How many of us follow certain routines based on some underlying superstitious belief while we are in the shop
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Replies
dusty,
I make it a point to touch wood every chance I get...
Ray
I sense a definite phobia there. J
Ray,
I read about a tribe in the Amazon that has a tradition. They cremate their dead. At each cremation, they take some of the ashes and put them in a big container which contains the some ashes from each person of the tribe who has died. In one of their rituals, they mix some of the "communal ashes" into some water and everybody takes a drink. This lets them become one with their ancestors, and get the wisdom of their ancestors.So in my shop, I keep a bag of sawdust. I put some sawdust from each project into the bag. In each new project, I mix some of the communal sawdust with some glue and use it to fill some internal gap in the new project. In this way, each of my projects becomes one with its ancestors. In the furniture afterlife, I believe that these pieces will be able to find one another more easily. Family shouldn't only be for people. It should also be for furniture. Mel.
PS As always, I do not agree with anything I have said above.Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
Mel,
Now that's leaving superstition, and getting into spirituality. Makes sense to me, BUT-
I was with you up to the point where you mix your communal sawdust with glue and put it into the next project.
I usually wash my dust down with beer at the end of each day, so that I'll have a little of my projects in me (at least for a little while).
Ray
And after my beer, I let the process go forth and join the waters of the world so as to better disseminate the essence of woodworking to the unwashed so they may also be of good calm and nicked fingers.Boiler
Boiler,
Following your response to Ray, I conclude that soon, all of us will be one and the same. There will be no difference. To hurry this up, we must have more people making sawdust, washing it down with beer, and disseminating the result.
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Mel,If we all did that, I'm afraid we would all fall to the lowest common denominator and only use Butt joints. It's not enough to call it a superstition but if I don't groin myself at least three times on the end of the fence rail every morning, my dovetails won't fit. No pain, no gain?
It's bad enough that I am visited by the "Ghost of Jigs Past"! (He brings me nails to do my tails)BoilerGotta move that TS! Heh! Toro!
Boiler,
What an afternoon. I have a Delta Contractor Saw. I installed a set of PALs to help tune up the saw (blade parallel to the miter slots). I spent a few hours tuning the saw this afternoon, and learning some new words. It is a royal pain to lay on your back with the small of your back resting on the lower rails of the saw stand while you are working underneath the thing. AH but it now runs very nice and smooth with a new blade and everything parallel. I got the blade to within a thousandth (parallel to the miter slot). Of course, that didn't happen on the first try. Now it is time to celebrate. Maybe I'll go to Mickey Ds and get a three course meal. Maybe something even better. :-)I finished building a glider (rocker) for my grandson yesterday. I have been working on that for a month (on and off). Learned lots of new stuff. In the past my favorite angles were 90 degrees and 45 degrees, and the only things I build were squares or rectangles. This time, I learned about 7 degrees, 18 degrees, making curved pieces, joining curved pieces, and making mechanisms (the glider mechanism). It was very satisfying to have the thing work when I assembled the pieces. Then I took them apart and put a first coat of finish on it. Maybe my wife will do the upholstery. I will post some photos when it is finished and upholstered. It fits my 16 month old grandson, but he is not one to sit and rock. I figure it will be useful when he is about 2 to 4 years old. If he doesn't like it, I will frame it and hang it on the wall.Have fun.
Mel
PS I really don't think that I have any superstitions in the shop, other than a candle in front of a photo of St. Norm. Also I genuflect when I pass a Lie Nielsen plane, and I only use Holy Water on my waterstones. Must be my Catholic upbringing.Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
dusty,
ok, i'll bite...
it is most difficult for me to begin anything new unless i first clean the entire shop. not sure if this counts as superstition.
eef
I was thinking more on the lines of touching a lucky horse shoe which hangs over the door or carrying a lucky coin in the pocket or tossing saw dust over ones left shoulder, things like that. But yours would count also.
Hey! I am the same way. Go figure.Cheers,Peter
Better life through Zoodles and poutine...
When I first walk in to my shop the first thing I do is look around to see if anything would work better in a different place.
Yeah, I do that. Then I clean up some more. The never ending ritual.
Me too. Have you ever tried to find a sliver of wood that popped off your piece with dirty shop floor? Good luck! A clean shop is a must for me.
You guys who like a clean shop would gag if you came into my place. Why you'd probably have to spin around three times, throw a bit of filtered sawdust over your shoulder, and cross yourself a couple dozen times. I've had people simply walk through and had to go home and shower afterward. So maybe my superstition is having to have a bit (or a lot) of past projects around me all the time. But I'll be moving this fall so not wanting to pay to move dust, I'll have to clean up a bit. The wonders that I might find!
