Endless Knot ∞ Finite Wood

[@SamuraiPipotchi]

I actually really like the washer-mount trick. Small innovations that efficiently solve something in an exceptionally simple way are just so satisfying.

[@AGlimpseInside]

I just want to thank Peter Brown for sending me here years ago. I really like this channel

[@zacharysweeney978]

That's how I found Pocket as well. I'm so glad I did!

[@Bullybody]

Jer Schmidt sent me... kzbin.info/door/0T7tvy44mlQCjaTtparOZw

[@NonTwinBrothers]

He remembered his password!!

[@erikpeterson4546]

LOLOL

[@archandrogyne]

thank you for making the best woodworking content on youtube. i hope you make more videos in the future. you inspire me

[@Youtubeforme88]

Yo! I hope youre still alive atleast. We miss your videos

[@ewancarscadden9125]

Every time you upload is always a treat. Commenting both to give props and maybe help with the algorithm a bit because i firmly believe you deserve it!

[@greenatom]

Thanks for your videos. They are a true pleasure.

[@pocket83]

As are your comments. I'm happy that you enjoy.

[@jarethhsms]

"Even the paint on a wall makes the wall stronger" love that man

[@fractalphilosophorum9405]

I so much enjoyed every second of this. I'm sitting on my chair and smiling constantly while watching what you do, how you do it, and everything you explain. It's really a joy watching your videos. I feel like I'm transported to another world, an infinite world of never ending puzzles ;)

Hello my friend, interesting design. And a clever calculation. Another great job. A unique piece, lots of style and lots of creativity... Thanks for sharing. See you. I wish you have a nice weekend. Big greetings.

[@pocket83]

Thank you.

[@jkell42]

Nice work! I was nervous half way through you wouldn’t be able to pull it off, but it turned out great. I still use the soy sauce hummingbird feeder and play the paddle stack game. I appreciate you!

[@roymorgan7748]

Good to see you again. Love the knot.

[@tonyfrankcom4527]

Watched from start to finish ,very enjoyable.

[@ebrehlam]

I used to watch u all the time in 2012 ish. love coming back n visiting

[@fredio54]

Nice idea with the wedge riving knife for small thin stuff - good job.

[@AtomkeySinclair]

Thought I would drop by and say hi. Where ya been? You always have excellent content and it's been a while :)

[@Artist-z8k]

I hope one day you will show us another work of philosophical art of yours. Bless you.

[@geoffreyguestion2843]

For everyone wondering where he is: just go to his second channel.

[@GumtreeHillWoodwork]

Got far more out of this than I was expecting . . . which is exactly as expected from your videos. Thank you

[@Danielhofjr]

Pocket is like both of my favorite parts of This Old Tony and Clickspring at one time. Great video as always.

[@Boefkick]

It's about time for you to come back once again mister Pocket! I think I can speak for a lot of people if I say we really miss your amazing content. No stupid clickbaity thumbnails. Just awesome creations and amazing knowledge with a funny twist here and there. We beg you! Hope all is well and hopefully see you soon! ❤

[@BenjaminMellor]

1:52 I liked seeing a brief glimpse of your dog.

[@fangthewarrior]

Your videos are always such a pleasure to watch, so chill and satisfying :)

[@voldemorthumperdink3475]

Always excited to see an upload! Been a fan for about 6 years now.

[@ellsworth5841]

Certainly one of your best. Thank you.

[@pocket83]

Appreciated ;)

[@MarkWarbington]

I love the washer trick to hang things. I can't remember where I first saw it. I learned from TheCrafsMan SteadyCraftin KZbin channel how to transfer photos to wood and used washers to mount them to the wall.

[@CheveeDodd]

That's really beautiful. I wasn't sure about it before the walnut, but that added touch really brought this to life!

[@DavidLeeKersey]

A This Old Tony and a Pocket83 video on the same day. What is this Christmas.

[@BenjaminMellor]

3:08 Such a cute dog.

