An Old Building Gets a New Face

I've been watching work on an old building that was donated to the Holliston Historical Society. The building isn't anything fancy, but it has a tower. Not long ago the carpenters started tearing the original skin off of it, and I wanted to get a shot of the frame, but as you can see I forgot the camera for a few days too long.

Watching this wooden building be refurbished reminds me that carpentry (and furniture making) is a curious mix of macro and micro details. For example: much of the siding we see in this picture looks poorly applied because the visible corners aren't flush. But don't worry. When they finish the skin, the corners will be flush-cut and end caps will be installed and perfectly fitted (I hope). The slop we see in the corners will be gone, hidden by the finishing details.

This same principle is used in furniture: especially in factory-made and older pieces of furniture, only the parts that are seen are finished to perfection. The insides of beautiful period furniture may still have rough wood or tool marks on the bottom of the desktop or back of the drawer. It doesn't matter, because that is only the functional part of the work.

The show is what we see. Backstage the work can be much rougher.