giant Cypress

Freaks and Geeks

Recently, Marc Spagnuolo had a post on his excellent website The Wood Whisperer about the issue of geeking out when it comes to woodworking, and whether some folks go too far in concerning themselves with the details of woodworking. There’s a similar issue in the land of computer geeks that comes to mind. As more people have started using Apple computing products over the past several years, the definition of a Mac fanboy seems to be “anyone who bought a Mac before I did”. (I use a Mac, and I know that Marc does as well, so this analogy seems particularly apt.) When I listen to woodworkers talk, there is a similar sentiment that comes up regarding the geek issue. The definition of someone “going too far” in getting into a facet of woodworking seems to be “anyone going deeper into the details than I would”.

There should never be an concern with getting bogged down in the details. If we want our work to get better, we should want to understand the details of our work. And if you are trying to sell furniture, from a business/customer standpoint being able to explain the details of your work is what allows people to understand why the cabinet you made out of wenge is worth more than the termite barf Ikea cabinet that they can get for much less.

One of the examples of woodworking geeking out that was given had to do with sharpening:

But recently, I became aware of other types of woodworking gearheads and geeks. How about the “sharpening nuts”? The folks who sharpen their blades up to 30000 grit.

That certainly sounds like taking something to an extreme. But as far as whether going up to a 30000 grit waterstone is just for sharpening nuts, if you are sharpening efficiently, it’s not a ridiculous amount of extra effort to get there. I have found that sharpening means spending the majority of time on a low grit waterstone, like a 1000 grit waterstone. If I’ve done a good job on that step, then hitting the higher series of grits is a matter of spending 30 seconds or so on each successive step. So if going to a 30000 grit stone means spending an extra 30 seconds of honing and the return is that your edge stays sharper for a longer period of time, and yes, that period of time is longer than 30 seconds, isn’t the effort worth the return?

By the way, I don’t have a 30000 grit waterstone. I do have some natural Japanese waterstones, and my guess is that they are an equivalent of somewhere in the 15000-30000 grit range, based on looking at what scratch patterns they leave compared to an 8000 grit waterstone.

Of course, using a 30000 grit waterstone or a natural Japanese waterstone isn’t the only way to get to a sharp edge on your tool. Equivalent results can be and are obtained by using oilstones and finishing with a leather strop with green rouge. But no one ever questions whether honing a tool on a leather strop is somehow going too far. I’m not sure exactly why this is so, but my guess is that it has to do with using grit size as our unit of measurement. There’s something about that 30000 number that makes many people’s eyes twitch, even though from a sharpening particle standpoint it’s the same as the abrasive used in green rouge.

Now, some folks like using a strop and green rouge rather than waterstones because then they can avoid flattening and dealing with water. But that’s not a “going too far” issue. That’s an annoyance reduction issue. Not everyone wants to lay out the Benjamins for a 30000 grit waterstone. But that’s not a “going too far” issue, either. That’s an economic and budgeting issue.

For the record, the natural Japanese waterstone that I use most often cost me a whopping $60 on eBay. This is $30 more than the horse butt strop and green micro-fine honing compound that Tools for Working Wood sells, but still considerably cheaper than a 30000 grit Shapton, and many 8000 grit waterstones, for that matter.

So like Marc, I salute the gearheads and geeks that get deep into the details and nuances of woodworking. But if your ultimate goal is to build stuff, don’t worry about getting bogged down in the details. You may find that the time you spend now to understand that bit of woodworking esoterica might be well worthwhile in the long run. I think about that every time I spend the extra 30 seconds on my natural Japanese waterstone.