Invisible Labor

This oak stair tread is simple and unpretentious. It is unassuming in its clean slab form and its function is merely to support weight and provide stability. It gives no indication of the labor required for its formation. The time spent at the lumberyard going through the racks to find suitable pieces. The drops of blood lost when my hand was caught between the rough sawn boards. The transportation time of the material back to my shop. The hours on the planer and jointer getting everything to same thickness and the edges square. Each tread is two pieces of oak joined together requiring thought to coloring and grain (so they don’t warp over time). Then there is the gluing, sizing, sanding, and the cutting of tenons. My job is really to make all that work invisible. To create something that appears as if it has always existed.