Dribs and Drabs

A week has slipped by since I last posted, and it seemed time to at least throw out a flare to let you all know I’m still alive. I had a cold last week which slowed me down a step or two, and then the last presentation of the year on Japanese carpentry, which I did at West Hartford’s Noah Webster Public Library this past weekend. The turn-out was fantastic – more than 70 people filled out the room, kids adults and seniors, all of whom seemed quite enthused by the material I presented. That was a very rewarding experience. They’ve asked me back for next year, so hopefully I will be able to come up with something for next time.

On the sawhorse front, I am doing yet one more complete draw-through, believe it or not. While I can draw the entire piece pretty much with my eyes closed now, some of the moves required to develop the individual pieces, for layout i mean, need to be hammered into my skull a few more times yet. Of the 18 pieces comprising the piece, I have now laid out 8 of them. It didn’t seem worth doing an entire blog about such a small modicum of progress, so I won’t.

I had a little wrenching to do on my truck, as the parking brake and windshield wiper needed attention. It’s a good thing to be able to fix your own ride, that’s what I say.

My spare time has been pretty much consumed however with getting the first essay on carpentry drawing complete. It’s been going well, but was more work than anticipated. Here’s the title page for a teaser:

At this point I am writing a bunch of preliminary material on basic carpenter’s mathematics, and am trying to decide if I should publish this first essay in one part or two. Altogether it may be over 80 pages, so the division into two parts seems like it might be wise. I’ll figure that out soon enough, probably when it is all together and getting close to a final version. I had hoped to have this ready, like, yesterday, but it will be at least a week yet. Better a late delivery than a bad one though.

So far about 10 people have contacted me in regards to obtaining a copy, so that seems like a decent start. I presume more readers out there are interested, but have not opted to say anything yet. I guess I’ll see how the first run essay sells, gauge the demand and see if it is a worthwhile project to continue with. This I would say is prudent, as I can well imagine that it will take many many hours to complete all the stuff I want to put in the book, and it would suck, frankly, to come out the other side, years of work possibly, only to find that I can only sell, say, 20 copies worldwide. I think that’s been done before by other writers, and I don’t think I’ll be joining that particular club. If/when I do get as far as the book stage, I’m thinking of getting a hardback version published in Hong Kong, where the book quality, judging by the fine books on Chinese Classical Furniture that emanate from the country, is superb (and the printing price hopefully not too crazy). I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it -at this point it remains rather mirage-like, so far in the distance that it is indistinct.

I’ve got a little work coming up with a museum in Boston, but I should be able to make more progress on the Mazerolle Tréteau shortly. I don’t know if it will be done by Christmas, but I’m aiming for mid January completion on that project, at the latest. It doesn’t hurt to have a plan, anyhow. The next posting will be a return to the Tréteau series.

Thanks for dropping by today. Your comments are always welcome.