Woodworking is Timeless

Many of you, perhaps like me, have memories of working in a woodshop. It could be your parent’s, grandparent’s, or a shop class you took in school. Maybe you have your own shop that has been growing and evolving for years, made up of industrial equipment, providing for you and the employees that manufacture whatever it is you produce. Or maybe you are just starting out, piecing together your own workshop with what you can find for cheap on Facebook marketplace to start up a new hobby. In any case, you have continued in a long line of tradition working with wood, and that is important.

As long as trees have been growing on God’s green earth, humans have been chopping them down and using its resource to build, create and evolve.  From the massive ships of Greek, Roman, and Viking heritages, to the beautiful and sturdy cathedrals that populate Europe, and even the most intricately crafted inlays and waterfall design in furniture, wood is used to create lasting and timeless pieces of modern marvels.

I know that while I make wooden toys- a far cry from Viking’s oar-powered longship, or the Notre Dame, the process is the same. That is using the raw material and transforming it into something else using saws, sandpaper, and skill. I know woodworking is timeless because I learned from my grandfather and Lord- willing, I will pass these skills on to my children and grandchildren. This is especially important, this handcrafted skill, because of the age of manufacturing we find ourselves in. Woodworkers seek to make things that last, and far too often, we are left wanting.

Cheaper, faster, uniform, polished, manufactured, devoid of human touch, broken and easily replaced instead of fixed, this is what we find more and more often. Instead, let’s strive for craftsmanship, quality, longevity, fixability, and uniqueness. Things that last, things that are timeless. No fads, trends, or what’s in style. Choose what is tried and true, reliable, trustworthy.

It is important that we carry on tradition and hold on to our memories, especially in the case of wooden creations and the experience to create them. Woodworking is a dying skill, and I hope that we would aim to hold on tight to what is good, true and beautiful, or risk giving it all to what is convenient, cheap, and disposable.

"Let the favor of the LORD our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands" - Psalm 90:17