A little long winded but a good, thoughtful and,  thought provoking read.

Hi Gene,

Today is one of those lazy, warm, springtime Sunday mornings we long for during the darkest days of winter. I came outside with a cup of coffee to sit on my patio and write this newsletter, but had to set my phone down for a bit to just sit and soak in the peaceful simplicity of this moment.

The lavender is in full bloom as are all the other perennials that have been scraggly throughout the winter. My tomato plants are getting big and I need to make new cages to support them.

The air is completely still and there are a lot of bird conversations going on…I wish I knew what kinds of birds. Under their chirping is the constant, steady drone of the freeway which I find oddly comforting, reminding me that the world is teeming with life and bustling activity.  

Cobra is sitting under a bush in a meatloaf position while slowly blinking his eyes. If he were human, I'm pretty sure he would be listening to some lo-fi chill beats. Bubbles, on the other hand, keeps darting in and out of the house, unwilling to take in the moment. She's more techno rave.

Over the years, I've discovered one of the fundamental challenges in woodworking is finding, recognizing, and appreciating simplicity; something all creative people struggle with. We might set out to build a table with the intention of showing off every woodworking skill we've learned and at some point in the build process, we hit a wall. The sliding dovetails we planned for joining the top together are difficult to make at this length, and not at all necessary. The inlay looks ridiculous on the legs, and did we really need to use two different router profiles for the tabletop and the apron?

Anyone who’s ever written a story, (or a newsletter) will tell you that it often starts from a place of needless complexity with redundant passages and indulgent descriptions. It takes editing to pare it down and remove the superfluous.

We need to edit our woodworking. We begin projects from a complicated place because in our heads we conflate complexity with accomplishment. The reality is that people are usually drawn toward things that display a level of simplicity. Think of how Apple applies this to their successful product designs.

Personally, whenever I begin to design a woodworking project, I tend to naturally overcomplicate it. As I work through the design over the course of hours or days, I’m able to slowly discover more and more simplicity. This might involve removing excess lumber (I always want to overbuild) or finding better joinery that will make assembly more efficient. On top of this, I even edit the design while I’m building as I make real-world discoveries.

After years of thinking about this issue, I’ve identified a few strategies to consider when building your own projects:
 

Understand that usually the simplest solution is the best, and often the most aesthetically pleasing. Always ask yourself if there is a simpler way of achieving the same goal.

Work within constraints. Instead of mixing three species of wood, try to make one type of wood look outstanding by selecting the best pieces. If you want to try out a new technique, showcase it alone. Make your ebony inlay the one really showy part of the coffee table. It doesn’t want to compete with your hand carving or LEDs.

People marvel at your woodworking projects more than your woodworking skills. Nothing is quite as satisfying as holding and opening a small box with a lid that slides on perfectly. End users will probably not understand the skill it took to achieve that, but will admire the box on a visceral level.

I’m in the early stages of exploring this philosophy and approach to woodworking in a new  program that I hope to share with you later this year. At this point, I’m in the over-complication stage and have a long way to go before I begin to find its simplicity. But that’s how the process works. What I’m discovering is that approaching woodworking from a place of simplicity is something that can greatly benefit beginners to the craft as well as experienced builders. I’ll keep you posted.  

Have a great month!

18 minutes ago, Gene Howe said:

I tend to naturally overcomplicate it.

Boy does that apply to me!

 

Thanks for the share, @Gene Howe.

6 hours ago, Gene Howe said:

I tend to naturally overcomplicate it

Me too.  I'm a prime example of the adage that an elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.  @Gene Howe, when this gentleman has more wisdom to share, please share it with us too.  That was an interesting essay.

Will do. Tom

Glad you enjoyed the read

 

3 hours ago, PostalTom said:

Me too.  I'm a prime example of the adage that an elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.  @Gene Howe, when this gentleman has more wisdom to share, please share it with us too.  That was an interesting essay.

+1!

I'm on his email list but, this was the first substantial ramblings he's sent. Must've been a slow day in the shop.

I got the same email only it started out "Hi Dave". Now I find out Steve is just sending the same letter to everyone...and I thought I was special.

You are special, Dave. 

I am curious what a visceral level might be, and why you would put a box on it to admire it.

2 minutes ago, Gunny said:

I am curious what a visceral level might be, and why you would put a box on it to admire it.

IDK, but I'm ordering two of them right now for just in case I need it for a project I'll never start let alone finish.

My wife designs most of my projects. I am making an appt with Ramsey for her now. 
Paul

My personal design mission is a pursuit for simplicity in design.  Throw in maximizing useful functionality in the process. Along the way I've often discovered through iterative sketching sessions designs that only reveal their usefulness when stripped down to the fewest pieces needed.  One example is a simple coffee  table I came up with.  Two boards each with a rectangular hole in them, and a rectangular wood beam that could slide loosely through the holes. The top would rest on the top edge of the two boards as they leaned on the beam. It wasn't until I had all the parts made and slid them together the first time that I realized they could be put together several ways for a different look, as well as a few different final table heights.  A slight modification to the hole in the boards let version 2 allow the beam pass through with its cross section vertical or horizontal. Final result is 16 different looks and 6 different table heights from 14" to 18" you can achieve with the 3 base parts.   I've made a few of these tables for family members, but don't have one for myself to photograph.  To meet my own performance expectations I come back to this design every few years looking for a way to attach the top so the whole table could be picked up by the top. I can solve that for any single static position of the base parts.  Solving it for all 16 configurations confounds me though. 

 

4D 

Gene I think these gents you are showing off here has already drawn a big no no from me???? Most of my past and present knowledge was gained from a group of fire fighters and for sure no one ever uddered any words like this Ramsey fellow was inserting two or three at a time in each and every sentence...and my only other job was delivering furniture after I got out of high school until I got drafted. 

  I guess I'm trying to say the roses smells just fine at my speed and the know how of my kind of woodworking is keeping maw happy so I don't even care for the words I never heard around woodworkers!!!!

  She and I have been installing rain gutters to divert some water away from our septic system. I installed our septic system 22 years ago when we moved here and the garbage disposal and tree roots have finally caught up to us and the water does not leach out in to the air like it use to do. I also had to build some short walls at the end of the concrete drive way which was acting like the mississippi river during each and every rain going right on top of the lateral lines. The concrete drive way is about 300 foot long and something like 20 foot wide at the shortest width and its all down hill right to the septic. So hey this past month has been a small nightmare but the new electric chain saw was the very best I have ever used and this made the sixth different chain saw in my life time and it has the best and quickest way to take the slack out of the chain I ever did see so not all of this past month I wanted to forget about!!!! And my wife can still work me to death no matter how hard I try to stay up with her.....

 

9 minutes ago, Smallpatch said:

And my wife can still work me to death no matter how hard I try to stay up with her.....

I think that was in the small print when you signed the contract Patch. Must be a standard contract they all use.

Good to see ya' posting up again.