Cutting Curves (and Dodging Curve Balls)

I rarely write Shop Notes on Sundays. Sundays are reserved for rest (“Six days you shall do all your labor”). But a couple weeks ago every aspect of life got turned on its head when we were thrown a curve ball in the form of eight (or was it nine?) power outages. Granted a few were only 30-90 minutes in length but others lasted several hours. Everything felt upside down.

Custom Mahogany Curves

I spent our working hours teaching Tim how to build the 56” diameter curved pieces needed to build this set of custom exterior doors. The doors, when installed, will create a big circle in the center with half of the circle in each door. The inside of the circle is made up of odd shaped glass panels.

Mahogany curve layout for custom exterior doors

Laying out the glued up mahogany blocks to build our curves.

Gluing/clamping our mahogany curves for a set of custom doors.

Suspender Man™ working some clamping magic to get a sturdy, tight set of curves before cutting them to their final shape.

Projects & Problem-Solving

This project is complicated to build and I am guessing and by-goshing my way through it as I go. I have allowed Tim to see that is what I am doing. He might as well understand that I sometimes must figure processes out as I go. Every business owner faces this same reality. Nobody knows how to do everything they contract to do.

My apprentice may as well see this side of reality. He ought to understand that owning a small business involves taking risks (measured risks but risks just the same). He needs to see the agonies as well as the easier aspects of owning a business. He will, after all, have to learn how to navigate similar waters when he is the master craftsman.

Glued up mahogany curves ready to cut to shape with our custom template.

Curves ready for cutting to fit our custom exterior doors.

Apprentice Tim using the bandsaw to cut the mahogany curves to fit our custom doors.

Apprentice Tim using the bandsaw to shape the mahogany curves.

Growing Our Knowledge & Building the Future

This reminds me of a thought: I want my apprentice to catch the vision for training another person to do his work and take his place in God’s economy. We are not put on earth to simply provide for ourselves. We also need to help other people learn to be masters in God’s kingdom. We must pull other people along teaching them skills and a biblical philosophy needed to take dominion (Genesis 2) and push forward God’s kingdom in every field. This is a distinctively Christian enterprise and practice.

The humanists of our age (or any age) have nothing to match the biblical apprenticeship model. Their idea for teaching is to impart endless gobs of book knowledge, or of personal philosophy disguised as book knowledge, and to take captive the upcoming generation through their “philosophy and vain deceit” (Colossians 2:8). Ours is to disciple people in the means and methods required to take dominion of the earth and to push forward the crown rights of King Jesus. We live for different purposes and achieve those purposes through differing means. Christian discipleship and apprenticeship do not look like the humanist alternative which most of our students labor under. So, I guess, this is where this week’s curves and curve balls conversation has taken us. I do not always know where I am going to land when I launch these conversations.

Once the curves are cut, the assembly of these custom doors begins!

Custom Doors Should Be Straight…Like Our Morals

With every big project, like these custom designed mahogany doors, the pressure builds to keep the project on schedule.

Gluing up the outer frame for a set of custom exterior doors

Suspender Man™ gluing and doweling the outer frame for a mahogany set of custom designed exterior doors.

With every type of work there are schedule demands that must be met. Nobody contracts work in a vacuum, separated from the demands and pressures of the market place. Well, maybe in a socialist or communist system they might but not when operating under the constraints of biblical morality and a consumer-driven economy. I understand that these two might be at odds and often are, but that is about the best we will have for the immediate future.

Laboring to Keep Our Word

We try to focus on the biblical morality part of the equation as much as possible. Hence we are trying to treat our customers as better than ourselves, and are committed to laboring as for the Lord, and doing our best to not only keep our word but to exceed it if possible. We want our customers to say “well done” but we also want the God of heaven to say the same.

Making Things Straight

Our morals must be built on God’s Word to be strong and upright. Similarly, custom woodworking projects share the need for level surfaces on which to build. There are a number of new skills for my apprentice to learn while building these custom doors. One is learning how to build a flat door—and I mean, dead flat, no warps or twists of any kind. I taught him to level one of our big workbenches using a 10’ long straightedge and a couple of long levels. If we assemble the doors on a flat workbench, we by necessity, ought to create flat doors.

Custom door frame on the (flat) workbench, glued and clamped, with curve patterns laid out.

Custom door frame on our (flat) workbench, glued and clamped, with curve patterns laid out.

This is just one of the many ways I work to teach Tim the larger principles of the trade not just have him do needed tasks. Learning the principles for creating a flat surface will be useful for him and in his service for me.

Let’s Build Some BIG DOORS!

