Cock ups

We face problems shops don't

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

We usually build one of a kind and we don't work 8 hours a day at it. We face new issues on each build.

My screw ups are usually the result of not completing a task, then returning XX later and not remembering where I was at. I have a drawer with the back not cut away to accommodate sliding the bottom in from the back, as an example. "no problem" for I have fixed this mistake before. And I have repaired an unsightly drawer gap as Derek has described . In my case it was forgetting I had not trimmed flush the interior of a case facing strip then fitting a drawer to an opening that was not that open.

At our level the measure of an experienced furniture builder is not only what is built but how well mistakes are corrected.

I applaud Derek for revealing some of the tricks up his sleeve for recovering from a problem.

Re: Cock ups

Brian gunsmith From colorado

The bad part about that is that while a visitor might not spot it, you Derek will always remember it. Any slight deviation from a planned design via mistake stays in my memory forever. (so far)

nope

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

After some measure of mistakes I accept them as normal and move on. My daughter had a wise art teacher . He told students that only da Vinci and God never made a mistake painting. Accept the inevitable and learn from them. (In fact I am reading a book about da Vinci. There is a painting that modern image analysis revealed had been painted over 30 times to get it right. ) We don't have that option.

Leonardo

Yonak

Indeed, Leonardo did a lot more planning than he did finished paintings. Once he got into some of his projects he abandoned the idea because he decided it was impossible to do it perfectly and, rather than create an imperfect work, he moved on to another project, of which he had more than plenty in the works. Witness, his Adoration of the Magi and The Battle of Anghiari, among many others. Leonardo was a most prolific artist, who produced so few finished works.

(That's why I have so many unfinished projects .. I've decided I can't do them perfectly so, why bother . . . /s)

Re: Cock ups

John in NM

One thing I learned from working in a commercial shop - mistakes are inevitable, even the experts make them. The true measure of one's mastering a trade is in how one recovers from mistakes. Those repairs look awfully good to me!

Fixed on, possibly created another

Lee Schierer in McKean, PA

The fix for your drawer was inventive; however, I hope you are marking the proper location for each drawer by numbering the openings and the drawer boxes. One never knows when someone, possibly you will take them all out and have to solve the puzzle of where they fit best. (Been there did that, didn't get the T-shirt.)

Lee

Re: Cock ups

John K Jordan

My experience with things that are a little off whether done by me or others (as in construction) is I may not be pleased at the time, may look at it once or twice, then never look, notice, or think about it ever again. To remember, look, fret, and regret only produces stress. Life is good.

Re: Cock ups

Clint Searl

Such a mistake would surely drive me to therapy. It's called a "Maker's Mark."

Re: nope

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

After some measure of mistakes I accept them as normal and move on.

Ditto.

I do not plan to have mistakes to correct. However, they are inevitable ... we get tired and concentration slips ... something is marked poorly ... put something down and forget the plan ... just plain ham-fisted ...

I no longer panic. Sometimes I wait a day or two until the mist clears. Walk away for a while. I have done this often enough to know that there is a fix for everything .... and the worst case scenario is that this is just wood; one can make a part over.

Still, I hate mistakes, and they can preoccupy me until sorted. My perfectionism kicks in. Then it is done, and I forget about it (actually, if I do recall, it is with some amusement and pride at the repair).

Regards from Perth

Derek

northern and southern hemispheres align

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

we agree for a change....

Still, I hate mistakes, and they can preoccupy me until sorted. My perfectionism kicks in. Then it is done, and I forget about it (actually, if I do recall, it is with some amusement and pride at the repair).

exactly. I think one would quit woodworking if this statement was not fact.

Re: Cock ups

Larry Clinton At Frankfort, (Central) Indiana

My father passed on when I was 10 years old. One thing I always remember he said to me was "The difference between a Professional and an amateur is that a Professional knows how to fix his mistakes"!