>
> Goodness gracious. Is this tongue-in-cheek, or actually the way you feel
about
> wood?

Not at all tongue in cheek. Wood is a challenging material that is highly
unpredictable in several respects.

From the moment that the tree is removed from its birthplace processes
occur that ferment that oneryness. Cutting the tree into lumber releases
pent-up tension that might evince itself in dimensional distortion at any
time from that moment until long after the piece has become part of some
object. The sawing process itself (it is not really practical to rive
lumber for furniture and architectural work) ignores the twisted linearity
of the grain thereby presenting numerous obstacles to making final surface
preparation a simple job.

Why else do you think that powertools so quickly dominated even the
craftsman end of furniture manufactory, and plywood is so prevalent in
furniture construction.

I am no novice. I have been a woodworker since I was 7, and a professional
for the last 25 years. 90% of what I do is hand work, and I deal, often,
with tiger maple and other figured woods that offer special challenges to
hand-work. But even the clearest looking cherry board will confound you
with pockets of reverse grain when you least expect it.

In my experience as an antique restorer I see proof on a daily basis of the
liveliness of wood, even centurys after it had been tamed. You may "see
wood as material that is easily broken down and rebuilt into any shape,
form or assembly that can be thought up", but try revisiting some of your
work after 150 years and find out who had the last laugh.

But don't misunderstand me. I wasn't complaining. That's part of what makes
the work so fascinating.

Bruce