I was just like you my friend until my wife moved into my house. Then everything changed!!!! But after having to clean my shop on a daily basis to keep her happy, I'm glad she changed my habits. Shop is much better these days.
hey eef ,
That sounds more like O.C.B. disorder , not superstition .
got to go now , need to check and make sure again I turned my heater off
d
dusty,
you're probably right, although i'm not sure what the "B" stands for. when done cleaning it is important that all of my hand tools be arranged in such a manner, that when i look at them in their rightful place, i can wait for a feeling of well-being and new designs and ways of working slowly drift into my concious mind. somehow, this is a very important phase in getting something done.
eef
e , The B stands for behavior ,
to each his own
regards d
Same here, new job, clean shop.
napie,
yeah, it is probably more about sorting, organization and creating a peaceful shop-setting than it is about superstition. i get kind of weird in the head when cutting dovetails by hand. i question my stance, grip, and wonder about my mood, in a somewhat nervous way, when i put adria to wood. i guess it could be construed as odd superstition. more likely, inexperience at a task, makes for all manner of self-doubt/fears. confidence and skill-building are not lazily gained and superstition steps in offering some vague easy way out of the conundrum.
interesting post.
eef
Edited 5/22/2009 2:52 pm ET by Eef
Years ago I had a friend who would wander into my shop from time to time and made a practice of pretty accurately guessing how many orders I had based solely on how clean and orderly the shop was. He picked up on the inverse relation between my order book and the state of the floor.David Ring
http://www.touchwood.co.il/?lang=e&id=1
David,
Inverse..Really? Clean floor/ many orders---Cluttered shop/ no work?
With me, it's just the opposite. If things are slack, then I've got time to be thinking about cleaning up.
Ray
Same here. I meant "inverse" only in the sense that when orders were good, the state of the floor was not, and vice versa.David Ring
http://www.touchwood.co.il/?lang=e&id=1
David..
Your comment... 'but when mishaps occur they definitely occur in threes'.
I'm not particular superstitious, however I DO think that 'occur in threes' has at least some basis in fact. I have experienced it more than just several times in my long life. Sometimes good and sometimes bad. In fact, too many times to be 'chance'.
"In fact, too many times to be 'chance'."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusory_correlation
-Steve
A famous demonstration of confirmation bias occurred when a college class discussed astrology. The professor, amazed that many of his students professed belief or openness to belief in astrology, asked each student to provide his/her exact birth date and time. He would then consult a noted astrologer and in a few days would give each student an evaluation of personality traits provided by said astrologer.When the evaluations were passed out, the students were asked to rate their accuracy. Most concluded, on the basis of how accurately they thought their results described them, that astrology must indeed be quite accurate.Then the prof asked students to pass their evaluation sheets to the student sitting to their left, whereupon they discovered that all of the evaluations were in fact identical. BruceT
You may have a point!
David ,
The Boss I apprenticed for upon entering a clean shop would immediately ask if we ran out of work or some other like , why's the floor so clean , why is there no sawdust , you guy's been sitting around ?
We learned to stay busy and never had time to vacuum .
regards d
Well, I've never "knocked on wood" before. Does that count? If not, I alwasy unplug my cabinet saw before changing the blade... but that's probably just a good idea, not superstitious...
underlying superstitious belief .. I have none BUT,, If I see a a Vampire I have a little stick of Blood wood to throw as I escape!
Doesn't driving a wooden stake through the heart work on those guys, Will? Just in case you're out of bloodwood. You need a hand tool to do the driving, obviously. I like to work with a Binford 5100 3lb sledge while I'm waiting for Lie-Nielsen to come out with the A-2 steel 3lb sledge."Yes, but what's good for me ain't necessarily good for the weak-minded." - Augustus McCrae, Lonesome Dove
I keep a piece of bloodwood in my pocket as a good luck piece. It is about 1/8" thick and about the size of a GI's dog-tag. I've had it since my first year of woodworking, and have never had an accident.
Dusty:
I carry a flat black rock around in my pocket all the time. It's not so much a superstition as it is the fact I like to rub it. Maybe you could call it a worry stone. Whatever.
Jim
The first fire that I build each winter has leftover scraps from all of the projects that I did over the last year. I am not sure it changes anything but make me feel warm an nostalgic.
> The first fire that I build each winter has leftover scraps...
On the solstice, I suppose... ;) Yes, after each project is completed during the winter months, I also sacrifice the project's entrails upon an incendiary altar, where their sweet aroma wafts heavenward. Their mystic potency is further enhanced by the occasional sanguinary augmentation of sharp arrises or the slip of a chisel. This ensures that the project will not fall apart due to insufficient clamping pressure, poor joinery, dull blades, etc.
In the summer, I store the entrails in canopic jars (by Rubbermaid) until the shadow of my bandsaw blade crosses the table saw Zero Clearance Insert, signalling the Autumnal Equinox. On that day, we bring forth the cans... err... jars in an elaborate ceremony called "The Making of the S'Mores."
:-)
Cheers,/dev
Uh Dev,,,,,,,,, There is a pueblo out in NM where the inhabitants wandered off before memory in time. I believe the rangers out at Chaco Canyon would like for you to report back. They would like to know where you have been.