[@JWBails]

Nice to see a post on the main channel again! I'm so used to pocket83² I'd almost forgotten there was ever more!

[@RMeitzen]

Beautiful piece of art. I wish you'd upload more often.

[@zephy777]

Ah, that was a nice video, I like how it got philosophical, like applying ideas beyond the work. I have respect and am glad that you went this far for how you want to use all the wood. No scraps @3:19

[@nathanernest]

Pocket is back, baby!

[@sarath24517]

Great job

[@freetolook3727]

Btw, a hair is about .015" or 1/64". Yes, we were machinists and we were bored one day.

[@Tinker001]

But... Is that blonde, brunette or red?

[@superspecialty5169]

👍 subscribed because your video format is exemplary i.e. no music, no narcissistic recognition & total focus on the task at hand! Hope your other videos are as such?

[@pocket83]

Nice of you to notice. It's not the format that's most conducive to success here. Though I did add a splash of mild music to this one, most of them follow a similar (dry) format. I try to keep speculation/opinion restricted to my second channel. Hope you enjoy some of it.

[@ReverendDr.Thomas]

​@@pocket83, Good Girl! 👌 Incidentally, Slave, are you VEGAN? 🌱

[@dinobuddy]

I use little circles of cork all the time as little foot pads for various projects. I cut them differently though; I made a little jig for my bandsaw so I can take thin slices from wine corks.

[@coketimer0187]

I first watched you back in 2013 when you released your mouse movers and mouse maze videos! You give me nostalgia..........

[@brianskitch]

Good to see you again sir! Great video deep dive as usual.

[@InfraSolart]

Thank you for the section on connections, I needed to hear that. In the last year my problems have seemed so overwhelming in scope that I never even started to solve then. I'll break it down into parts and accomplish what I know I can do.

[@The_Japanese_Fox]

bruh waited 4 months for this? . . . . . . . . . . . . . .worth the wait

[@Hlkpf]

[@TheodoreStagnum]

i like this form of video! if felt like you explained more what you where doing and gave out more helpful tips than usual super cool project!

[@jbmorrow5390]

Great detailed video - thx for sharing!

[@annonymousname2.0]

the legend returns

[@drhfhs]

come back dude

[@barthanes1]

I think you could use half lap joints, and not have to split the center board. Sort of twist and rotate the long strips together and then glue on the shorter end pieces. But, I could just be blathering. I have not tried to do it myself.

[@SeraphimKnight]

Great work! I feel like you could've gotten much closer to flat much easier by sanding both sides of the connection though. I don't think it would've make the whole thing noticeably weaker if you epoxied the joints the same way.

[@ReverendDr.Thomas]

Great and lowly are RELATIVE. 😉 Incidentally, Slave, are you VEGAN? 🌱

[@NicoSmets]

Thank you for sharing.

[@bloodgain]

Now I kind of want to try to make one with all half lap joints so it's truly flat, just to see what it looks like. I like trim; it really makes the piece pop.

[@redo348]

Great project. They use similar wooden knots in carpet beaters.

[@pocket83]

That's a piece of trivia I would not have known had you not made the comment. Thanks ;)

[@redboatmedia1428]

Did you call in to the Broken Sim podcast???

[@scottpeterson8591]

Sorry if this has already been covered, but I would like to suggest making a piece of Kumiko lattice work. Your desire for precision and perfection would "mesh" well with the process.

[@pocket83]

Cute pun. And it's a great suggestion. There's a solid wall right now separating our kitchen from the living space, and we'd like to open it up a bit more with a mild remodel: I'd love to incorporate that idea by making an arched opening and then filling in the spandrels with geometry. Why not, right? Clearly, the geometry in my head isn't going away just because I pretend not to see it. Might as well open the gates, and fill the house.

[@barthanes1]

It would make a sweet trivet.

[@WarLord18]

Gonna make this as soon as I can

[@ContraPants]

I love it! Out of curiosity, was there a reason you didn't miter the black walnut?

