Wood Turnings By Andreas Ritzen

Have you ever seen a craftsman do his work on wood turning? There is such concentration etched into every single part of the body that you would think any untoward sound can make the hand slip and have an accident. It happens, I guess, to those who are just apprenticing, but for master wood turners, this hardly ever does.

Their focus is fascinating to look at: the posture of the body is as taut as a rubber band about to split, and yet what comes out from their hands are works of art. But all that tension can lead to some form of strain. When I talked to a local wood turner the other day, I was having a bed carved for my daughter; I asked him questions on the complications of having to turn wood affect his back. He said it was nothing really. There was no hard work involved, it was just a matter of knowing what design to make on the piece of timber in his hands. He said that constantly being tense over the revolving blade made him concentrate so hard, that he unconsciously does not move a muscle while working. It was only his hands that were moving, and slight movements at that.

I got to thinking that if it continues, he would be permanently hunched over when he gets older. He laughed and said that he had been in that profession for 30 years and his back was still straight. He said, the only way to prevent the hunching over, is to constantly remember to straighten the back when a particular piece was done. No pieces are worked on for more than 15 minutes. And so every 15 minutes, he straightens out his back and moves around. He also moves his arms to ease the tension between the shoulder blades as well. It also helps, he said, that his wife massages his back every night to ease the tension. And that he said is the secret preventing back injuries, for any profession other than wood turning.

Looking at him, I guess he’s right.

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