I have on occasion thought that on the day that I have the space for a real shop I may actually shed a tear. Today, however, I am thankful for not having a shop.

It’s odd, I know, but it’s true. I have been in the process of making various tools for myself, and had an occasion to shape a handle for a marking knife. On this particular day, I did not want to drag out the various implements of my temporary/breakdown shop, and sat myself on the floor with a length of 3/4″ square cherry and a spokeshave. The freedom of not relying upon a workbench, stops and dogs, and all those fun things in woodworking that we all take for granted, led to a much more organic process. I wondered if we have become a bit institutional with all of the hardware, micro-adjusters, RPMs, jigs and precision.

It was definitely less precise, but for something as delicate and curvaceous as a tool handle, that was a good thing. How would you go about shaping such an irregular thing while it’s clamped or stopped, without a lathe? Maybe you wouldn’t, and maybe when thinking about this you’d flash back to seeing your grandfather sitting on his porch, whittling to pass the time or to enjoy his new (to him) pocket knife.

So there I was, sitting on the floor, whittling with a spokeshave in a one-handed fashion, wishing I had a porch but enjoying myself nonetheless. Maybe it’s not so crazy after all, because I have a cool new marking knife, and all I had to do was vacuum the floor afterwards.

In a way, it was also a bit like playing with my new toys on the floor, except with very shiny and sharp toys. That’s even better.