[@pocket83]

Strength and simplicity. Oh, and the fact that those little miters would be barely big enough to see!

[@AndrewHelgeCox]

You good?

[@Bostonbowser]

Wow crazy this pocket83 guy posted a video

[@yippyskippymonkey]

all I can say is WOW

[@zerotondo9584]

Epic as usual Pocket :)

[@shaunbarrickman6339]

So much good stuff

[@barryfields2964]

If you would use a one inch belt sander you could make the overlaps complete lap joints.

[@ΘωμάςΠέτρου-ψ9β]

Very interesting!

[@trashboi-bk]

A Pocket83 video in my feed, and it's not from ²?!?!?!?!?!

[@Vote4Drizzt]

I think Id like to make something like this but a little thicker, maybe trying half lap construction

[@huttarl]

Very nice. I would like to try this myself. 14:18 Would it be helpful to remove material from *both* sides of each overlap, so that the whole thing can sit flatter?

[@pocket83squared]

You'd risk it becoming visible. This thing is viewed from the front, where there are still unbroken 'straight' edges, so it's nearly impossible to notice as it is. In fact, it has been hanging in my living room since, and I'd completely forgotten about sanding those pieces thin until now, when you just mentioned it.

[@huttarl]

@@pocket83squared OK that makes sense. Next question: How to bend strips of wood into circles and arcs, so that you can make knots similar to this but with curves. Like a lot of Celtic knots. I guess you use boiling water / steam and a jig, but how far can you really bend wood sideways?

[@pocket83squared]

@@huttarl Not far. Sorry to burst your bubble, but steam-bending still has its limitations. A complete 360° cross-grain bend is probably not possible¹ in any practical sense. One still needs to be mindful of the grain when bending wood, which is why curved laminates are usually made from thin strips with similar grain orientation. That said, my own experience with steaming wood is limited, so I'm not the best person to ask. Every time I've encountered such a project/problem, I've just ended up finding another, easier way. ¹Note that it's still possible to bend a wooden knot from a branch, just not a flat-cut board.

[@huttarl]

@@pocket83squared Thanks for the quick and helpful replies.

[@rickreed123]

A different way would be to use thicker stock, then cut so they don't actually overlap, and you could shape the surface to appear to be diving under each other, then the back could be flat.

[@pocket83]

That would be different, not better. A Google search will show you what I mean.

[@lolojr1]

safety first!

[@ericforest9186]

Pocket do you smile at the number of pauses around 13:47, or do you frown because you don't see enough?

[@pocket83]

If you want to know the truth, I sigh at the fact that it brings nearly as much interest and engagement as does the remaining 25:59.85 minutes of content. Even the ironic, fourth-wall-breaking ones (which often point deliberately at this trend) will still cause dozens of parrot comments. The keywords and timestamps are usually blocked, by the way, so these comments are mostly invisible; otherwise the top discussion will end up with only one possible theme. Talk about egg on my face. Forgive me the indulgence, but I'm naturally pretty opinionated. That 0.15 second is the one place where I reserve some expressive space for social commentary here.

[@jebowlin3879]

Question: What kind of contrast is there between black walnut heart and pulp wood, do you think it would be enough to do something like this in a single wood? just curious

[@pocket83]

Yes! That would've been beautiful. Probably pretty hard to capture it as well for a video, though. Visually, lots is lost in translation on a project like this.

[@adamnapolitano432]

I wonder how you could have used wood steaming in a project like this?

[@silphy2677]

Classic Pocket

[@freetolook3727]

A hair long. You didn't specify if that's black or red.

[@jk1314]

Im doing a brass inlaid of this design as I speak, what a coincidence.

[@Makebuildmodify]

I have yet to find where Marcus Aurelius reconciled determinism and Free Will. Both ideas seemed to be foundational in his writings.

