Bob Easton

Chocolate powered woodworking

Gratitude

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photo of a plaque that says "Gratitude"
This hand carved “Gratitude” sign is about 12″ wide, carved from Cherry. The lettering is gilded with 23k gold leaf. The finish is shellac and wax. It was made similar to the previous example … without the ebonizing. More signs below…

Find Happiness through Gratitude

Try this: Every day, think about 2 or 3 things you are grateful for. Write them down (important). Repeat for a minimum of three weeks. Then, continue. This practice will put you on the path of rewiring your brain for happiness.

A True Story

A couple of years ago, our daughter commented that I was a “grumpy old man.” It appeared to be a light-hearted comment, but being a grumpy old man, I took it to heart.

Not long after, I stumbled across studies of “positive neuroplasty,” the idea that one can actually change their own brain by practicing positive activities. Many articles focused on the concept of having gratitude as a key factor for improving happiness.

Think about the good things that happen. Be grateful for them. Write them down. The repeated thought processes and the repeated writing actions literally rewire the way one thinks. Do it over and over. Rinse; repeat.

I keep a very simple “gratitude journal,” writing 2 or 3 things I’m grateful about each and every day. My brain is old and slow and isn’t completely rewired yet, but I am far happier than ever before.

Maybe you are completely happy with life and don’t need rewiring, but just in case, here is something that might help you too.

The Science

Shawn Achor tells us that we have things backward. That in addition to the very common human bias toward skepticism, we’ve been taught that “If you work hard, you will become successful, and once you become successful, then you’ll be happy.” Success first, happiness later. How’s that working out?

Shawn’s research (positive psychology) and research of many others in the neuroscience field show that we have it backwards. That if we find happiness first, success will follow. Happiness is the precursor to success, not merely the result.

Turning Positive

In late 2015, a lot of research about positive thinking, both in the field of positive psychology and in the field of neuroplasty, culminated with a widespread theme “Rewire Your Brain in 21 Days.” That theme popped up on Facebook and other social media in September as a number of articles accumulated into a critical mass. Maybe it was positive neuroplasty week? A lot of articles appeared all at once. Focusing on gratitude is at the center of the research and the advice. The short story: Many of the articles encourage finding three things to be grateful about every day. Try it. Think about the good things that are happening. Be grateful for them. Write them down. The repeated thought processes and the repeated (writing) actions are literally rewiring the way you think. Do good things often enough and think good things often enough and you’ll start to experience more and more good things.

As of this 2017 update, the theme has been hijacked and is being used to sell very expensive courses about all kinds of success topics.

Short bibliography:

Related product:

Make Gratitude a habit. Rewire your brain. The Five Minute Journal gives you a delightful tool for building your gratitude habit. It has just the right ingredients for making the habit easy to get started and continue. It’s loaded with amazing advice. Give it a try!

Footnote – How I think I became a grumpy ole man

Now, they tell us! … 9 years after retiring from a successful 40 year career in the information technology industry.

If “positive neuroplasty” is true, can the opposite, “negative neuroplasty” also be true? I think so. You see, most of my “career” revolved around fixing things, from repairing broken punched card tabulating machines decades ago, to resolving complex problems in modern software more recently. By default, that work starts off negative; look for what’s wrong.

Then, I spent the latter half of my career in the best industrial research facility on the planet, and there the scientific process ruled supreme. The basis for the scientific process is to test and try a theorem until it can be proven false. Very rarely can a theorem (except plain geometry) be proven absolutely true. Again, an environment that works from negative to positive.

Looking for broken things, looking for falsities, and being skeptical are to my point of view the fuel for negative neuroplasty … and contributors to me becoming a grumpy ole man.

Signs of Gratitude

Wilson’s Saw (and hat)

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Wilson Burnham is a luthier, handcrafting spectacular Spanish guitars from his shop in Colorado’s beautiful mountains. He wrote recently that hs is selling off some of his tools.

