When you order something from BourbonSmoke Woodworking, there's a pretty good chance the piece that arrives at your door won't look exactly like the one you saw in the picture.
That's not a disclaimer.
It's one of my favorite things about working with real wood.
I can use the same species of wood, the same dimensions, the same hardware, the same tools, and the same finishing process to make two products—and they'll still be different.
That's because I'm only responsible for part of the design.
Nature took care of the rest.
No Two Boards Are Exactly Alike
Take a piece of walnut and put it next to another piece of walnut.
They might have come from the same supplier. They could even have been cut from the same larger board. But look closely and you'll start seeing differences.
The grain may run differently. One might be darker. Another might have streaks of lighter sapwood. You might find curls, waves, knots, mineral streaks, or other character that doesn't exist in the piece sitting right next to it.
The same thing happens with cherry, maple, oak, and the other hardwoods I use in my shop.
That's part of the deal when you work with a material that was once a living tree.
And it's one of the reasons I enjoy working with it so much.
Sometimes You Don't Know What You Have Until You Start Cutting
One of the best parts of woodworking happens before a product ever reaches the finishing stage.
You start cutting into a board or turning a blank on the lathe, and suddenly you uncover grain you couldn't fully see from the outside.
I've had pieces of wood that looked relatively ordinary at first and became some of my favorites once I started shaping them.
That's especially true when I'm turning pens, shaving brushes, coffee scoops, and other products on the lathe. As material comes off, new grain patterns begin to appear.
There is a little bit of discovery involved.
I may know what I'm trying to make when I walk into the shop.
I don't always know exactly what it's going to look like when I'm finished.
The Finish Changes Everything
Raw wood doesn't always show you what it's capable of.
Sanding begins to clean up the surface and reveal more of the grain, but the real transformation often happens when the finish goes on.
Colors deepen.
Grain that seemed subtle suddenly stands out.
Figuring becomes more noticeable.
A piece of walnut can become richer and darker. Cherry takes on warmth. Maple can reveal patterns that were easy to miss when the wood was unfinished.
It's one of the most satisfying moments of a build.
It's also another reason a product photograph can only show you one example of what a particular species of wood can look like.
Your piece will have its own grain and its own character.
Different Doesn't Mean Defective
There's an important distinction here.
Natural variation isn't an excuse for poor craftsmanship.
A crooked cut isn't "character."
A bad glue joint isn't "rustic."
A poorly sanded surface isn't just part of buying handmade.
Those are workmanship issues, and they're the responsibility of the maker.
Natural variation is different.
It's the grain running through a piece of walnut. It's a streak of color in maple. It's the contrast between heartwood and sapwood. It's a knot or other feature that can be incorporated into a piece without compromising the finished product.
My job as the woodworker is to decide how to work with those characteristics rather than expecting every board to look identical.
Sometimes the Wood Changes the Plan
I can walk into the shop with a specific design in mind and occasionally the material convinces me to change it.
Maybe there's an interesting grain pattern that deserves to be more visible.
Maybe rotating a piece changes how the grain will run through the finished product.
Maybe one section of a board is perfect for a particular project while another section would be better saved for something else.
Those decisions are part of making something by hand.
The goal isn't simply to cut as many identical pieces as possible out of a board.
It's to figure out how to get the best finished product out of the material in front of me.
Your Piece Is Actually Yours
Mass production is very good at consistency.
If you pick something off a store shelf, there's a reasonable expectation that the one you bring home will look almost exactly like the one sitting next to it.
There's nothing wrong with that.
But handmade hardwood products offer something different.
If I make two walnut pens with the exact same hardware, they're still going to have different grain patterns.
If I make two cherry coffee scoops, the color and figuring may vary.
If I build another cutting board using the same combination of hardwoods, the individual boards will still give it a different appearance.
The design can be repeated.
The wood can't.
And I think that's pretty cool.
That's Part of What You're Buying
I've written before about what makes a handmade product worth buying, and natural variation is a big part of that answer.
When you order a BourbonSmoke product made from real hardwood, the photograph shows you the design, materials, craftsmanship, and general appearance you can expect.
But the exact grain in your piece?
That's yours.
There won't be another tree with exactly the same grain pattern. There won't be another cut through that tree at exactly the same place. And even if I build the same product again tomorrow, I can't perfectly recreate what nature put into the piece sitting in front of me today.
I don't see that as an inconsistency that needs to be eliminated.
I see it as part of what makes woodworking worth doing.
I build the product.
The wood makes it one of a kind.