[@pocket83]

Tough comment to reply to. Two thousand years later, I have yet to reconcile those problems myself. Excuse me, but I'll have to admit to just deleting a few paragraphs, since it's so easy to get lost in the weeds on that one. Let's just remember to keep in mind that the Emperor's collection of thoughts were _not_ likely intended to be presented as philosophical rigor. From a generous, broad, conceptual point-of-view, his writing is far more valuable to me. As with all worldviews, in terms of consistency, his content may follow only one of two possible paths: either a critical investigation ends in paradox, or it continues along in its own defense, eventually splintering evasively into barely-coherent esoterica, and then further into diffuse vacuousness. At least his stuff was grounded in utility, even if it does seem inconsistent sometimes on close inspection. Too bad we can't ask him. Maybe it's better we can't! He'd might've have made a crappy (modern) leader. He was borderline complacent sometimes, and way too negative. I'm not even sure he would've been a good professor. Probably best if we cherry-pick his ideas, remembering their context, and admit that he must've been at minimum a good Man-simply by virtue of his restraint under the influence of unimaginable power. For the likely state of the case of our Free Will, or rather, our lack thereof, given this physical universe, I'd look elsewhere. (If I had a choice, I mean.)

[@Makebuildmodify]

@@pocket83 I agree, and I have admiration for the writings within a certain context. The stoic perspective has been very helpful to me. Whether it's consistent is beside the point. My disillusion of Free will, however, has been a troublesome experience. Granted, there is a presupposition that we live in a causal reality, and if that is found to be untrue then a revision would be necessary. But until then, each keystroke is preceded by the endless chain of events that lead to it. As I like to say, "It was never not going to happen".

[@pocket83]

@@Makebuildmodify Maybe this will sound superficial, or even cliche, but here's an idea that might help you. It doesn't give me any problems. This seems odd when I think about it, because I'm swimming in unresolved thought problems to the point of considerable psychological tension, but Hard Determinism is just something that I've been able to accept-deep-down. Let me relate a personal story. Recently, I applied for a position as a Carpentry Instructor at a local school. One full-time spot was available, and eight candidates were chosen for an interview. My presentation was scheduled for early on that morning, and so I'd assumed that I was going first, and that it was in the bag. Somewhere around a decade back, I started to adopt a zero-tolerance policy for lying. This is to say, I _don't_ lie, ever, if I can help it. Of course there are cases that can bend one's flexibility, but for the most part what comes out of my mouth is the closest thing to personal truth that I can safely relate to another. This is a problem in a job interview; in spite of my preparation to not make the mistake, I too readily admitted to my frequent indecision and inexperience in some related areas. Back in the car on the ride home, I was hit with the most perplexing feeling of uncertainty I've experienced in, well, maybe ever. There was just no way to tell if I was going to get the job or not, and the very real possibility that I would _not_ just made me want it more. The ego sets in: now I can feel my rationalizing start to boil to the surface; I'm starting to tell myself, _he was just after some dumb Paul Bunyan-looking redneck._ I wanted to believe that it would be an injustice for me to not get the job. The reality though, was that the person who I'd be replacing was a professional cabinet installer who, no doubt, through years of experience, was better suited to helping young people to prepare for general entry into the trades than I could ever be. In contrast, I'm probably (too) unfocused, easily irritated, and arrogant for the position. When I received the phone call expressing that I would not be receiving the full-time job, but that they were still offering me a part-time position as an evening instructor, I refused. Looking back through a few weeks, I now see the nature of my childish regard for myself more clearly, and how, from the point-of-view of the other guy, it was never _not_ going to happen. Great. Real insightful. Lesson learned, right? Pride deserves the occasional smack-down; if not for desert, at least for the sake of Karma, or even more realistically, for the necessary preservation of averages. But how do I _really_ accept failure (or worse, loss) in real-life? In that deep-down way, I mean? What works for me is to remember the anthropic principle: simply put, whatever question I ask myself about myself would be absurd to ask if it did not directly apply to me. Whatever position we might find ourself in, if it weren't that, it wouldn't be. The insight gained from the experience you've just had wouldn't be available to you, had you _not_ had the experience. The anthropic principle isn't just some evasive semantical hokum; it is a profound (but reflexively revolting) statistical assertion that defines our reality. In every possible rewind of that scenario, the other guy gets picked. If we were to go back in time and change a few of the physical dials in my favor, that wouldn't be this universe, would it? This piece of writing would then be a non-sequitur, and as far as I know from having written it, it is borne of me, and of those circumstances which have defined me as such. Of course, discussions of quantum uncertainty and 'many-worlds' interpretations notwithstanding-and in the least thought-terminating-cliche way I can express this sentiment-it is what it is.

