zenwood 5th September 2005, 05:48 PM An article in the current Australian Woodworking Review (#48) caught my eye (not sure why;)). It's entitled, Zen Rules for Woodwork. It's an excellent article on woodwork, and the right attitude towards such things as mistakes, the balance between speed and quality, knowing why we're doing what we're doing, the role of seeing and judging in design. Robert Howard has written a fine piece, which I was glad to see in my first subscription copy of AWR.
What do other people think of the "Zen of Woodworking"?
Gumby 5th September 2005, 05:51 PM Do 'Rules of Thumb' still apply if you've had an accident and cut it off :confused:
zenwood 5th September 2005, 06:08 PM As long as you are now enlightened.;)
http://www.ordinarymind.com/koan_chu.html
Gumby 5th September 2005, 06:19 PM OMG. That's a tale.
I'm not enlightened, I'm well and truly discombobulated though :D
QbnDusty 5th September 2005, 06:19 PM ZEN the sound of one hand clapping. Got to be more careful with the Bandsaw.
zenwood 5th September 2005, 06:27 PM Very nasty when ya loose yer combobs:D
outback 5th September 2005, 07:00 PM OMG. That's a tale.
I'm not enlightened, I'm well and truly discombobulated though :D
Is that legal? :rolleyes: :confused: :rolleyes: :confused: :eek:
Gumby 5th September 2005, 07:38 PM Is that legal? :rolleyes: :confused: :rolleyes: :confused: :eek:
Between consenting adults in the privacy of your own home, no. :D
gazaly 5th September 2005, 09:57 PM OK everyone, lets keep Gumby away from the masking tape!!!
Studley 2436 6th September 2005, 05:52 PM I haven't read the Zen Woodwork Rules yet. I thought Zen was bragging but there you go.
I don't know much about Zen apart that it is a variation on Buddihsm but I did read an article a while back in a photo mag about the power of Bokeh. Bokeh is a Japanese word that means out of focus. That is all it means. Photographers talk about good Bokeh and bad Bokeh meaning the way out of focus highlights are rendered. If they are good they blur evenly to nothing. If they are bad rather that renderering in a nice round shape they will show hard edges in a pentagon or hexagon etc shape depending on the number of leaves in the lenses aperture. They can even be reversed, the inside is soft and it goes hard at the edges of the object. Bokeh is only about how a lens renders out of focus objects.
So back in the article there was a wild leap of logic that even introduced Yin and Yang! Highly spiritual assumptions from someone who very likely did not know anything about what he was talking about. There were many photos showing his use of Bokeh. Good bokeh makes this great etc was the caption and it was easy to see that he had minimised the depth of field to make use of out of focus effects but the bokeh the lens rendered was poor.
Being a golfer I have heard many say how golf is a microcosm of life will teach you all there is to know about life etc etc etc. EEEEEKKKK it is a game. A great game but still a game. For sure I have learnt about myself and others while playing golf but that doesn't make it some great sit on the mountain and receive the wisdom of the ages experience.
So to the topic we are working wood. It is a great and very fullfilling thing to do but it is only a craft that can be learned with experience. We don't worship or commune with some higher entity just because we pick up tools and create a beautiful job though you might gain some greater experience than just making something.
Holding up my finger, this is the secret to life. This one thing you have to find out what it is for you and that will make your life complete. I don't know what your thing is that's for you to find out. Quoting some movie. Just don't bring a cow home with you!
Studley
Gingermick 6th September 2005, 09:28 PM ZEN the sound of one hand clapping. Got to be more careful with the Bandsaw.
If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, did Zen cut it down?
Ian007 6th September 2005, 09:44 PM If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, did Zen cut it down?
Yep it was a nice bit of wood, very rare and in the Belair national park :D
He then took it home on the train :D
Clinton1 7th September 2005, 09:38 AM The "Zen rules for Woodwork" -
as opposed to the "God, this has given me the s###'s, quick bodgy it up and get it finished" rule for just about everything.
I just found this rule out when putting in Ag pipe drainage over the weekend. It struck after I had dug out about 5 cubic meters of saturated clay, busted out old footings that ran through the drain line, shifted the clay to a garden bed, incorporated it into the water repellant soil that was there, leveled the trench, laid the first line of scoria, laid the pipe.... blah blah blah.
It struck when I realised that to finish the job by Sunday night I would have to take some shortcuts, probably illegal in council eyes, but which would only need fixing after about 5 - 10 years.
Is this rule the same as the "She'll be right" rule for 1/2 arsed jobs??
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