If you get into woodworking, at some point you'll hear about or read one
of James Krenov's books. And if you do, it may change how you work
wood.

There are many he inspired, more that he influenced and for some he's
the woodworkers' equivalent to Eric Clapton (Clapton is God), spoken of
with reverance. And his books are more philosophical than technical,
with insights into WHY rather than HOW.

What few know is that he's also a tennis nut, and at times - a
curmudgeon.

Here's an interview with him that gives you an idea of the man - one who
doesn't suffer fools lightly.

http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/or...s/krenov04.htm

If you haven't heard of Krenov, or seen his work, you might want to
check out his "official website".

http://www.jameskrenov.com/

charlie b

On Oct 28, 1:39*pm, charlieb wrote:
If you get into woodworking, at some point you'll hear about or read one
of James Krenov's *books. *And if you do, it may change how you work
wood.

There are many he inspired, more that he influenced and for some he's
the woodworkers' equivalent to Eric Clapton (Clapton is God), spoken of
with reverance. *And his books are more philosophical than technical,
with insights into WHY rather than HOW.

What few know is that he's also a tennis nut, and at times - a
curmudgeon.

Here's an interview with him that gives you an idea of the man - one who
doesn't suffer fools lightly.

http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/or...s/krenov04.htm

If you haven't heard of Krenov, or seen his work, you might want to
check out his "official website".

http://www.jameskrenov.com/

charlie b



When I first met up with Krenov's writing I had already been a toiler
in the vineyard for a few years. Everything that I had read prior to
him was about technique and tooling. It was a rare pleasure to read
someone who spoke about the wood as passionately and clearly as Mr.
Krenov. Between he and The Soul Of A Tree, by Mr. Nakashima, they
formed my sense of what I was really working with and for.

I was not and am not an admirerer of the minimalist ethic of either of
those men but their relationship with the wood informed my more
traditional bent to a degree that has helped my design and
construction of all the pieces done after meeting up with them.

Great men!


tom watson

I know a guy who's bumped into him recently. Evidently,
Krenov has been losing his eyesight and practically has
given up doing woodworking. Shame, but boy, what
an artist!

MJM

In article , says...

What few know is that he's also a tennis nut, and at times - a
curmudgeon.

Here's an interview with him that gives you an idea of the man - one who
doesn't suffer fools lightly.


Hmmm, interesting read. I once took part in a workshop with Krenov,
around 20 yers ago, organized by the NZ woodworkers' guild, and I must
admit that I had never heard of him before.

The curmudgeon thing became quite clear to me pretty soon. His passion
for woodworking was obvious, but I was not particularly impressed with
what I learned (which wasn't a great deal). Well, we all built a wooden
plane or two, and talked some about dovetailing by hand. He showed a few
slides.
The whole thing had a "fawning acolytes only" feel about it. Ask a
question that the master didn't encourage to be asked, and you were
ignored or sneered at.

All up, I felt that I got a lot more out of meeting the other
participants and talking to them. Krenov was just as bloody vague and
grumpy as he was in that interview you linked to.

Whatever. I sure wasn't overly impressed by Krenov, the teacher. But
then, I've never actually seen any of his work in Real Life.
I know a carver around here who is grumpy and disorganized, and his life
is a shambolic mess, can't give you a good reason for why he does
anything he does, nor how anything he does fits together, but his work
is brilliant ...

-P.

charlieb wrote:

.... snip

What few know is that he's also a tennis nut, and at times - a
curmudgeon.

Here's an interview with him that gives you an idea of the man - one who
doesn't suffer fools lightly.

A number of years ago, I had the opportunity to spend time in the shop of
a guy who spent several of his vacations at Krenov's mini-workshops. He
would agree with your assessment, making the comment that there were some
people, to whom after a few days of work during the session, Krenov would
tell, "I don't think we can do anything for you here".


--
If you're going to be dumb, you better be tough

"Mark & Juanita" wrote in message
m...
charlieb wrote:

... snip

What few know is that he's also a tennis nut, and at times - a
curmudgeon.

Here's an interview with him that gives you an idea of the man - one who
doesn't suffer fools lightly.

A number of years ago, I had the opportunity to spend time in the shop of
a guy who spent several of his vacations at Krenov's mini-workshops. He
would agree with your assessment, making the comment that there were some
people, to whom after a few days of work during the session, Krenov would
tell, "I don't think we can do anything for you here".

Fair enough. Did he at least offer a partial refund?

MikeWhy wrote:

"Mark & Juanita" wrote in message
m...
charlieb wrote:

... snip

What few know is that he's also a tennis nut, and at times - a
curmudgeon.

Here's an interview with him that gives you an idea of the man - one who
doesn't suffer fools lightly.

A number of years ago, I had the opportunity to spend time in the shop
of
a guy who spent several of his vacations at Krenov's mini-workshops. He
would agree with your assessment, making the comment that there were some
people, to whom after a few days of work during the session, Krenov would
tell, "I don't think we can do anything for you here".

Fair enough. Did he at least offer a partial refund?

Can't answer that, the conversation didn't go into that. Just as
clarification, the Krenov comment apparently wasn't directed at lack of
ability but difference of approach. Probably still not unreasonable, not
all approaches match a specific design philosophy.


--
If you're going to be dumb, you better be tough

I didn't care for the arrogance, but in fairness to Mr. Krenov, many of
those questions were really stupid.