Poem

[Philip Davies]

When I finished a roof, I recited this:

O can he square a timber
And can he cut it clean?
And can he slot the shoulders home
And let no space be seen?

And can he lay a frame out
According to the Rule?
And can he raise a roof-tree
And set it on the stall?

And can he swing the shutters
And box a casement round?
And can he line the panels in
Along the skirting ground?

And are the treads well-trodden
Be they spiral, dogged or straight?
And will his handrail guide us
Whether so dark or late?

We make, but do not lock the door.
Whoever owns the land,
We did not grow the wood ourselves:
The plumb falls by His Hand!

(Ie IESOUS XRISTOS TEKTON)

This is called “The hymn of the Hand”. I wrote it. I have not recited it often and I aver I am a word master, not a wood master.

[Toolmaker51]

Ought to be such 'hymns' for each trade; phrases will differ, not meaning. One I like, intones distribution of pay goes to purchase our daily needs made by others, the collection is generated by others coming to 'us' supplying what they require. That appeals to me, visualizing a superiority of manufacturing over service economies. To me, they function in partial vacuum; a particularly non-circular flow of monies.
Decades ago [as in quite young], another I heard or envisioned, "takes money to make money". Vexed me ever since, cannot believe the difficulty becoming operative as a proprietor.

[Philip Davies]

If you would like to send me a list of toolmaker’s essential skills, I will attempt something for you. A rhyme for “precision” seems necessary.

[mklotz]

If you would like to send me a list of toolmaker’s essential skills, I will attempt something for you. A rhyme for “precision” seems necessary.

decision
collision
provision
envision
suspicion
supervision

or just go here...

https://www.rhymezone.com/

[Toolmaker51]

Marv! Ouch!
collision?
suspicion?
and worst of all, supervision?
Few word arrangements make those into positive terms.
Boy-oh-boy. Do I need a PR agency or what?
Lol.
Figured our (well, my) epic Shop Truths, Phrases, Tales; and Outright Lies thread established a tone, a demeanor. The participants certainly enjoy it. . .illustrating what I know of them, myself included. A likeable fella from Texas named us Epicyclic Elliptic Think & Do Continuum.
Positive a film company will option us soon. . .

And yes Phillip Davies, I will compile a alpha sorted list of descriptive terms. Lately, I've collected some with impact; adjectives to 'name' the building.

[mklotz]

Marv! Ouch!
collision?
suspicion?
and worst of all, supervision?
Few word arrangements make those into positive terms.
Boy-oh-boy. Do I need a PR agency or what?
Lol.
Figured our (well, my) epic Shop Truths, Phrases, Tales; and Outright Lies thread established a tone, a demeanor. The participants certainly enjoy it. . .illustrating what I know of them, myself included. A likeable fella from Texas named us Epicyclic Elliptic Think & Do Continuum.
Positive a film company will option us soon. . .

And yes Phillip Davies, I will compile a alpha sorted list of descriptive terms. Lately, I've collected some with impact; adjectives to 'name' the building.

Well, you would need to use some of them in a negative fashion, e.g....

oh, my, the precision
unseen by supervision

Hey, poetry is "art". Anything goes in art. People pay big bucks for paintings by Hieronymus Bosch. The literary set is quick to extol the virtues of Joyce's inscrutable Ulysses. Duchamp's urinal work lFountain...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountain_(Duchamp)

received this accolade...

The work is regarded by art historians and theorists of the avant-garde as a major landmark in 20th-century art. Sixteen replicas were commissioned from Duchamp in the 1950s and 1960s and made to his approval.

In the poetry arena one can find real junk. I grew up near Schnecksville, PA so this one...

https://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/schn...sville_1173723

really makes my toes curl.

[Frank S]

What am I say I
Am I the continuum or the conundrum?
Say I say I Say I am the continuum.
For it is I who sees the parts within Say I
Those things well hid from the untrained Eye
Set them free I must
For this stone of Iron is covered with rust
A lump of coal
A match to lite
The air must blow
Fast and brisk
Never too slow
The fire does glow
Stone is red in a Wisk
I am the conundrum say I
Say I say I say I
A hammer to make
Or an anvil it should be
The Conundrum of the continuum
The anvil it must be.
For a hammer needs the anvil to strike
Stone of iron what shall you be
Tis not very plain to see
What its like
The continuum of the conundrum
Forever shall be
The time I take
For what the stone says to me.

[Philip Davies]

This is good.

[Toolmaker51]

I worked with two gunsmiths in Los Angeles. Marv will know the locations; Grand Avenue and Firestone Blvd. One specialized on actions the other a stockmaker. Both often repeated the same adage.
Here is a block of raw material, what lies inside is a perfect receiver [or stock]. All one has to do is remove the excess material.

I believe the ultimate personification of Toolmakers, might be gunsmiths. Sure; those in aircraft, medical products, microelectronics etc, create what might be more critical to society, yet an ugly box jig doesn't see the public eye. Truly, their efforts don't even make airtime on "How It's Made".
Compare that output to early American [German immigrants] in Pennsylvania, or work of J.M. Browning, Monty Kennedy, Frank Pachmayr, Beretta, just for starters.
That industry, where single shops made every element of a functioning firearm gave rise to the saying 'lock, stock and barrel', as in complete package.

[Frank S]

Said the hammer to the anvil
I’ll beat and I’ll pound on the metal so hot
Anvil to the hammer swing away ol mate of mine
For we make products for the divine
My face is rounded from the years gone by
My back is strong to complain I will not
Your response each time I assail
Will be a sound of beauty
For tis my duty
We are the beginnings of things necessary for life
So with each and every strike
I’ll sing out with that sound that rings.
While the smith does swing me straight and true
I’ll leave the singing up to you.
Today we make some special thing.
Mayhap it will be a ring.
Or plow shall it be
What will come is not up to me.