WRITING #4 Product and Process: Crafting the Visible Edge Last week’s Writing #3 conveyed Lincoln Junior High’s eye-opening endeavors of making. Naturally, West High School turned it up a notch; make stuff, yes, but make it well. Mr. Brudwick, West’s Woodshop teacher, was a kind and gentle soul, but hardly a pushover. His keen eye, sensitivity and respect for material and process left a lasting impact on my making methodology. Pre -This Old House, Mr. Brudwick professed the PBS rock-star Norm Abram approach, “measure twice, cut once and nothing is more important than safety glasses”. (check out “Clever” Design Podcast with Norm, its outstanding) This patient teaching philosophy is what the monastics refer to as the long-view. That can be a challenge in a jet speed, git-r-dun now arena of instant accolades, and the thumbs-up drug of validation. Long-view projects have criteria and deadlines, but nothing left the shop unless it was well-crafted. If that meant going back to re-join a connection, or pound through another round of surface sanding, you did it. No sloppy, “good enough” attitudes were allowed. Any approvals from the masses had to wait. This fostered a community respect for West High’s Shop. If a project left his building, you got a thumbs-up because it was thoughtfully crafted with care.