What I've learned from hands on work

Last week I started working on my frame.  I took one single board of wood and transformed it into four pieces that can be built into an actual frame.  I still have a little more work to do but I'm really starting to appreciate the effort that's put into that are made by hand.  There's something about grinding down the material into something that looks like more than a chunk of wood. I've realized that the physical qualities of the wood really do come into effect.  You have to look at all sides of the wood and see which side looks best and decide what edges should face outwards.  You have to find the grain of the wood so you can join and plane with it as opposed to against it, so you don't make tool marks on the wood.  Then you must sand evenly to make the wood smooth and more appealing to the eye.  These are some of the steps that get skipped when something is made in a factory.  There's less of a human element which makes it less personal. One thing that I will take away from this project is that there is more value in a homemade table as opposed to a factory made one.