June 20, 2006

Personal Creationism?

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This is what I really love to do in my spare time. Three weeks ago a new computer stand was built. Last week, a new bookcase was created to fill a small space in my office. This past Monday, I whipped up a large storage chest from scratch. I even managed to line up the hinges correctly on the first try which, considering the amount of alcohol consumed during the course of the day is definitely quite an accomplishment.

Now it’s no big deal to build a nice piece of furniture. I have been doing it, even professionally, for over 25 years. I learned carpentry and finish work from hanging around my father and doing odd jobs with him in his basement workshop, even though he consistently discouraged me from doing so. He didn’t want me to become a ‘worker’ as he had. He never knew how much I would enjoy the ‘work’. Working with my hands does not mean that I stop using my brain.

Being the thrifty sort, I avoid buying lumber and parts whenever possible. My father taught me how to be an efficient scavenger or, as we call them today, ‘garbage pickers’. If there is stack of discarded lumber alongside a garbage bin or a dumpster, I will stop to sift through the mess for the choicest pieces. Lumber costs money and for anyone who knows what to do with wood, it also becomes a challenge to turn waste into something beautiful and useful. That creative recycling is what brings me pleasure.

The storage chest pictured above is 99% from salvaged materials. Even the brass handles were taken from an old cabinet I found in the dumpster. The inside supports were cut from old pallets, and the used ¾ paneling came the back of a renovated warehouse. Most of the nails and both hinges were also remnants of other people’s projects left at the side of the curb. All these disparate materials needed was an over-active imagination with some free timeto bring them back together into one usable and visually satisfying entity.

Since rescued lumber is generally old, chipped, weathered, and has innumerable holes and gouges from other handlers, the biggest part of the job is sanding the wood thoroughly enough to remove or obscure the obvious blemishes. I do go through a lot of sandpaper and it is messy, but the sanding machine does provide the perfect ‘white noise’ to make the task more than bearable, in spite of the sawdust blowing all over. My neighbors are not quite so happy about the tumult early in the morning however. The type and color of stain or varnish used also depends upon the condition of the wood. If I have more blemishes to hide, I sometimes have to go with a finish darker than I would prefer. A stainable wood-filler is a lifesaver, too.

I have no idea what I will do with this, since my home is pretty much already filled up. I could give it away to someone. I might try to sell it. I do have room in my office at work for it and it is likely that it will end up there or in my storage unit until I move into someplace larger. I was thinking of sending it to one of my siblings, but their homes already have some of my uniquely crafted furniture in them and I don’t know if they want any more.

Any day that I create anything is a wonderful day. Janice is anxious for a new workspace, so another wonderful day is soon to happen. I better get moving. It's garbage day in the nicer part of town.

3 Comments:

At 10:37 AM , Blogger Shlomo Leib Aronovitz said...

LOL

Spoken like a true ********. Remind me again what I need rescuing from? Nu?

 
At 11:45 AM , Blogger The Jewish Freak said...

Nice work.

 
At 1:12 PM , Blogger Tamara said...

thanks for visiting my blog. if I lived closer, I'd come rescue the chest from a life in the store room :)

 

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