[@Makebuildmodify]

​@@pocket83 I think that my cognitive dissonance is prompted by my default behavior to unconsciously to act as though Free Will exists. Intellectually, given our current understanding of reality, I can see that Free Will is incompatible. It’s obvious that my behavior is at odds with my strong confidence in our current understand of the reality. Cultural inculcation is strong. Concepts I’ve used like merit, blame, justice, vengeance, serendipity, etc., are all at odds with the lack of Free Will. I've tried to reconcile this by viewing my behavior as being pragmatic; using two separate descriptions of reality. Analogous to Newtonian physics vs. Relativistic physics. Both describe behavior at different resolutions. Intellectually, I can see that a particular occurrence was never not going to happen. For problem solving it can be valuable in some respects. Socially, our interactions, understanding of each other, and languages are steeped in Free Will. Because of this it’s only practical to behave as thought Free Will exists. I do find that it’s more difficult to hate or be angry now. And for some reason love, admiration, and empathy haven’t lost any weight. I know that if a “thing” just “is” there is no reason to “feel” anything. But now I find it easier to admire a good “thing” for what it is.

[@pocket83squared]

@@Makebuildmodify Sure. To all of that. But the dissonance returns. There's just no way somebody like you or I can leave it at that. I mean, we can-provisionally-just so that we can behave normally, and like you said, act pragmatically. Sorry in advance to continue to push on this, because I _was_ offering a solution for accepting what is an apparent paradox, but I guess the offer was a bit of a low-ball. Who am I to give sage advice on one of the toughest problems ever? I was doing my best, but it still feels as though we're settling for a less-than-satisfactory explanation. At our best, we're on shaky ground with determinist and compatibilist arguments. Dualism, of course, is a known dead-end. What I really think about our conundrum is a bit more complicated, so it's tough for me to express with clarity and concision. In essence, it's not whether free will is possible that matters to us, so much as does the question of whether or not the suggestion of it that's coming from our conscious experience carries any legitimacy at all. That probably didn't make sense. Here, I have an unlisted video about it. Please watch and consider, and then we can continue to push on this weirdness if you're in the mood: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b2HIZqmVqJiBqpo

[@JThriftybee]

:)

[@VagabondTE]

I never made wood strips because it always feels so wasteful to me. For every strip cut your losing about that much material. There's nothing wrong with it but I can't get past it. It's a mental block that contributes to the long list of things keeping me from making cool stuff.

[@AtticusDraco]

Odd Your only experience in wood strip making is the watching of others do it Strictly via videos or have ya seen it being done irl? Hmmm, the making of wood dowels must make you catatonic At the very least, sad, yeah? Mouldings Chop sticks Lattice HolySh!t,, toothpicks

[@VagabondTE]

@@AtticusDraco No, I've made them. "Never" was referring to an active status and not a state of wood strip virginity. And no I'm not bothered watching other people do it. It's just a personal thing. Many of those other things you mentioned do make waist but aren't necessarily wasteful. Like, lesser grade wood and disposable Chopsticks are made from bamboo I believe. This is why I funnel on my woodworking skills into messing with plastic. Every cut can be remelted and used again with my methods. I even plan to start making dowel rods soon as soon as I can buy or build a cutter.