This is going to sound silly and indulgent to pros (and likely others), but there are ephemeral things encountered in woodworking that, while trivial, I enjoy immensely. Various aspects of handwork are especially delightful in their process and byproducts. Call me crazy, but I like plane shavings – their swirling ribbons and lace.
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Samson,
I too like them shavings,especially when there is an accompanying waft of resin or other delicious nostril-opener. I also enjoy collecting hessian coffee bean sacks full of drawknife shavings, which soon dry to perfect kindling stuff for the chimenae out in the garden. They would make rough cushions for tramps, or so I imagine.
Of course the shavings can be tiresome to the ladywife, as they collect in large numbers upon the shed floor, from whence I tread them into the house, them being tenacious for the shoe - until they find a nice carpet to adhere to. I have asked Philip to arrange for a shaving-collector on the planes but so far there is just the picture of a brush and pan.
Lataxe, an ex hippy, freak, 60s flower-sniffer.
My wife and I share various chores. One of hers tends to be the laundry. She is forever cursing the shavings and dust that fall from the pockets of my jeans and such!
Samson,
And they're really great for packaging fragile stuff. It's a lot better than that plastic stuff and more environmentally friendly too.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Bob,
Just lately there have been deliveries to the hoosey of things packed with popcorn instead of them nasty polystyrene nodules that never rot and get everywhere. I have not yet dared eat the popcorn but it seems to make the flowers grow if spread on the garden.
However, perhaps there is money is shavings? How to squodge them into a form as dense as the log, for transportation to the parcel -packers? Samson and Glaucon would both be pleased as they sometimes like to make shavings just for the pleasure of planing.
Addiction is a terrible thing. I blame the pushers, such as that Philip, Tom LN and Rob LV.
Lataxe
I make a couple hundred gallons a week of nice aromatic oak, maple and cherry shaper shavings. I would be more than happy to post them to you (collect of course) so that you could distribute them to worthy recipients.------------------------------------
It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore
your not the only one who loves the shavings. they are so great to just let collect on the workbench
"It is like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer: it feels so good when you stop"
I just realized this ended up in the Finishing folder. I had intended it to be in Hand Tools. Oh well, fat fingered mouse work. DOH!
Hey man, could I buy some? They look better than my shavings that are all coarse and knarled up break-offs from a poorly tuned plane. And it would impress peeps iffn I had some of them laying around my workbench. How do you charge, by the gram? Let's make a deal.
There's a terrific business idea. I read on one of the magazine feedback threads how there are a whole crop of woodworkers who like the idea of woodworking -- buying the tools and setting up a shop - but don't ever actually work wood. I could sell them bags of shavings to spread around to give the shop that "worked in" look! Then again, if they buy themselves a LN bench plane, they can't help but "play" with it a bit and the only results of their woodworking will be shavings. Oh well.
Oh yeah, and:
Tune your plane, man!
Real shavings. Hmmm. I wonder if a google search might take you an adult site. Best come up with a better name.
Ribbons and Curls is already taken by some pedophile site, probably.
How about: Amber Waves of Grain?
Give Norm a call. I hear he's looking for new advertisers! Something new and unique, to him...............
:-)
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
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