Measure Twice, Cut Once June 2025

Rob Carver

Personally, I find little joy in adjusting, cleaning, aligning, oiling, waxing, and otherwise caring for my machines and hand tools. I’ve gradually come to enjoy and feel confident about sharpening edge tools, though hand saws are a different story. And the larger power equipment like the table saw, lathe, bandsaw, jointer, planer, etc. require different skills and time expenditure. Still, being lucky enough to have a shop in a separate outbuilding with little in the way of climate and humidity control, I’ve accepted the mission of keeping up with fundamental machine maintenance. It’s a lot less work to keep up with and avoid light surface rust than it is to restore a rusty or corroded tool. This is one case where an ounce of prevention truly is worth a pound of care.

I suspect that we all have different philosophies and approaches on this matter. Based on numerous FIG meeting shop tours, some differences stand out. Of course, we get a skewed impression inasmuch as a relatively small number of members are able and willing to host a FIG meeting. Often, the host comments that it took a long time to clean the shop to get it presentable, but some level of regular attention is necessary to keep doing accurate, safe work.

Depending on the non-woodworking activities we pursue, there are obvious analogies in our lives. Especially for those of us in the so-called Golden Years, the maintenance of our bodies becomes a pressing priority. Common sense calls for attention to the health of our bones, muscles, brains, and guts whether or not we’ve previously been in the habit. Household appliances, lawn mowers, and cars demand similar attention, as do plumbing fixtures and roofs.

On the job, as I’ve noted in prior essays, it’s essential to keep up with developments in our chosen fields. Best practices evolve and new technologies appear. It’s so easy to fall behind without constant vigilance, and that is a form of maintenance and periodic overhaul or reconditioning. Taking an on-line certification or attending a workshop might be a form of maintaining our skill/tool set.

For navigating the sometimes-bumpy road of life, I’ve also found value in working to maintain one’s sense of balance, humor, compassion, and equanimity. People who study such things say that we can develop our resilience and ability to adapt – I’d call that a valuable way to maintain some very important tools.

And, as in the shop, it’s so much simpler and more efficient to do such maintenance work when things are in relatively good working order than to wait and build back after too much degradation. As summer approaches and the humidity rises, take some time to look after the iron in your shop and the metaphorical rust elsewhere.

This will be my final essay for the current year. I’ll take July and August off, and look forward to a next installment in September. As always, I’m open to suggestions. What wisdom have you acquired in the shop? Please let me know.