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I quite enjoy looking at other woodworkers’ work, but nothing makes me spit out my coffee faster than reading that a certain project took 300, 600 or even 900 hours of work. It makes me wonder: Are they boasting, admitting their shame or just stating fact? Ã?Â
If I worked for 600 hours on a single project I would probably be fired (and also be ready to check into a mental hospital). I mean, 600 hours is 15 straight weeks of eight-hour days. To be sure, there are some projects (anything with large amounts of marquetry) that could suck up the hours based on the sheer number of parts. But the projects I’m bemused by generally are quite nice, but not overwhelming in complexity. What I have found from examining work like this is that they are overwhelming in perfection.
This is the part where you can start calling me a hack.
When I build, I log my hours of shoptime on my cutlist. I don’t log the time I wait for glue to dry overnight or time waiting for lacquer to set up , just the time I’m in the shop and putting tool to wood. And building for the magazine slows me down , I have to stop and take lots of photos regularly (about half of the photos I take get thrown out for space considerations). So I know what I spend on a table when it comes to time.
For example, the table on the cover of issue No. 2 took me about 20 hours to build the first time. The second and third tables took me 17 hours each, and each table has a hand-cut dovetailed drawer. The Creole Table is shaping up to be a 20-hour project, too.
Part of my time savings is due to the fact that I don’t fuss over interior surfaces. All of the interior parts will get trued by a jointer plane (this speeds assembly) but they’ll never see a smoothing plane or scraper or sandpaper. I speed the fitting of mortise-and-tenon joints by always undercutting the tenon shoulders so they’ll close tight the first time.
And I never do anything until I absolutely have to. I don’t assemble a joint until it’s do-or-die assembly time. Assembling and disassembling will slow you down and sometimes increase the chance that you’ll damage a part. I don’t break down a tool setup until I have to (this saves tons of shop time). And I keep many tools set up to do one thing only. My jointer plane is never set up as an oversized smoothing plane , it’s always set up like a jointer plane. I don’t use my powered jointer for rabbeting or bevels or other things that I have tools for. The powered jointer trues the faces and edges. Period.
Having a complete set of tools helps, obviously. And beginners are going to struggle and spend a lot of time setting and changing tools because of their financial and tool limitations. I understand that and empathize , I was there myself.
The point I’m trying to make is that you shouldn’t feel like a hack if you don’t spend eleventy-billion hours on a project. You shouldn’t feel bad if there’s tear-out on the underside of a shelf. The pets and insectoid pests in your home don’t much care when they spot it. If you get pleasure from treating every surface like it’s a show surface, that’s fine; woodworking is more of a hobby than a profession for most. But know that there is also great virtue in getting things done so they can be used and enjoyed.
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The big joke around my house is that I spend all my time getting the shop ready to do work. I keep telling my wife about the great project I just finished and how it made the shop that much closer to being ready to produce work at some point in the misty future.
I spent 25 years in "production mode" building high end residential and commercial casework and millwork. It is a true joy to just go in and build a bench or run some wiring that I wished I could take the time to do when I was busting it. I seem to be spending all my time setting up the shop I wish I had back then.
John,
"Working steady" is indeed an important point I should have mentioned above. Once I start any project (woodworking, writing, yardwork) I stick with it consistently until it’s complete — or completely screwed up. I suspect that’s a personality trait more than an acquired habit, however. But I could be wrong.
Chris
Like many other crafts and skills, I suspect speed at woodworking also comes from regular exercise. Work steadily at least a few hours per week and your ‘shoptime’ and completion rate will be reasonable. Work only in fits and starts a few times per month and you will spend additional shoptime just figuring out where you left off and getting your brain back into gear.
For the non-professional it may not matter other than to mentally add time to completion estimates when comparing your project times to estimates from those who put bread on the table with their wood work.
– John
Jim,
Point taken. And I don’t disagree with the notion that woodworking is a hobby for pleasure, so you need to find your bliss, whatever that is.
I just worry that some people will be turned off by the craft if they see a nice, not-too-complicated piece that takes 600 hours. That’s all.
Chris
Seeing how much I enjoy working in the shop and showing how much she appreciated the (relatively few) things that have come out of it, my wife recently commented, "When you retire, you should set up a woodworking business." HA! I take WAY too long to fuss with my projects. I would starve. I have a great appreciation for the true professional craftsman that can move efficiently through the construction of a piece, working with a grace and precision I could only dream of. They aren’t hacks if they stop when it’s good enough, they are professionals.
Woodworking is a hobby for me. It’s relaxing (and therapeutic!). I can follow rabbit trails (like cleaning the shop, stopping to build a tool cabinet, or sharpening ALL of my plane irons with the new jig I just bought, etc.) to my heart’s content. And I’ll bet that a good deal of those 600-hour projects were taken up by rabbit trails just like them. I’m not a professional, but I’m free to have ADD if it suits me.
Jim
I wonder if the puppet business is as ugly as the newspaper business, which is where I cut my teeth. (In fact, comparing puppet-making to news-making has ominous, hegemonic overtones.)
But writing is a trade, like woodworking or making puppets. The good thing about my years of never-ending hourly deadline pressure makes the act of writing a no-brainer now. Most stories just write themselves.
Woodworking gets like that, too, I’ve found. Do it enough and it’s automatic. Things build themselves.
Chris
I can totally relate. Around 12 years ago my ex-wife and I were into puppeteering part time. It’s amazing how many projects I did the bare minimum on just to meet the schedule. The only criteria was that it looked good from the audience’s perspective. You’d be amazed at how ugly things can be behind the stage.
There is also something nice about completing a project in a reasonable time frame. I prefer the projects that can be accomplished in a weekend or two.