How many times have you heard this statement; “You can’t earn money from hand tools alone.” This isn’t true. Let me ask you why are you interested in hand tools at all? What is it about labouring over timber that get’s you so excited to get into the workshop and begin? For me its soul satisfying, it brings gratification and astonishment when I see a piece come together. When it’s complete, all the frustrations of making mistakes, the aches from back pains and neck pains no longer matter; you stand there and marvel at your creation. You feel good and you feel fulfilled. You made this! I made this and your family and friends recognise you as a craftsman. When they sit on your chair or at your table or display your clock on the wall, the whole meaning of the craft takes on a new form, beyond the ogling and marvelling. It performs a function that serves the needs of those intended for. Your current job if it’s not fulfilling becomes meaningless. You wonder if you can make a living from this. Is it possible? Suddenly you experience freedom, you see that “conveyor belt” that Paul Sellers has so often mentioned and you want off of it. Your life has a purpose, and this is what the craft should be to everyone. It’s not just about earning an income because you’re earning an income now and you’re wishing your elsewhere. It’s about doing something meaningful, creative, artistic, opening a whole new chapter in your life.
Don’t let the words of false marketers tell you, you need machinery to work wood to make money. If this was true, I wouldn’t of been making clocks for 18 years,
the boys at Mortise and Tenon magazine wouldn’t be living from their craft as we speak if a shred of what marketers say is true. There are far too many people that are known and unknown that earn their living through handwork and you can too. A friend of mine from Universal visited me the other day and said something that struck me; “Only optimism can speak into existence.” All it takes is for you to make the first step. Now I’m not telling you give up your jobs and work the craft. I’m saying make the first baby steps towards it. “Learners are earners” Jeff Walker say’s and through learning and continual practice will your skills develop and be nurtured to make you into a craftsman.
All it takes is baby steps and one day this could be you.
