8
A chat with a woodworker made me question my whole approach to tool handles
I was at a craft fair in Boise last weekend, talking to a guy who makes custom furniture. He picked up a small hatchet I'd forged and said, 'You know, the curve here fights the hand on a hard swing.' He showed me how he shapes his mallet handles to fit a closed grip, not just look good. I've been making handles the same way for eight years, focusing on symmetry and finish. But his point about the user's motion, not just the tool, really stuck with me. Has anyone else gotten advice from a different craft that changed how you shape or fit a piece?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
matthew_dixon14d ago
It's funny how the best advice comes from outside your own field. A farrier I know once told me his whole job is about balance and how a horse moves, not just the shoe itself. That got me looking at my own work differently... like how a shovel handle should follow the line of a digging motion, not just sit straight. Makes you realize how much we get stuck in our own ways of seeing things.
6