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I’ve been doing this job for 12 years now; and that’s the longest commitment I’ve given anything, except for maybe shaving, remaining married and pork barbecue. So clearly I like my job, or I’m un-hirable in any other profession.
Most days are great: I read about woodworking, write about woodworking and do woodworking. But there are a few days that make me grind my teeth in frustration. This is one of those days.
I’m editing a piece by bodger and blacksmith Don Weber for the February 2009 issue of Popular Woodworking. Don has built an interpretation of a Sidney Barnsley hay-rake table and has done a beautiful job. And that’s the problem.
I’ve been dying to build one of these tables since before I came to work here. Barnsley has long been one of my heroes. He was a trained architect who chucked it all to design and build furniture mostly by hand. And to top it all off he had great design sensibilities.
Of course, now that Weber has built this table for the magazine, there’s little chance that I’ll be able to build one unless I can find a customer. Casa Schwarz doesn’t need a massive dining table (already got one). Nor does anyone in my family. I could build one on spec and try to sell it, but I think I’d probably end up with the world’s fanciest basement Pla-Doh table.
Maybe I could just build a small model of it…¦. Aw crud.
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