Woodworker Achieves New Personal Record: 47 Minutes Spent Choosing Between Two Identical Boards

Amateur woodworker Phil Hendricks spent 47 minutes at his local hardwood dealer on Saturday deliberating between two boards of flatsawn white oak that employees confirmed were 'cut from the same log, on the same day, and are, for all practical purposes, the same board.' 'This one has a tighter cathedral pattern in the growth rings,' Hendricks said, holding the first board at arm's length and squinting. 'But this one — this one has a medullary ray figure near the sapwood transition that could really pop under a Danish oil finish. Or it could look muddy. I need to think about this.' Hendricks proceeded to examine both boards under natural light, fluorescent light, and the flashlight on his phone. He checked moisture content with a pin meter (both read 7.2 percent). He ran his thumbnail across the end grain of each board to assess hardness (identical). He smelled them (identical). 'You can't rush material selection,' Hendricks told a lumber yard employee who had been assigned to assist him. 'The board you choose defines the project. A wrong board and the whole piece is compromised.' The employee, who has worked at the lumber yard for six years, noted that Hendricks is 'not even in the top five' for deliberation time. 'We had a guy in here last month who spent two hours picking walnut for a cutting board,' he said. 'He came back the next day and exchanged it.' Hendricks ultimately selected the first board, citing 'gut feeling and cathedral grain alignment.' He then spent an additional 22 minutes selecting a board for the project's secondary components, which he described as 'less critical but still deserving of serious consideration.' The project for which the boards were purchased — a small box with a hinged lid — has an estimated material cost of $34 and a total time investment, including selection, that Hendricks concedes 'probably isn't efficient but is definitely correct.'