A few weeks ago a man contacted me and asked to have a large set of custom exterior doors made for the front of his house. These doors are 8’ high by 7’ wide x 2-1/4” thick mahogany. Once the contract was signed we obtained the wood and work began. This was a perfect project for my aspiring apprentice to learn some new skills. And it helped me out to have him here shoving what is a good sized stack of heavy lumber through the machines.

Pile of raw mahogany ready to be planed for custom exterior doors

Bringing the raw mahogany back to the shop to be planed for these custom exterior doors

No Need to Hover

This project is by no means easy. The work is complicated. Tim is clearly excited to be taking on fresh challenges. I have been putting him to the work full time but have only remained in the shop part time. This is good for him I believe. I give him careful instructions and then let him go do his best.

There is a balance between hovering and being unwisely detached on my part. I want my apprentice to know he is trusted but not abandoned. I cannot let him make any serious errors but I know he learns a lot faster if he cannot come to me every minute for endless help. I want him to learn to do this work without me—that is the goal after all.

Pile of mahogany after we planed it. Ready to start the custom doors project.

Importance of Learning Why Not Just How

I have found there is high value in teaching him the principles of the trade. If I merely tell my apprentice what to do, a list of commands to obey, he will never learn the principles he needs to understand and plan future work. I do not merely tell him how to use the tools a certain way I tell him why he should do so. I spend a lot of time explaining why we do what we do as well as how to do the work.

Sometimes the talk about why we do the work a certain way revolves around moral principles not just physical reasons for building a product. Without moral reasoning, work is just work. But if we can teach moral principles and a vision for the building of God’s kingdom through our work, we have done double duty. In the case of these custom exterior doors what could be more desired?

Fix the Problem NOT the Blame

I assigned Tim a project rebuilding and refinishing a bookcase. It was not a huge project. The unit stands under 4’ tall and is about 3’ wide. It was probably built in the 1920s or 1930s. Originally nailed together, it was wobbly. The owner asked us to disassemble the bookcase and dowel it all together, plus other work to make the piece rigid. Installing a new back and refinishing were a part of the work.

A Faulty Furniture Fix

While inspecting the newly doweled and glued piece I discovered that it was just as shaky as when it was delivered to us. Tim performed the repairs just as I had prescribed but the fix did not fix. So whose fault is it when a project has problems? Is it the responsibility of the craftsman who made insufficient repairs? Or the boss who planned the work but did not know how poorly the work was going? Is it nobody’s fault and we just have to fix it?

The Business Owner’s Responsibility

Here is how I have learned to think about problems on the down line.

It is pretty simple really. I own the business so every problem is my fault. Now, we all understand and believe that when we have a problem with someone else’s work. Say you take your lawnmower in for repairs. After you pick up the repaired machine you get home and find the work was done poorly. Back you go to see who? The mechanic who did the work? No sir—you go to the department manager and if he won’t help you go to his manager. We all do it because we understand that the person at the top is, ultimately, responsible. And what is true for other businesses is true for mine. I am responsible for everything that happens under my care.

Christian Responsibility

As a Christian business man I am doubly responsible because the Bible teaches covenantal responsibility, sometimes for events we were not even alive to see. For instance, when the prophet Daniel prays for the return of Israel from Babylon to their land, he makes a confession of sin for their nation (Israel) and includes himself as guilty even though Daniel was not even alive when Israel committed the sins for which God punished them with Babylonian captivity.

Just Fix it—No Excuses

The point is, that we need to take responsibility for more than we think. That means I cannot push off blame for problems on my workers. I do not get to tell the customer that the worker was new and it was his fault a problem happened; so, no excuses to a customer—not ever. I try to remember that but temptation is always at the door to blame somebody else. Fixing the blame does not fix anything is a lesson I am continually learning. If I practice that morality my apprentice just might learn good behavior from me. That is called discipleship. It is one of the duties and benefits of being the master craftsman.

Is the Customer ALWAYS Right?

When they accuse you—maybe falsely

This story is a hard experience for me. I am upset at both myself and my customer, and his customer. I typed the heading on this report a week ago. It used to read When They Accuse You Falsely. Now I have added the Maybe. I know a couple of things. When I (we) get into trouble our emotions, pride, and ever-crouching sin can get our minds pretty tangled. I want to behave justly and kindly but find it difficult to even know what just behavior is in some cases.

Life can be confounding sometimes. Sound theology helps iron out a lot of situations. But, we are confronted with a world where we are all liars, all proud, all make unknown and known errors, and sometimes we are falsely accused. I want business to be simple but it is not.

