I mentioned crowning doors in another post and it reminded me of this true story: Warning – old guy tale approaching…..

Some years ago I started a new job building a new residential millwork shop with 3 people, and a bunch of equipment they knew nothing about.  I was busy, and took little note of things around me.

The owner had a concrete company and this being Winter, had a few drivers sitting idle. To keep them happy and on the roster, he put them to work framing the interior walls for offices for the lumberyard that was to move into them in the Spring.

Most of the drivers were happy to be working, but they collectively still knew nothing about framing walls – their main task.  The biggest problem was crowning the studs. Several knew that they should be sighted and crowned, but unlike joists or rafters, they were unsure of which direction the crown should actually go. 

Compromise ensued, and they crowned one stud up, and the next one down, and moved quickly to get all the walls built and erected in this fashion.  Their logic is sensible, but…..

Once the wall board went on, everyone could see their decison making proces had a flaw. The long hall, about 50  fort long, was as wavy as drunken carpenter’s foor path.

For years this was obvious to most visitors, but few people ever said anytrhing.  More than once, I found myself trying to convince a potential customer of the quality we were capable of while standing in that crazy hallway, and wondering how I could ever make such a claim.