Just Toolin around...
Been making various simple things out of wood for a few years and though I've added electric power to my toolkit, I still prefer going acoustic and working with traditional hand tools.  It's slow going, but it's more instructive and challenging (assuming time is not of the essence) and ultimately satisfying when you stay with (what I call) The Whittler's Way.  

I've always liked whittling, and I think that started when I went to summer camp as a kid and I was shown how to use small carving tools on a piece of soft pine or balsa.  I liked the physical nature of the work and the idea of creating different shapes out of this material that was soft enough to cut and trim, but hard enough to end up being something of substance and permanence.  No, that's not one of mine on right...just put it there for illustration.  All the tools we used were hand tools and throughout the summer I always had a couple of bandaids on my fingers where my eager enthusiasm and inexperience had left their marks.

And more recently while visiting Woody and Karen ( who together constitute 1/3 of the Drifters) in Maine, I came across a book in Karen's father's library.  It was  A Reverence for Wood by Eric Sloane.  I mentioned it in a very early post I wrote about my fascination with Wood, and it was an inspiration.  The book is both a history and a how-to manual that tells the story of how early American settlers tamed the forests and built their world from its bounty.  And it goes into detailed descriptions of the tools and processes they used (and invented) for home building, furniture, transportation, and just about everything else they needed.

I like tools that are no more complicated than the average bicycle.   Functional, mechanically efficient, but simple enough to be understood and used without much technical knowledge or training.  And when it's all right there to see--nothing hidden, nothing very intricate and nothing inaccessible, one can usually repair them, sharpen them, and maintain them easily.

They're also quieter...which I know Ellen and my neighbors appreciate most. Though the price for all that silence is time.  I still carve some things entirely by simple hand tools, but I'm increasingly more likely to power up for some parts of the job, and just recently bought an angle grinder with a wood carving attachment to hollow out bowls and other items that require removing large amounts of wood.  For an idea of how slow the process can be with just hand power alone..here's someone working on a bowl twice the size of anything I've tackled to date...and I can only assume he doesn't  put in a 50 hour week doing something else from Monday to Friday. You can jump to the end to see finished product.



Fact is, with the right power tools, you could knock that bowl out in a couple of hours--and a pro could probably do it in one.  But for true Zen woodworking bliss, there's  nothing like (except for maybe practicing guitar scales and arpeggios) those long hours of repetitive  hacking and chipping away one little sliver at a time. You definitely get to know your piece of wood--for better or for worse.  You know where the knots are, where the grain is going, and where you might want to make adjustments or changes in your plan to accommodate or adjust to those findings.

Biggest problem with hand tools (especially axes and chisels) is the risk of making major errors. I was making a long serving spoon with a heart shaped bowl to give Ellen for Mother's day and I had it secured in a vise as I was working at shaping the V in the "heart" with a tool similar to one furthest left in photo here--and I dug too thick and deep and "Crack!"...next thing I knew I'm frantically searching online for a heart-shaped wooden spoon that could be delivered to make the Mom Day deadline.  I found a nice one for under 10 bucks... shipping and handling for overnight delivery was $20.

Proverbially Speaking.

Was paying a visit to the web site: 

...and enjoying a list of expressions (some idiomatic) in various languages--here are some plucked from a longer list-- with english equivalents.

Armenian 

(Klookhys mee artooger)

Stop ironing my head! = Stop annoying me! (when repetitively asking or talking about something)

Cheyenne
Mónésó'táhoenôtse kosa?
Are you still riding the goat? = separated from your spouse?

Énêhpoése ma'eno.
The turtle is shrouded = it's foggy.

Étaomêhótsenôhtóvenestse napâhpóneehéhame.
My tapeworm can almost talk by itself = my stomach is growling.

Chinese (Mandarin / Cantonese)
一鼻孔出气 (yī bíkǒng chūqì / yāt beihhúng chēuthei)--breathing through the same nostril = singing from the same hymn sheet

Czech

chodit kolem horké kašeto --walk around hot porridge = to beat about the bush

Estonian
Sääsest elevanti tegema--To make an elephant out of a gnat = to make a mountain out of a molehill

Puust ja punaseks ette tegemato-- make something out of wood and paint it red - to make something really clear

Finnish
tehdä kärpäsestä härkänen
to make a bull out of a fly = to make a mountain out of a molehill (Interesting that in Estonia and Finland the comparison is between small and large animals, and in English it's between small and large land forms)

French
J'ai d'autres chats à fouetter !I have other cats to whip! = I have other fish to fry! - I have other things to do.

pédaler dans la choucrouteto --pedal in the sauerkraut = to spin your wheels - to go nowhere

German
Ich werde dir die Daumen drücken / Ich drücke dir die Daumen
I'll squeeze my thumbs for you = I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you/I wish you luck

klar wie Kloßbrüheas --clear potato dumpling water = as clear as crystal - easy to understand
originally meant difficult to understand (as clear as mud)

Irish (Gaelic)
tá sí mar a bheadh cág i measc péacóg--she's like a jackdaw among peacocks = she's like a fish out of water

Italian 
mettere una pulce nell'orecchio
to put a flea in somebody's ear = to raise a doubt/suspicion

saltare la mosca al naso
a fly jumping on somebody's nose = to fly of the handle - to become abruptly annoyed, lose one's temper.

Japanese
猿も木から落ちる (Saru mo ki kara ochiru)--Even monkeys fall from trees = even experts get it wrong.

Korean
당근이지! (dang-geun i-ji)--it's a carrot = of course / it's obvious

Spanish
me estoy comiendo el coco--I'm eating the head = I'm trying to think

Tibetan 
chang.sa.rgyag--to put up a beer tent = to get married

Welsh 
Моя хата скраю (Mija chata skraju)--My cottage is at the edge = I don't know anything / It's not my business