As the weekend starts, there's always new things to consider and more room for improvement. Lately, I've been fixing some mistakes in the instruments I'm making. The cuatro that was going to Spain needed to be re-varnished. An issue related to a bridge coming off by the tension of the strings. It could bother me, but I'm still new to this world of luthiery and mistakes are bound to pop out.
This reminds me of a story from my high school years. In a history class, I made a question that caught the teacher lacking in that department. He was a senior teacher. He had years of experience, but someone had never threw a question like that before. I don't even remember what I was asking. However, his reactions comes back to me every time I need to get off whatever I'm doing and get my head into research and improvement. His replied was simple, yet great: "I don't know it yet, but I'll find it out". Up to that point, I've never had a teacher give me such an answer. It was awesome.
Needless to say this was my favorite teacher. Weird, huh? Some people like Math; others, languages. I do like both of those, but History was my favorite subject. I still like a lot. And I still find it amusing how we are bound to keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again. But let's not dwell of that philosophical debate.
Having a sharp mind is a wonderful thing. I've always been drawn to older people who strike me as true geniuses. They have an ability to keep testing their knowledge and find ways to add to their life experience. They also find the chance to share their ideas, spreading their wisdom over and over again.
This possibility of learning through experiences helps us become better. That's the wonderful thing of being human. We could call it "the cradle of human knowledge". It works in every facet of human experience. However, it doesn't beat learning through your own experiences. That's why scientists repeat experiments so often. It's the reason people learn the same things, but end up with different approaches to the same goal.
Such is the job of the crafter. There's a lot around the keep you entertained, but if you never pick up your tools and start working, you're not actually doing anything to bolster your learning or adding to your experience. It not only knowing about the ins and outs, or having the right tools; it's getting your hands dirty and adapting your knowledge to your aptitudes.
Nevertheless, keeping a sharp mind is as important as keeping your tools in shape. It's not only a matter of cutting or not, but it helps preventing your tools being damaged. So, keep your mind open to new ideas; and your tools, sharp.
This was an issue I hadn't addressed for a long time. I used to do all by sand paper (I mean sharpening). However, as ideas, this only works with the right angles. Thus, as soon as I had the chance to get a honing guide and some diamond stones, I went on for it. I don't think I've made a better investment for workshop activities before. I even think I should've started by buying these. Corrections can always be. We just need to keep our minds on the right angles. And with sharp tools, these mistakes can be fixed in no time.
Dealing with my mistakes will take a bit more. In the meantime, I'm taking the hours needed to keep every sharp-edged tool I own in shape and ready for work.