When I first announced that we were required to close by the Gov’ners orders, I described what I would be doing and that included shop improvements. I got a very quick response from one of my long term subscribers: “Please.. Make…The...Spanner…Wrench.”. This was for Ossie, our oscillating spindle sander, that was a complete obstructionist jerk every time you needed to change the sanding cylinder.
Ossie has a whole new attitude:
One of my subscribers was cut of by the shut down very near the completion of a long running fine piece of traditional woodworking: A cradle for the generations. He asked if I would complete it and I felt honored to do so. Not to waste any yield of value, it is now part of my story.
This is my personal response to the difficulties we are all having during this great pause. I was very fortunate to be in a situation that allowed me to turn a few dials, re-arrange elements of my life, and continue my work for myself and community. I owe it to myself and those who are suffering not to waste the opportunity hidden within the problem.
It is not just myself who is shut down here. My customers are mostly also isolated at home, unable to come into our shop and without effective woodwork mentoring.
I realized I could still help with consulting via Zoom and the right camera setup. I launched into some basic learning and just when I needed a partner, I got a call from a friend asking me to mentor him on repairing a wooden lamp he bought from me years ago. This is my first run at video consulting, and it is really just about the same thing as what we do in person.
This tells the story of my first 13 days after IsGood Woodworks was ordered to shut down and close our doors to the public. Since almost all of my business is based on serving people learning wood working present in our shop, this was a threat to our survival. Watch to see how we arranged with our community to turn the danger into an opportunity.
