(not just) A Chisel Rack
Ah, yes, a chisel rack. What? Why is this worth writing about? And why would anyone want to read about it?
Ain’t she purty? (no, the answer is no)
Yes, at first glance, this product is decidedly boring. It is a laser cut standard piece of bench top organization the likes of which the internet is extremely familiar these days. I didn’t even bother to remake it when my laser, yet again, did not perform as expected based on the settings even though I’ve dialed in this material countless times (don’t buy* the laser I bought, it rhymes with **Blowsnorge). That wasn’t the point of this piece. It isn’t supposed to be perfect, and it met all of my expectations.
After all, if you are the kind of person that needs a rack for a full set of exquisite chisels such as these, you shouldn’t be surrounded by junky laser cut crispy fried plywood edges. You should be hand cutting dovetails on an artisanal heirloom quality chisel rack, right!?
Decidedly so. There’s nothing I’d like more. So, what gives?
At this very moment while I’m typing an article that perhaps 10s of people may someday read, and most likely while you are reading, I owe some lovely person a project. I’m currently holding four sets of woodworking plans in my queue. I have 3 more sets for my own site that I’d like to make. I have 2 companies with lists of things for me to complete, and I have a list of home projects that is long and distinguished (obligatory movie reference for you gentlemen of a certain age).
Enter, the point. This is why I think there is a place for digital tools that make less than beautiful products in my workflow and why there might be one in yours.
Prototyping: I’d much rather let the robot make something the wrong size than spend precious hands on time making something useless. Little things that can’t be grasped in a 3D model like the amount of space your fingers need between objects to grab one and not knock the other one out of place are so easy to get wrong, but one prototype can expose them instantly.
Functional Procrastination: In the time it takes me to go from this proof of concept to the real version, I might decide I don’t actually need or want the real version at all. Maybe this one works fine and my time is better spent on a project for someone else. Maybe I realize I want my chisels off the bench and in a drawer so I don’t let this fancy rack fill with dust and wood chips. I dunno. I’ll find out after I use it for a while.
Skill Building: With every little project like this, I pick up one or two new tricks that I can apply to future stuff. It turns out, making bad things is the first step to making good things. This project was a gateway for a few things I wanted; the second of which was a blog post, ha!
In fact, making this thing is actually a step in something else I really wanted to accomplish. I finally set up the store on my website, and you can have these files, if you want, for five?, nay, one! of your dollars. I hope to add many more items to this store as time goes on.
Fred Flinstone wants his mallet back.
*If you are in the market for a laser, I’ve found that Brandon’s channel, Make or Break Shop, is the most informative place for reviews and help with this decision.
**If you are a representative of Blowsnorge, and you’re mad about this, reach out and tell me what I’m doing wrong. I’ve been through the support calls before, but I’m happy to recant if the product doesn’t work consistently due to operator error.