Coincidentally, I went looking for a crosscut saw on eBay and unwittingly bought one of Wilson’s saws. I have a few rip saws, but no crosscuts unless that recent vintage big-box, hardened tooth, plastic handled Stanley can be considered crosscut. That Stanley has been my saw for rough cutting for many years and is getting “old in the tooth.” It’s time for a good crosscut, especially since Paul Sellers has added a video about sharpening crosscut saws.

photo of two sawsI suspect this saw wasn’t one of Wilson’s favorites, and that the handle probably arrived in rough condition from a previous owner. It looks like the saw was not a top-line brand, but one of the second lines, often called “Warranted Superior.” The plate itself was in good shape: no kinks, no bends, no obvious rust, no pitting, and a tooth line that doesn’t need a lot of work. The handle was the main focus of my rehabilitation work. I reshaped a chipped horn and some pretty rough edges on one side. I left the original leaf carving, and then scraped off the old red finish and added my own shellac. A bent saw bolt needed replacing, and “in for a dime – in for a dollar” I replaced all three with Isaac Smith’s excellent parts. (Blackburn Tools)

Some of the “patina” spots on the plate showed some redness when I irritated them with sandpaper, so I irritated them some  more until the underlying rust was gone. I’m not a big fan of restoring tools to full-shiny, just to smooth enough to work well and this one is there.

photo - Bob in a paper hatAbout 8 minutes touch up sharpening brought the saw to a level where it easily out cuts the box-store Stanley.

I’m quite pleased with the results and the plastic handled Stanley gets demoted to “utility saw” that I carry in the truck.

Wilson wrapped the saw for shipping in several sheets of blank newsprint. The stuff was the perfect size for making a carpenter’s hat. So, I took Wilson’s challenge and made one (from these plans). Not that I need a hat, but….

The Sandpaper Rack (aka Spoon Rack)

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First, as I’ve said many times, I hate sanding. Consequently, the sandpaper bin has never been well organized. a mishmosh of new and used sandpaper of all grades and sizes. No more … at least no more mishmosh. Still can’t stand sanding.

photo of sand paper rack“I certainly don’t need a rack to put my spoons in. But, I saw this lovely old piece…” says Richard Maguire in the first video of the “Spoon Rack”
series at The English Woodworker’s site. Richard and Helen Fisher, longtime proprietors of a business that created top quality woodworking benches, have recently changed direction and begun offering video lessons. If you don’t know of them, go visit. You’re in for a real treat.

My spoons don’t need a rack either, but I saw this project as a chance to organize the sandpaper bin. I’m not big on step by step guides, so what you see here are results. … very satisfying results from my point of view. Richard packed a lot of woodworking techniques into this project:

  • Through “Duvtail” joinery for the cabinet frame. (you’ll enjoy his UK accent)
  • Half blind and through dovetail joinery for the drawer.
  • Drawer bottom fitted into a hidden groove.
  • Dado / housing joinery for the shelf.
  • Ship-lap joinery for the back pieces.
  • Tongue and groove joinery for the upper back.
  • Mouldings accomplished in several ways.

photo of stuff in the drawerSome of the work also “goes to the dogs.” Richard shows an unexpected way of using pinch dogs, and Jeremy the shop dog shows up too.

My version of the rack is as described in the videos. My only addition was a simple divider that I placed inside the shelf to offer 3 compartments for different grades of sandpaper.

As Richards says, the drawer is a very odd size, almost taller than it is deep. Yet, it’s just fine for a few other finishing supplies and tools.

And of course, the drawer wanted some carving.

Finish is the usual shellac and wax.

Richard has a very entertaining colloquial style of teaching and Helen has done a superb job of videography. The series consists of 6 videos totalling a bit over 3 hours. A few PDF files bring concise drawings. There are also a couple of video “rants” about thicknessing timbers and managing fillister planes. Richard at his best!

I thoroughly enjoyed the series. In the end, I have only two complaints.

  1. Jeremy, the shop dog didn’t really do much work.
  2. Days in the U.K. must be very much longer than days here in the U.S. Richard described this as a one-day project. That can’t possibly be right. 🙂

sp-cutter-1600

The series is a real bargain at £26, currently $38.30 US. The quality of the teaching, the quality of the presentation, and the overall value delivered is easily worth a lot more in my mind.

Lastly, kudos to Greg Merrit for helping organize the sandpaper. His sandpaper cutting jig makes it easy to stock the rack.

P.S. New rule in the shop: NO used sandpaper goes back into the rack. It’s expendable. Don’t clutter things up with partially used junk.