This soulful piece of writing comes from SMCo Production Manager Newell Isbell Shinn. I’m proud to share it. – JA
A carpenter’s intimacy with a building is particular and visceral. They know, for instance, how every material in a house smells when it is cut, what kind of dust it makes. They know how many pieces of each thing they can lift by themselves, how many with help, and the ratio of pieces moved today to tomorrow’s aches and pains. When they walk away they know a building with their body in a way other occupants probably never will.
Carpenters wear layers, and rarely argue about whether to set the thermostat at 68, 72 or 76. In fact, on those few halcyon days when temps stay in that neighborhood, it is cause for celebration. If eating your food on makeshift seating while exposed to the elements is a picnic, then the life of the carpenter is a picnic nearly every day.
Going to work as a carpenter may mean spending the day in a dank crawl space, a blazing roof top, or a sheetrocked room with a million dollar view. The material of the day may be heart breakingly beautiful wood grain or back breakingly awkward OSB and foam panels, and what it is is usually beyond the carpenter’s control, a result of decisions made elsewhere and earlier by clients, architects, managers. Those decisions can feel capricious.
The work of making buildings is full of hazard, discomfort, and disappointment, and lends itself to a certain natural grumpy cynicism. Carpenters know every way in which reality as verified in field can make a joke of plan, schedule, and budget. Carpenters have seen, or at least heard of, every way a beam or a machine can slash, crush, disfigure, or destroy a body, and they work in the shadow of them all.
The work of making buildings is hard work, but also full of magic, of spontaneous improvisational genius, and transformation. Carpenters do their work in a world that isn’t square, level, and plumb when they get there, but is (mostly) when they leave. They are mechanics in the old esteemed sense of that word.
Character is quickly evident in the way one walks across a cluttered deck, holds a tool and puts it down, and in the way one strikes a line. A carpenter must trust the person on the other end of a heavy load or the other end of the tape, and can therefore be quick to judge. They can also be patient, kind, and generous teachers. Everyone learns from someone else. Carpentry requires camaraderie.
At a time when fewer and fewer humans make anything of physical value, carpenters engage in a profoundly creative process, drawing on intellect, muscle, machinery, and materials to produce objects of lasting value, to create shelter, to fulfill basic and archetypal human needs. The carpenter is in some ways mid-wife for the visions and dreams of others, bringing buildings into the world with all the attendant clamor, muck, and uncertainty of birth. It is hard work and, done well, it is honorable, elegant, and inspiring too.
Mitch Anthony
August 9, 2017 at 1:56 pmThis is a heartbreakingly beautiful ode to craft, resiliency, collaboration and just plain old showing up. Thank you, Newell. You remind me that work is a clear and simple way to show your true character. You motivate me to up my own game.
John Abrams
August 11, 2017 at 9:27 amAlthough we always have room to improve, your game is pretty up as it is, Mitch! People reading this might be interested in your blog Clarity First https://clarity-first.com/blog/ which is always compelling and thought-provoking.
Karen K Davis
August 9, 2017 at 2:21 pmVery eloquently said Newell. Knowing you, knowing the many people at SM, knowing other fine carpenters & having lived in a SM house for 9 years I think your words so beautifully bring alive a carpenter’s work. Thank you for articulating this so well. Karen Davis
Newell Isbell Shinn
August 10, 2017 at 9:11 amThank you Karen. I could write an ode to clients as well, who make it possible for carpenters to practice at the highest level. Thank you for being among that number.
John Abrams
August 11, 2017 at 9:21 amKaren,
We have had the good fortune to serve many wonderful clients who have allowed and encouraged us to stretch our craft. You and Dave are among those who have truly pushed our limits on both craft and building performance at once. Yours is truly a house of and for the 21st century, and beyond.
We’re grateful – – John
Bob Scott
August 10, 2017 at 6:19 amI love that last paragraph Newell. Do you mind if I copy and paste it to my shop/office wall?
Bob Scott
Newell Isbell Shinn
August 10, 2017 at 9:04 amBob, thank you. I would be honored!
Peter Ives
August 10, 2017 at 6:22 amThanks
Tom
August 10, 2017 at 8:43 amYou nailed it Newell! You eloquently assembled the the characteristics a carpenter is built upon! Thank you!
Declan
August 10, 2017 at 11:02 am“…mid-wife for the visions and dreams of others”
These truths are beautiful. Thanks, Newell and the SMCo crews who inspired this.
Steve Greenberg
August 11, 2017 at 9:27 amBeautiful Newell! I think I finally know why I keep showing up on a job site and asking to help!
Sue Burnet
August 14, 2017 at 10:51 amWonderfully eloquent piece Newell!
Justin
August 16, 2017 at 7:32 amNewell,
I don’t know you, but I know the company you keep well! They are the the reason I can relate so well to your words. I read this when it was published and it has been lingering in my thoughts for a few days. The reminder of old friends and the camaraderie and fellowship of what it means to be a carpenter was a necessary and welcome surprise.
Thank you.
jabrams
August 18, 2017 at 6:52 amHey Justin,
Nice blast from our past to hear from you. Here’s hoping all is well for you in Maine; you are missed in Massachusetts.
John
Tom Rochford
August 20, 2017 at 12:47 pmNewell,
thank you for that ode to carpenters, it was very moving and “oh so meaningful” Three weeks ago we lost a dear friend and a great carpenter, Mike Milner. He was the guy who taught me the trade and showed me how to build everything square and true. I remember one job where, after laying up the ridge and roof rafters, Mike saw the ridge board was not straight (it had traveled an inch or two – over a fifty foot distance and that was unacceptable). We went back and took apart the rafters and blocking. We measured everything a second time and cut the rafters again – to their proper dimensions and when we laid up the new rafters, the ridge board remained straight and true.
Thank you for your article, it really hit home. With your permission, I would like to download a copy and give it to Mike’s widow.
Tom Rochford
Will
August 20, 2017 at 2:23 pmVery well said Newell. From San Diego for college where my brother who was a framing contractor swayed me from college to learn the building trade it was the best decision I ever made. From laborer to apprentice to journeyman and finally lead building custom homes in the ski resorts of Colorad and Lake Tahoe so much knowledge gained sometimes through trial and error and now am at a phase to always be one step ahead of what works and what doesn’t around the learning curves of the trade. Efficientlcy, streamline, foresee and plan ahead from the minute you wake up til the end of your work day makes the customer happy as we are rewarded with the next referral. My passion is carpentry and my love for wood runs deep. Thank you for your gift of insightful words. Will Golden
Fernando P
August 20, 2017 at 7:58 pmWhat a great mosaic of the experienced hands, seasoned mind and forging heart expressing the nobility of a very undervalued calling.
Thanks for taking the culture one step closer to restoring that nobility .
Dave LeTellier
August 21, 2017 at 8:19 amI may be losing my mentor soon… a great man of the trade and the one who introduced me to it. I hope you would allow me to read this beautiful piece at his funeral when that day arrives. Thank you so much! You have brought me to tears thinking about our wondrous life as carpenters. Sincerely, Dave
John Abrams
October 1, 2017 at 6:56 amThanks to all of you for your comments about Newell’s piece. it really touched a chord far and near. In the coming months it will be appear in Fine Homebuilding Magazine.