Measure Twice, Cut Once:
Life Lessons from the Shop
by Rob Carver
Rob Carver, who incidentally built this month's Featured Piece of the Month, has decided to offer further talents to the guild. Rob is a relative newcomer to the guild but has attended many FIG and monthly meetings so is familiar with many of our members, culture, and ambitions. I look forward to reading his well-written and thoughtful contributions on a regular basis. In his own words, here is how Rob envisions his column.
Welcome to a periodic series of light-hearted reflections on woodworking ideas and principles that shed light in other domains and vice versa. These essays will be short on technique but might stimulate exchange of ideas about how woodworking can enrich the rest of life. I hope that others will pick up the thread and propose ways in which their experiences as makers, artisans, and crafters inform their daily lives.
Peter Korn, founder of the Rockport, Maine Center for Furniture Craftsmanship wrote, “To master a craft is not to achieve a state of enlightenment, despite my youthful expectations to the contrary. Creative practice simply makes our lives richer in meaning and fulfillment than they might be otherwise.” (Why We Make Things and Why it Matters, Boston: David R. Godine Publishers, 2013, p. 166).
Each MTCO essay will begin with a familiar shop precept, a comment on its meaning in the shop, and, if discernable, its origin story. Finally, I’ll suggest some ways the saying applies in other settings. If you have an idea for an old saw with uses outside the shop, please get in touch.
And here is Rob's first article "Measure Once, Cut Twice: Life Lessons from the Shop".
You can reach Rob for comments and additional information, click Rob Carver.
Mentoring in the Guild takes many forms. Everything from a brief conversation or email on a particular technique to a full-blown cooperative effort to build an entire piece. Most mentoring occurs informally among members. However, the Mentor Program provides an easy way, especially for new members, to get involved in mentoring. Members listed on the Mentor Program page of this website have expressed a willingness to help other members in a variety of ways. 