Thread: The Bible and Woodwork

Originally Posted by Phil Spencer

Many years ago an old carpenter told me he learnt to saw a board square from reading his Bible, he said the good book told him to keep his elbow close to his body and his cut would always be square.

Has any one else been taught this and what chapter and what section of the Bible is it mentioned? I personally think he was using the book as a guide for the saw or maybe he had inhaled to much saw dust.

But it works I have found that keeping my elbow close to my body my saw cut is square, it also works for cutting bread.

I have always wondered if he had any other woodworking advice he had learnt the same way.

Perhaps he used the thick Bible as a saw guide which would possibly have made him adopt the position described. It just goes to show that you can get something positive from the Bible.

It does say it .........easiest way to find out is read it.

How many times way back, years ago before the wages of tradespeople took off particular in Aus have I heard the term used referring to trades people " Ow! he is only a humble carpenter".
Meany people forget that Jesus Christ was in fact just "a humble carpenter".
There is hope for all of us in life, particular all us woodworkers.
Cheers
Mac

Originally Posted by Malcolm Eaton

How many times way back, years ago before the
There is hope for all of us in life, particular all us woodworkers.
Cheers
Mac

What? you hope to be executed in your early 30s?

Must read the scriptures to find the answer....

But the best advice for square sawing is to align your body so that each motion is aligned with the cut. Eye, hand, elbow, shoulder, hips and heart. Simply supply the motion and the saw will do the rest.

and don't forget to point with your pinky finger

I'm still trying to find some gopher wood and a ruler that measures in cubits.
Can't start my ark without them.
SG

Yeah , it does seem to be a bit of a mystery .
I favor the laminated pitch covered theory .
The cypress is a nice idea , but a waste of good wood in the long run , the animals would blow the perfume out of the air in no time at all

Gopher wood ,
Question over identity
The Greek Septuagint (3rd–1st centuries BC) translated it as xylon tetragonon, "squared timber".[1] Similarly, the Latin Vulgate (5th century AD) rendered it as lignis levigatis (lævigatis, in the Clementine Vulgate), "smoothed (possibly planed) wood".
The Jewish Encyclopedia believes it was most likely a translation of the Babylonian "gushure i÷ erini" (cedar-beams), or the Assyrian "giparu" (reed).[2]
Many modern English translations tend to favour cypress (although otherwise the word for "cypress" in Biblical Hebrew is brosh). This was espoused (among others) by Adam Clarke, a Methodist theologian famous for his commentary on the Bible: Clarke cited the resemblance between Greek word for cypress, kuparisson and the Hebrew word gophar.
Other suggestions include pine, cedar, fir, ebony, wicker, juniper, acacia, boxwood, slimed bulrushes and resinous wood, and even American trees such as Cladrastis kentukea (American yellowwood), although the latter did not exist in the region the ark was supposedly built.
Others, noting the physical similarity between the Hebrew letters g and k, suggest that the word may actually be kopher, the Hebrew word meaning "pitch"; thus kopher wood would be pitched wood. Recent suggestions have included a lamination process (to strengthen the Ark), or a now-lost type of tree, but there is no consensus.[3]
Cypress Pine late 12c., from O.Fr. cipres, from L. cyparissus, from Gk. kyparissos, from an unknown pre-Greek Mediterranean language. Perhaps related to Heb. gopher, name of the tree whose wood was used to make the ark (Gen. vi.14).

Gopher wood - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia