Precision over accuracy
Even though my father never was a professional woodworker, he had learned being a wheelwright at a young age and continued thriving in working with wood as a hobby for decades.
I must have gotten the knack for this craft while spending time with him in his tiny woodshop, because the passion for woodworking has fiercely gotten to me those last few years.
I've chosen a few of the tools he owned (and that I cherish, maintain and use) for this week's "Macro Mondays" challenge.
The divider caliper, or simply divider (compas in French) can be used to precisely report any distance from one piece to an other, without needing to measure that distance. Actually, measuring is more prone to errors and approximations. The tool can be used to divide a line into segments of equal lengths, hence the name. A set of two dividers can be used to lay out dovetails that will be perfectly identical to each other, without having to measure and calculate the width of pins and tails.
One important principle of woodworking is that precision is more important than accuracy. This means that the exact number of millimeters or degrees a piece of wood is cut at doesn't matter that much. What matters is the perfect match between the various pieces that have to come together. The divider surely helps in this endeavor.
Precision over accuracy
Even though my father never was a professional woodworker, he had learned being a wheelwright at a young age and continued thriving in working with wood as a hobby for decades.
I must have gotten the knack for this craft while spending time with him in his tiny woodshop, because the passion for woodworking has fiercely gotten to me those last few years.
I've chosen a few of the tools he owned (and that I cherish, maintain and use) for this week's "Macro Mondays" challenge.
The divider caliper, or simply divider (compas in French) can be used to precisely report any distance from one piece to an other, without needing to measure that distance. Actually, measuring is more prone to errors and approximations. The tool can be used to divide a line into segments of equal lengths, hence the name. A set of two dividers can be used to lay out dovetails that will be perfectly identical to each other, without having to measure and calculate the width of pins and tails.
One important principle of woodworking is that precision is more important than accuracy. This means that the exact number of millimeters or degrees a piece of wood is cut at doesn't matter that much. What matters is the perfect match between the various pieces that have to come together. The divider surely helps in this endeavor.