Custom Doors Should Be Straight…Like Our Morals

With every big project, like these custom designed mahogany doors, the pressure builds to keep the project on schedule.

Gluing up the outer frame for a set of custom exterior doors

Suspender Man™ gluing and doweling the outer frame for a mahogany set of custom designed exterior doors.

With every type of work there are schedule demands that must be met. Nobody contracts work in a vacuum, separated from the demands and pressures of the market place. Well, maybe in a socialist or communist system they might but not when operating under the constraints of biblical morality and a consumer-driven economy. I understand that these two might be at odds and often are, but that is about the best we will have for the immediate future.

Laboring to Keep Our Word

We try to focus on the biblical morality part of the equation as much as possible. Hence we are trying to treat our customers as better than ourselves, and are committed to laboring as for the Lord, and doing our best to not only keep our word but to exceed it if possible. We want our customers to say “well done” but we also want the God of heaven to say the same.

Making Things Straight

Our morals must be built on God’s Word to be strong and upright. Similarly, custom woodworking projects share the need for level surfaces on which to build. There are a number of new skills for my apprentice to learn while building these custom doors. One is learning how to build a flat door—and I mean, dead flat, no warps or twists of any kind. I taught him to level one of our big workbenches using a 10’ long straightedge and a couple of long levels. If we assemble the doors on a flat workbench, we by necessity, ought to create flat doors.

Custom door frame on the (flat) workbench, glued and clamped, with curve patterns laid out.

Custom door frame on our (flat) workbench, glued and clamped, with curve patterns laid out.

This is just one of the many ways I work to teach Tim the larger principles of the trade not just have him do needed tasks. Learning the principles for creating a flat surface will be useful for him and in his service for me.

Let’s Build Some BIG DOORS!

A few weeks ago a man contacted me and asked to have a large set of custom exterior doors made for the front of his house. These doors are 8’ high by 7’ wide x 2-1/4” thick mahogany. Once the contract was signed we obtained the wood and work began. This was a perfect project for my aspiring apprentice to learn some new skills. And it helped me out to have him here shoving what is a good sized stack of heavy lumber through the machines.

Pile of raw mahogany ready to be planed for custom exterior doors

Bringing the raw mahogany back to the shop to be planed for these custom exterior doors

No Need to Hover

This project is by no means easy. The work is complicated. Tim is clearly excited to be taking on fresh challenges. I have been putting him to the work full time but have only remained in the shop part time. This is good for him I believe. I give him careful instructions and then let him go do his best.

There is a balance between hovering and being unwisely detached on my part. I want my apprentice to know he is trusted but not abandoned. I cannot let him make any serious errors but I know he learns a lot faster if he cannot come to me every minute for endless help. I want him to learn to do this work without me—that is the goal after all.

Pile of mahogany after we planed it. Ready to start the custom doors project.

Importance of Learning Why Not Just How

I have found there is high value in teaching him the principles of the trade. If I merely tell my apprentice what to do, a list of commands to obey, he will never learn the principles he needs to understand and plan future work. I do not merely tell him how to use the tools a certain way I tell him why he should do so. I spend a lot of time explaining why we do what we do as well as how to do the work.

Sometimes the talk about why we do the work a certain way revolves around moral principles not just physical reasons for building a product. Without moral reasoning, work is just work. But if we can teach moral principles and a vision for the building of God’s kingdom through our work, we have done double duty. In the case of these custom exterior doors what could be more desired?