In My Opinion!

[Eddy-Smiles]

I hear what you are saying Eddy. Backup everything !!!!! Dad has been working wood for 70 years. None of the knowledge he has is down in any format format whatsoever. Very old school is Dad. When he goes a wealth of information goes with him so I hear what you say.

Had hoped to find a couple of young guys to teach wood working to but no interest at all. No keyboard and no mouse = no interest. Is a shame. Forums like this are the the best store of knowledge as it can be accessed by all who want to. But what happens when the light go out??????

It get's dark!

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[Glenn Jennings]

Hi eddy
Hehehehehe ,Ok, you got me good with that one . Cracked me up big time hehehehehehe.

[Rodster]

What a great thread, Eddy. You often show us how this forum can be used to stimulate debate.

George Orwell alerted us to these same dangers in the 1940s. Not only can information be erased or forgotten, it can be rewritten to conform with current sensibilities. The old words can easily be lost forever.

Orwell wrote that before the days of the internet.

Imagine what he might say today, in an era of electronic books, videos, streaming, etc. When I retired, I wrote two family history books for family and friends. Sixteen years later, all the old folks are dead, their photos are gone, and their stories and photos would have disappeared, but for my books.

The internet has its place and is a blessing in so many ways. But I learned carving using Jack Price's book and I'm so pleased I still have a copy. For those carvers out there, consider self-publishing your stories in book form and giving them to friends and family. They'll be pleased you did.

[Eddy-Smiles]

What a great thread, Eddy. You often show us how this forum can be used to stimulate debate.

George Orwell alerted us to these same dangers in the 1940s. Not only can information be erased or forgotten, it can be rewritten to conform with current sensibilities. The old words can easily be lost forever.

Orwell wrote that before the days of the internet.

Imagine what he might say today, in an era of electronic books, videos, streaming, etc. When I retired, I wrote two family history books for family and friends. Sixteen years later, all the old folks are dead, their photos are gone, and their stories and photos would have disappeared, but for my books.

The internet has its place and is a blessing in so many ways. But I learned carving using Jack Price's book and I'm so pleased I still have a copy. For those carvers out there, consider self-publishing your stories in book form and giving them to friends and family. They'll be pleased you did.

Rodster... We're of the same mind. I've written family four family biographies. I've offered them to all the relatives but so far no one has really shown an interest. However, I have them safely squirreled away on CD, flash drive and hard copy. Sooner or later one of our tribe is going to ask that famous question...where did I come from? As for your reference to George Orwell, I watched a special, on PBS, I believe, about the intelligence and level of technology reached by past civilizations of mankind. It really makes one wonder if us dumb homo-sapiens haven't tried to invent the wheel more than once or twice before.
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[Brian T]

There are outstanding carvings in wood and stone which come from many centuries ago. Perhaps illiterate, in some instances there simply was no means to record the knowledge of those artists.
Some parchments, some scribes (often in the priesthood). People working in glass, stone and wood were tradespeople, their works meant to illustrate religious themes in churches.

Putting that aside, even in this day and time there's a huge body of knowledge that appears to die with each generation: recipes & food. I'm one of the rare eccentrics to compile a "family cookbook" that were recipe cards that I cooked from when my kids were little. As each one left for university, they got a printout of the cookbook of some 250 recipes and a box of all the spices, herbs and condiments to make everything in the book.

Nobody cares about edits any more, probably 300 recipes now and I refer to it almost daily for inspirations.
= = =

Do it. Write it down. Write stories to wrap around the pictures of your carvings. It's important.

For First Nations in the Pacific Northwest, children with artistic talent were apprenticed to an uncle or a grandparent to learn by example. I suspect that the very same thing applied to food. In many other examples, specific talents are held in great esteem. The History Keeper. The Language Keeper. The Legend Keeper. They are all expected to be able to recite the important tribal knowledge.

[pallin]

Claude has shown how easy it is to get information on swiveling bar stools. If you want to make them, try this: (1) Swiveling Bar Stool Plans - Bing images

One of the undercurrents of this discussion is the fear that time will erase important aspects of woodcarving - techniques, special tools, individual accomplishments. We have people who refuse to let go of the past. They dig it up, test it, copy what they found, try other ways get to the same result. Look up David Esterly.

[Arthur C.]

fear[/U] that time will erase important aspects of woodcarving - techniques, special tools, individual accomplishments. We have people who refuse to let go of the past. They dig it up, test it, copy what they found, try other ways get to the same result. Look up David Esterly.

i have two of David Esterly's books, "The Lost Carving", which I recently finished on an eBook, and "Grinling Gibbons, The Art of Carving," in hardback. I recommend both, and the latter is a hard copy must. Fascinating books.

[Glenn Jennings]

Gone are the days where we all lived in a village for our whole lives and knowledge was passed down from father to son on a daily basis. Familys are spread all over the world with only internet and phone for contact.

The internet is great for finding ways to do things but as machines take over from that which used to be done by hand Many of the old skills are lost. If the internet fails then all of that is lost as well and that leaves BOOKS. A book can be picked up in 600 years and be as rellevant as the day it was written.

Because of family spread, all the knowledge Dad has with a lifetime of working wood will go with him as his sons haven't been around to see him do it. Yes you can call and get information but in reality how often does that happen and it is not the same as seeing and understanding what is involved in the doing.

A lot of the old skills are down to feel which takes considerable time to acquire. A classic example a simple thing like cutting square a 10 inch wide and 10 inch deep slightly tapered piece of wood by hand because none of the "MACHINES" you have will accommodate it.

The guy next door saw me doing this with a handsaw when he came home from work. He was amused that I would do it this way rather than making multiple cuts on the bench saw.

I explained that to do that I would have to plane the wood perfectly square to remove the taper in order to get the cuts to all line up and then there was the issue of the blade being the old type without expansion slots in it so with wood that thick the temperature would make the blade twist and jam and the cuts would not line up.

I said come look and put the square over the end and slid it down with the blade touching all the way across as it slid down. He said I couldn't get it that good with my electric saw.

I guess the point I'm making here is that when machines don't fit the bill it comes down to doing by hand and best results come from a long time of doing such work and a book can show the newbies the tricks used in making something as simple as a square cut in wood when all else fails and shorten their journey to success.

[Rodster]

Great thread and interesting comments. This is the second time I have read this. Very interesting both times. Thanks.

[DiLeon]

pallin "
”The wood speaks to me” also makes me crazy! In the last six almost seven years having watched many carvers struggle with projects when they try to stretch their skills. I think the lack of a process is the great killer of carvers dreams. Watching the hapless wood whisperer’s working without photo or sketch and not a measurement device insight expecting the wood to reveal the perfect results.

Sorry for the rant,
Ed

Wood talks all the time to me...it screams as I break off a thin piece, or says... See I told you not to use the chisel on that area, or it mutters... you can't do this go away!! I can and do work without photos and measurements but success in the pieces is never a guarantee and I call that whole game is the very fact that I am too lazy to do it right. One thing the wood never tells me is what to make out of it, I have to have an idea and then go look for the wood. I will note if you make the same thing over again, at least ten times or more you should be able to carve without photos, sketches, and the works. I get bored easily...so that is not an option.