Clean channels. Controlled shavings.
Side work as a carving gouge — cut clean channels in the week and collect free hours as controlled shavings, without crowding the main bench.
- One channel per week A written groove for free hours. If the cut runs into every weeknight, it is no longer a gouge pass — it is a second bench.
- A rate after the shavings settle What remains once fees, tools and unpaid setup are swept aside. The curl on the floor is cost; the channel that stays is the rate.
- A mark after each sweep One short note after the cut: hours used, money in, costs out. Without that mark the next week starts blind.
Notes from the bench
- Carving clean channels in the week How to cut one groove for free hours so they do not smear across the day job.
- Free hours as controlled shavings Fees and unpaid setup are the curls on the floor. The rate is what remains in the channel.
- Marking the sweep before you cut One short mark after each week, not a second ledger.
- Grooves that crowd the bench Offers that lean on every weeknight do not belong on this pad.