back, levelling things off, hoping things would be better. They got worse.
The second coat was no better and I had to sand the whole thing back to bare wood. I had to find a solution that would match the sample board I had supplied to the client but with a different product. Thankfully I managed to source a water based spray lacquer. Normally it requires a wood warming sealer, but dropping that sealer kept the wood looking cool. I had found a solution and spray applying using our substantial equipment was a breeze and so much quicker than a hand applied poly. We now use this system a lot.
The key thing here was I didn’t have a choice. I had accepted a job and said I could achieve a finish coating the clients wanted. It stressed me out. But a bit of stress helps you overcome an obstacle and learn. What I couldn’t do was shrug my shoulders and think that’ll do. In this case it was perfect or nothing.
I think that serious professionals and keen amateurs alike share this attribute. Getting things right for the context. Today I tried to support someone to achieve the desired quality. But it didn’t seem to register in their minds, and not just because the outcome was bad. Now, I’m not stupid enough to think that just because you say something you make it so, support and learning runs deeper. But you don’t need to provide a service for long to understand standards. Or to even think “would I pay good money for that”.
The main difference with me is I will stop and look for a different approach and seek help. That’s the takeaway. Never feel bad that it’s hard to get something right. But don’t accept something that’s not fit for purpose. Highlight issues and seek help. What we make is to be enjoyed by our hands, eyes and it’s function as we experience using it. A shrug of the shoulders is not acceptable.