"The smell of fresh-cut wood, the sound of a sharp saw whisking across a board, the sound of a drill-all those things really touch my soul." Many wood flooring professionals can probably relate to that quote from 75-year-old Gil Johnson, but what they can't relate to is that the lifelong woodworker has been blind since was 14 years old.
Johnson, a San Leandro, Calif., resident recently profiled in this article in the Contra Costa Times, told the paper that his father, a plumber, and a blind shop teacher in high school were the ones who inspired his passion for woodworking. One of his first projects was a chessboard for the blind, and over the years he has built everything from dressers to bunk beds.
Johnson said that he prefers power tools to hand tools, and that his hands are his windows to the world. He "looks" at the quality of workmanship with his fingers. He senses wood grain with his fingernails and dislikes wearing gloves because that's like "putting blinders on."
He told the Times that his biggest challenge is measuring. For projects requiring exact dimensions, he uses a special "click-rule," with notches spaced one-sixteenth of an inch apart, and counts the clicks.
To read the full article, go here.
