Earlywood: Making Things Hard/Easy

Publisher’s note: Happy Saturday! Each week, we publish a free excerpt from one of the thousands of pieces I’ve written since 1996. Sometimes, it’s from a magazine article. Or a book. Or (in this case) a blog entry published in 2022. Each entry has been updated or annotated with some modern context or point of view. We hope you enjoy it.

For most of my career, I have helped other woodworkers “get published.” That task could be as simple as spell-checking their excellent work. Or as involved as being a ghostwriter – taking an oral history of their work and transforming it into an article or entire book. 

After 25 years of doing this, I find most skilled woodworkers fall into two categories: Those who want to make things easy for other woodworkers. And those who want to make things hard.

Both approaches are valid.