Issue 570

Issue 570

Stick Envy

As spring springs forth, it’s time to clean up the yard from a winter’s worth of debris. For me, this can mean a game of “pick up sticks” as a result of windblown twigs from my backyard trees littering the ground.

Now, on most occasions, my canine “helper” in this chore has no interest in sticks – she’s just not a “stick” dog. (She is, however, most definitely a tennis ball and Frisbee dog.) When she sees me carrying an armload of kindling, however, her interest is piqued: “Mom has sticks? Sticks must be cool. I want a stick!!”

It’s true that most woodworking projects are made with “sticks” a tad bit bigger than the thin twigs I’m talking about here. What I wonder, however, is whether you’ve ever looked at another woodworker’s project made out of those “big sticks” and experienced the same sort of envy – or aspiration, call it what you will – evidenced by my dog.

Did seeing a table built by another woodworker make you want to build one just like it for your own? Is it the “big names” in woodworking history who have so inspired you (Stickley, Maloof and so on) or more personal connections? Or do you always have to add your own twist to a project? Do tell.

Joanna Werch Takes, Woodworker’s Journal

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