> I believe the rangers out at Chaco Canyon would like for you to report back.> They would like to know where you have been.
Hmmmm... What is this Choco-Canyon of which you speak?
The legends of my people, the Anastasi RoM&Mnovs, describe how they were expelled from their frozen homeland. They sought refuge in the lost city of Got 'Em-and-S'More-Ahhh. Many people don't know it, but we're actually paying homage to that Special Dark refuge when we say, "O, Fudge."
That city was Nestléd in a protective canyon formed by the erosive processes of the Milky Way River, South branch. Could this be the same canyon? According to the legends, the city was "consumed" by the Colossus of Rocky Roads. Or it might have been turned into a Pillar of Semi-Sweet, which was then eliminated into the Great White Throne. Or maybe both. The legends aren't all that clear.
As to where I have been, I have been busy hijacking threads with obscure historical, scatological and confectionary references. ;-)
/dev
Not exactly a routine, but when mishaps occur they definitely occur in threes. If two things go wrong today I'm just waiting for the third.
And also, all my Arab workers are convinced that we need to be suspicious of Wednesdays. Don't know why, but they believe we shouldn't take on anything especially challenging on a Wednesday.
David Ring
http://www.touchwood.co.il/?lang=e&id=1
dusty,
I keep my fingers crossed a lot, does that count? My underlying belief is that I don't know what I'm doing....:)
my superstition is that I never buy a tool or materials for a job until the job is 100% committed.
I've had lumber milled and dried for an automobile restoration order that although had a verbal commitment, just arn't there when the wood was ready.
I've bought upholstery cleaning equipment for a 100 chair refinishing order that was verbally gauranteed, but then the call came that said the order wasn't gonna happen.
I imported figured wood for a friend/client, got shipped 3x what I ordered, and he didn't like the grain (not that I blamed him, I ordered quilted maple, got shipped a hodgepodge of various figures....
First time burned, twice shy.
Get burnt once, shame on them
Get burnt agin, shame on me,
But three times, I'm left shakin my head at my own stupidity.
My superstition is thus...
Never put out a plugged nickle for tools, materials, research into a job that ain't 100% confirmed and reconfirmed. Even if it is for friends.
2nd and third time I rationalized it by saying to myself that things wouldn't go wrong, but they did.
Eric in Cowtown
"Never put out a plugged nickle for tools, materials, research into a job that ain't 100% confirmed and reconfirmed"and a deposit? I've always liked to hold onto their first born - of course sometimes they balk at that.
Good laugh, and cowtown I understand. But sometimes the research helps the next time!First thing in the shop is the Radio on CBC (unless the Riders are playing). Look at nice piece of fiqured maple and try to think about what to do with it. Scratch head.
I think saw dust is an aphrodeisiac. and I save it for mulch for the wee Colleens garden.Saw dust is a good source of fiber and no trans fats.My OCD won't let me out of the shop until every rag used in finishing is outside, never to be brought back in.
Speaking of radio...I am finding in my old age that I cannot be distracted by deliberate sounds (radio, tv etc) when I am trying to think. As in reading a book or thinking about a cut in the shop. Most of my time is thinking about a cut :-)I keep seeing these workplaces where a radio is blaring some sort of noise and wonder why that is so. Is this a sign of age or just asking what has not been questioned in these environments? Why does there have to be extraneous noise?Cheers,Peter
Better life through Zoodles and poutine...
Edited 5/24/2009 8:28 pm by PeterDurand
Peter,It is just a sign of age and you are the only one suffering from it:-)In my case keeping just one thing on my mind at a time occasionally becomes taxing. Two things- forget it.
As to the noise itself - never while using power tools.Light stuff when planing (except scrubbing)or doing shellac or a layout.
Scrub planing - Steppenwolf "get your motor running..."Boiler
I can't concentrate in the presence of any significant amount of background music, conversation, etc. Other people I know can't concentrate without that that kind of noise.
-Steve
steve,
ah, you're just being superstitious, try working and concentrating in a classroom full of rock and roll river boys and wanna-be cholos! that'll improve anyone's acuity.
hope you're having a restful holiday.
eef
As for the noise thing. Just my thing to have something on in the background. I usually work alone and I find the local Peoples channel has some good programs and music from Canadian artists. I can tune it out when need to but it also lets me be aware of the time as I do not wear a watch around machinery. I leave the cel phone out of the shop.
Also as a low AM freq. during the summer it is a lightning alarm, you can hear the lightning cracckle before it get near you. Especially when you are on a boat a few miles from home!!!
I live on the north edge of the tornado belt and they also have good weather info.
During the Winnipeg comedy fest. I do not use sharp tools as I end up laughing a lot.
<<During the Winnipeg comedy fest. I do not use sharp tools as I end up laughing a lot.>> Love it!
Better life through Zoodles and poutine...
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