A Good Job Gone Bad

I had an 8’ long cabinet I picked up for repairs from a restoration company. They had me pick it up at their customer’s house. So, that made me a sub-contractor for this particular work. That was OK. I do a fair amount of work for this company. It has been a great relationship. Their customers gave great reports about me. The company always paid me promptly. No real problems; but then—the cabinet fiasco. The whole thing (I am not recording all the sordid details) turned into she said, he said, he didn’t do (but we know he did do), money issues and… well, if you have ever been in business you know the scenario. I know I am a sinner and far from perfect.

In fact, I have taught my apprentice not to ever use the word perfect to describe anything we do. We are not perfect. We strive to be perfect but do not claim to have achieved that status. This is not an excuse to deliver bad work. It does recognize the reality that, simply put, we are not perfect. For the cabinet in question, I thought I had done great work. We have multiple five-star reviews on the internet. I really work to produce superior work. In the shop my eyes and my apprentice’s eyes saw a well performed repair/refinish job. The customer’s eyes saw a project that was so bad that the cabinet had to be redone by someone else. I cannot explain this. It just is.

Acting Honorably in Imperfect Situations

So, how does all this relate to the work of producing a well trained apprentice? I am convinced that apprenticeship training must include discussions about the bad experiences, the errors, the false accusations, lies and (hopefully not) counter lies, excuses, rotten circumstances, bad advice from suppliers, our own bad work, poor communication, laziness, and dishonesty. Somehow there needs to be discussions about how Christians may justly and wisely act within an imperfect world. How do we apply our belief in the sovereignty of God in all circumstances?

We ought to discuss our own possibilities for errors and our propensity to deny them. We should teach our apprentices how to behave wisely within difficult circumstances. We should discuss how to christianly handle situations where the customer is clearly wrong. We might talk about the covenantal nature of responsibility and what that means for a business owner. A discussion about money and how its role in disputes ought to be rightly handled would be useful. Anyway, I am convinced we ought not hide these events and conversations from our apprentices. Maybe by God’s grace, our embarrassments can help them become better than we are.

Lessons in Faith

One thing I am beginning to think through is the need to view this entire apprenticeship relationship through the eyes of faith. My apprentice, for instance, warned me early on that he wanted to continue playing baseball this year, his last season. I agreed to it though with some reluctance since he can only work about three days a week all summer. On the up-side though is the fact that I do not, on many weeks, have enough work to keep him busy every day. But, fall is coming when baseball is over so I need to have more work for us.

Faith in this situation is to believe that God is in this and is moving ahead of us for our good and His glory. And there is something larger here than just keeping busy for busyness’ sake. There is a story here that can help other apprentices and business owners (master craftsmen) and we are praying that the Lord will keep this story alive for the help of His people and the advancement of His kingdom. We work and pray for the kingdom and we seek to serve King Jesus.

Apprentice Has a WIN & the Master Learns Something

A Refinishing Job Well Done

This week Tim completed his first solo contract project. It turned out great. His customer was pleased as punch (however pleased a punch may be) and handed him a handful of cash. It was a win for everybody. I consulted with my aspiring apprentice near the end about final details—how to perfect the work for presentation to the customer. Tim was pretty proud of his work on this. He fixed any minor imperfections to the best of his ability and turned out a great job.

Old Dogs CAN Learn New Tricks

It was a good moment as he asked for final advice. We like and respect each other. I believe he has the gift to become really good at this type of work. It was my privilege to be a part of his learning. I took a few pictures, before and after. The color I worried was too dark turned out perfect. Sometimes it is best to simply let the apprentice learn on his own, but this time I was the one who learned something i.e. clear coats brighten dark-stained wood grain. And, sometimes if you remain silent you can avoid having said something stupid.

Young Dogs Learn New Tricks Even Faster

Tim has started to move on to a new type of skill now. He is building his first drawer. The more I can teach him the better for both of us. He learns new skills and I have more time to do other work, like seeking new customers or playing on Facebook. I pray daily for God’s blessing on both of us and for success for us as we build this business.

Tim’s finished cabinet refinishing project

Customer Care: The Color of Success

I failed in some of my duties as Master Craftsman this week. I should have been helping my apprentice understand how to communicate with the customer on important details and decisions. In this case the now fully sanded cabinet needed to be re-stained—but in what color? My apprentice simply chose a color he thought would be close to the original cabinet color and went with it. Me, I think the antique piece is considerably too dark. And it is too late to change the color since the stain is all soaked into the wood.

Color Me Diligent

There is some kind of principle muttering and puttering around the edges of my mind concerning this event. There likely are lessons here that are transferable to any trade.

I believe we tend to be lazy sometimes or at least lack diligence in our work. I should have advised Tim to get approval from the customer for the color used prior to applying it. After all, we have a stain sample board in the shop that could easily have been used to confirm a correct color.

