I had a boss once that kept track of peoples mistakes by making little check marks next to the person’s name on a ledger tablet (before PCs). One day, the boss was conferring with my Dave, my immediate supervisor. Dave looked down at the ledger in an open drawer of the boss’ desk and remarked how many check marks Mark had next to his name. The boss sat back in his chair and said it was true, Mark had many more check marks than the other workers but that none of them were circled. Circled check marks were repeat mistakes. The boss further pointed out that some workers had no check marks at all. This told him that they were afraid of risk, afraid to try something new. He said Mark does make mistakes but he is not shy about tackling new things.

We all make mistakes Chris, but I am sure very few of yours were repeaters. Moreover, you continually ventured into new and unknown territory.

There are many of us who are grateful for your contributions to woodworking. Thank you. Mark

Woodworking Magazine was with me at the beginning, and is still at the top of the heap. I have purchased Chris’s, and Bob Lang’s books, videos and Sketchup tutorials, to name a few. I am currently building my third Schwarz-inspired bench to put in the dining room (no kidding! I talked my wife into letting me have a hand tool only shop in there!!)

I’ve put Chris’s articles under the microscope over the years… squinting to see if there are any gaps, tear out, or flaws of any kind. I never did this out of spite, but, rather, to see if ‘the Schwarz’ is human. I’ve never found any (aside from the few Chris would cop to!)

It doesn’t matter. What matters is that Chris Schwarz has been able to do what few have had the time, patience, or opportunity to…. It’s my feeling that Chris ticks off ‘geeky engineers’ and causes perfectionists like myself to squint for hours at photos of his dovetails because he’s dedicated himself to learning, and doing what truly makes him happy. It makes ME happy, and I’d be lost if I couldn’t live vicariously through his articles, blog entries, books and vids.

Now he’s taken it to the next level by sharing something that would make me, personally, feel angry, spiteful and vengeful. It now seems, perhaps, what separates Chris Schwarz from the pack is his humility.

John G. Van Derwood MD

…but I will say that if I disliked someone in your line of work this much I’d probably just stop reading their work (and paying for it!) This seems a bit too logical though.

Any chance this person’s moniker begins with Auguste and ends with Gusteau?

Lawrence

It would great to see a sample of famous woodworkers’ biggest goofs and how they handled them.