I have always admired master woodworkers. They can look at a pile of walnut or maple and somehow see a finished piece of furniture hiding inside.
I, on the other hand, prefer to design directly from my imagination.
A few years ago I came up with what I believed would revolutionize home furnishings: a one-legged end table stabilized by a gyroscope.
The engineering was elegant.
The mathematics were impeccable.
The confidence was unlimited.
There was only one tiny flaw.
It was unstable.
The moment I set a coffee cup on it, the gyroscope developed what engineers refer to as “a difference of opinion” with gravity. The table leaned thoughtfully to one side, reconsidered its career choices, and then deposited both the coffee and my dignity onto the carpet.
Thomas Edison reportedly said he discovered thousands of ways not to make a light bulb.
I discovered one excellent way not to make an end table.
On the bright side, I had enough lumber left over to carve several very nice pencils.
My woodworking career has been more successful ever since I’ve remembered one important rule:
If your furniture requires a gyroscope, it probably needs another leg.