Everyday Choices & Taking Care of Your Customer

There have to be a million choices made every day by small business managers that are similar to this. Color, fabric type, quality of a part, decisions that a customer ought to have a say in should not be guessed at and supplied by the worker and then fobbed off on the customer as ‘well, its done now—sorry.’

Once again there is a moral question about doing what is right for the customer. As the master craftsman I believe it is my duty to teach that right morality and wisdom to my apprentice. He is under my care, and needs to hear Godly wisdom on how to handle normal issues of the day.

Learning to Bid & Schedule Projects

One set of lessons every apprentice must master is how to price and schedule work. This is rarely easy in a business where every project is custom work that is custom priced. If we owned a movie theater these particular issues would surely be much easier—ten bucks for the regular feature and six bucks for the matinee. But when every little job must be individually priced and scheduled the process can be a little daunting. We have to make money but we do not want to rip people off. And either way, we have to meet a reasonable, defined schedule.

Learning the Business Not Just the Trade

The day my apprentice took in his first project I coached him afterward on some better ideas; the reason being that I consider a true apprenticeship to be one where the master craftsman is training the apprentice in all aspects of the business including the management of it. In a small business, sales, estimating, and bidding are skills the business owner must have in order to survive. I want my apprentice to survive and thrive when he leaves my service.

Explaining the Mysteries

A good apprenticeship contract ought to stipulate that the master will teach the whole trade not just portions. The old, medieval contracts often specified this very precept. The master had to teach all the “mystryies” of the trade as a part of his agreement with the apprentice. That was the Christian and moral way to handle the relationship. The master agrees to teach the secrets of the trade and the apprentice agrees to work diligently for low pay for an extended time. Everybody wins. But we employers have to behave rightly toward that apprentice who has in good faith contracted to help us for little immediate financial benefit.

I watched and listened (and cringed a bit) as Tim told the customer he would have the cabinet repaired and refinished this very week, just four days hence. I wanted to step right in and tell everybody that there was no way that piece was going to be ready by Friday. But, I let it go and talked to Tim afterward. I explained to him that it is much better to tell the customer a longer period till delivery than you think the project will take. Typically, projects do take longer than we think they will anyway. So why end up being perpetually late on deliveries?

Mastering Fear & Timing

There is a moral dilemma here that is difficult to precisely address. Christians ought not lie to their customers about anything, including schedules. Yet, we often do not know exactly how long it will take to complete work. The fear of man always drives us to give dates that are too soon. We want to please the customer with a promise for prompt delivery. Our sin (fearing man), or a just plain lack of knowing how our trade works, gets in the way of wiser judgment. So my faithful apprentice promised delivery in half the time the project would reasonably take. This was not a disaster but it provided a good opportunity to talk about these issues. I will do what I can to train him to be a better planner and manager as well as learning necessary trade skills.

The Apprentice Lands His First Contract

This week marks the first contract for furniture labor sold by my apprentice.

Fixing The General’s Water Damaged Furniture

About six weeks ago Tim and I were working at a customer’s house (The General—a retired Marine Corp general). The General’s house was flooded due to a frozen water pipe above the upstairs ceiling. Water washed everywhere including directly down on the top of a nice antique cabinet from the circa, 1920’s. The cabinet was totaled and the General decided to give it to me. I barely accepted the piece because it was so badly damaged that I was uncertain I could ever get the money out of it needed to justify its repair. But we hauled it back to the shop.

I soon gave the cabinet to Tim with the instruction that if he could sell it, or wanted to keep it for himself, I would instruct him in its renovation. It would be his first independent project.

If the Key Fits!

The story took a strange but happy turn soon thereafter. My faithful apprentice was stripping and refinishing an old pie safe made sometime prior to 1890 (there was no plywood in it). The pie safe had a door with lock but no key and none of the keys on my sample key ring fit the lock either. Tim, on a whim (or an urge from the Spirit of God), decided to try the key from the 1920’s cabinet on the older pie safe—and it worked!

This is the stripped and refinished pie safe.

The Apprentice Becomes the Contractor

After contacting the pie safe customer with this news and conversing with them a few times Tim was able to contract with that customer to rebuild The General’s former cabinet for a price of $700. It is, admittedly, not a lot of money for the hours Tim will spend restoring this cabinet, but it is the birth of new skills that will help him become independent in this trade.

This is Tim’s excellent work on the rescued china cabinet!

Now Tim is branching out on his own in terms of skills, including how to contract work, pricing, materials ordering and more. And, I have the privilege to be his mentor all along the way.