22Dec 07
A Well Crafted Gift
posted by
Meaningful presents can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. I remember recently hearing family radio describe what they thought a meaningful present was: time. Ive also heard it said that love is spelled, T-I-M-E.
Matthew, Daniel, and I would definitely agree that the gift of time is meaningful and memorable, especially when spent with those you appreciate the most. Dad surprised the 3 of us with an early Christmas gift: the opportunity to take a woodworking class. The 
class, Fundamentals of Woodworking, hosted by Woodcraft in Springfield consisted of 4 full evenings of both lecture and hands-on work.
The instructor of the class, Mr. Rance Rupp, is a skilled woodworker with a wonderful sense of humor and a love for the Lord. He was very methodical, strongly emphasized the need for safety, and helped each student (5 of us in all) build on our current skill level. Most importantly, he helped to instill a joy for woodworking and a new way of looking at lumber. Its amazing how one persons scrap wood can easily be turned into an expensive pen, a small box, etc with a little creativity.
Some Did You Knows we learned:
Wood glue, when properly applied between two surfaces of wood, will not give way to pressure. Should a crack in your wood craft take place, it will not be at the glue joint.- Wood dries at the approximate rate of 1 inch per year. However, if placed in a kiln a 150 degrees, the wood will completely dry in
just 6 weeks (imagine how much energy or fuel this would require!). - Never leave a rag that is wet with linseed oil in a small, non-ventilated room. It is highly combustible. A fellow student in the class had a shed blow up this past summer after leaving 2 linseed oil soaked rags inside.
- Wood that is completely immersed in water and has no contact with oxygen can be preserved for decades (we saw and touched a piece of wood that had been immersed underwater for over 150 years).
That is an excellent Christmas gift! One that you all will remember and use for many years to come. Is anyone in the family interested enough in woodworking to possibly take it up seriously in the future?
It was a remarkable class and truly gave me a new perspective when I look at a piece of rough lumber. Daniel has a real interest in the skill. I could see him doing real well with woodworking. Dad, Matthew, and I are definitely interested though in learning more. Its remarkable how a little effort and creativity can turn rough lumber into a beautiful piece of furniture.