How much wood?
Just how little wood can there be in a project, and still consider it woodworking?
Just how little wood can there be in a project, and still consider it woodworking?
I completed a repair project that I’d like to consider woodworking, but not sure if I really can. You see, even though wood was essential to the project’s success and I had to cut, shape and drill it to exact dimensions just like any other wood components, there’s not that much wood in it.
The repair was for a large rolling plastic tote that had a broken wheel. The original wheels were hollow molded plastic, and with no hope of finding an exact replacement I elected to replace both wheels with a pair from a broken scooter of my grandson’s. Here’s what it looks like.
That little block measures a scant 3/4" x 1-3/8" x 1-7/8" and it, along with a matching block on the other side, constitutes the entire amount of wood in this “woodworking” project. Sure, I could have just replaced the tote, but they’re not particularly cheap. Plus, I’d customized the tote with (wooden) compartments and such, so I wanted to keep it.
But since everything I did to affect the repair was done with wood and woodworking tools in my woodshop, yeah, I consider this a woodworking project.
A.J. Hamler is the former editor of Woodshop News and Woodcraft Magazine. He's currently a freelance woodworking writer/editor, which is another way of stating self-employed. When he's not writing or in the shop, he enjoys science fiction, gourmet cooking and Civil War reenacting, but not at the same time.
