The Most Important Tool

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Patience and attention to detail, these truly are the most important tools of woodworking and also the hardest of all skills to master. I remember as a child watching my father working on whatever project it was at the time, he would shave a little bit of wood off then fiddle with how that one piece fit for a few minutes then shave it a little more then fiddle with it a little more, a process that went on for what seemed like forever to me as I stood by watching failing to understand why not just measure it and cut it. This is a thought that seems to dominate now a days, even with the smallest of tasks such as crown molding for example. The idea of a coped cut joint is gone, everything is miter cuts covered in caulk then painted to hide any and all the errors for no other reason except the time it would take to create a coped ​cut.    

I often get asked the question of how long it will take me to build something and my answer is always the same, I don't know. For me woodworking is a labor of love, it's about loosing track of the hours diligently removing a little bit of material at a time as I carve the shell in that gallery door, or spending days to refine a joint to as close to perfection as I could possibly hope for.  It takes patience and paying attention to the little details as to not rush to a horrible finish.

Everybody has their own ideas and ways of doing things, but if I had one piece of advise it would simply be to slow down and not be in a rush and you will be pleasantly surprised with that end result. Take the time to slowly approach the way that joint fits together and don't try to get it the first time, after all no where does it say that a dovetailed joint should be done in a day, a week or even a month.