I am among those who believe that there is a circle in hell for neat freaks.
It’s true. Some people enter my carving shop and envy the variety of carving tools racked before them. But It would be the height of mendacity to purport that I possessed a complete kit of Pfeil carving tools. I’m only 25% of the way there.
Variety is more important than the completeness of the kit because tool makers don’t just make identical number 3 Sheffield sweep gouge for carving. A Pfeil number 3 is not identical to an “old” Addis number 3. Ramelson short tools aren’t the same sort of steel as old Millers Falls. Carving tools are beveled and sharpened differently for various cuts and effects. I have a gouge with a “knuckle” bend that is specially sharpened for cleaning out the bowls of spoons.
Carving tools even vary in handle design. The octagonal Pfeil tool’s feel is very different from the rounded London School handles on the Addis tools. Honestly, I have yet to mention the varieties of bend in the necks of the tools that make them suitable for different purposes. A neat freak could ruin my work and shop by deciding that cleaning up should mean eliminating what appear to be duplicates.
My shop has plenty of clutter – little things that need places to reside. But the carving tools aren’t clutter or a case of ” He who dies with the most tools wins.”
I don’t encourage the uninitiated to visit my shop. It’s small and crowded, and I resent it when asked why I have all those tools in that tone of voice that suggests it’s clutter or mania.
I’d suggest, respectfully and for your safety, that you be cautious the next time you visit a crafter’s shop or an artist’s studio. What may appear to be clutter, hoarding, or disorganization to you is a necessary condition for their work process.
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your carving tools sound like my paint brushes… And you’re right. My studio is absolutely NOT cluttered but it is confusing to the untrained eye.
Exactly. To the uninitiated its clutter, to us it’s what we need to create!
Reduce, move to another less obvious location, maybe. But be rid of clutter? Never. It multiplies as we sleep and moves around on it’s own.