>Anyone in here ever have one of those mornings where they can't quite get up the necessary speed? I got into the shop this morning around 8:30. It's 2 hours later, and all I've done is apply some adhesive backed cork to a part of my tool chest, and apply another coat of varnish to some small pieces. I spent the last 20 mintues or so on the stool, looking at hte desk I've been building, and waiting for it to get itself done. Ugh... maybe I should just head out and go to the lumberyard.
>Yeah James, I have days like that also. To mne that is a sure sign that I don't really want to be in the shop, but am only there out of habit. There are times when you've just got to go out and do something else.
Feeling that way this morning myself, but I know it is because I am a bit overtired. Playing nursemaid is really wearing me out.
Walk away from the shop James, it'll be there when you get back.
>That is why I go out to the shop with a cup of coffee sit in my rocking chair drink it looking at all of my options I usualy have several projects going at once so I can drink my coffee and say to myself this would be a good day to do and pick somthing that interest me at the time I am there. I went to the shop the other night to fix a hinge on a violin case befor I got to it I managed to clean the shop sharpen some chisels and dink with a plane I am building. then I took the rivits out of the hinge and installed new ones. If you don't want to do it it isn't worth doing.
>some of the most fun I have in the shop (when I have one) is sitting around putting things off. When you are the boss, you can make all the big decisions.
>In the shop shots there a recliner in one of them. Wish I had room for a recliner cuz when your not motivated work suffers best just to relax and smell the wood and look at the tools.
>when I leave the shop for the day I try to have an idea of what I'm going to do next time I go out into it. Now this does not always work as I have had plans to build a little shelf/box that will sit on my workbench for the past week now. I have managed to knowck out several out "I wanna get this done before vacation is over" things instead. this is a small project and will take no time, so I've put it off in favor of more time consuming projects.
Seems lately that when I go out into the shop when it is so hot it takes me forver to do the simpliest of things because I keep forgetting little things like where is my tape measure?, where is my pencil?, what was that measurment?, what am I doing?, etc, etc.
Even still, a bad day in the shop is better than a good day at work, downside is that there is no pay. :~(
I know the feeling you are talking about. Motivation is very important to any creative work.When I get that feeling I try to get some of the tedious chores done,like cleaning,putting things away.If I can't convince myself of the importance of cleaning up I call it a day and go get some supplies or something.
I get up between 4 and 5 AM every day and used to spend this time reading but recently I found out that I get some very productive use out of that early morning energy in the shop.So lately I spend at least an hour in the shop before my day starts.I'm actually getting caught up on some things.---Jack
>I can relate. I was a CPA in private practice for 13 years before I gave it up. I would prepare about 250-300 individual tax returns a year (I filed a lot of extensions)this besides my business clients. On April 16th I would come into the office turn my chair to the window and just stare into space. Yah, I'd answer the phone and make coffee, but for the most part it was just sit and stare. This could have gone on for days except that sales tax returns for my business clients were all due on the 20th. I don't miss those days one bit.
I seem to have the exact opposite problem. I don't have the time to get into the shop. I've been doing a huge backyard landscaping dig, and that is consuming all my spare time. I haven't seen the shop in weeks.
But by serendipity, I did get to do some woodworking last weekend. It all started when I dropped my jack-hammer (cheap Harbor Fright crud) and broke off one of the handles. Saturday morning at 10AM, the customer support line says call back on Monday if you want a part. I don't want to take the entire weekend off from digging, so I glue up some blocks of maple and make a new handle for the hideous beast. I used my hand saws to rough out the shape to match what the old plastic handle looked like, and then fettled the shape until it fit my hand with spokeshaves. It came out pretty good.
Of course, then the fun was over. Install the handle and back to digging...
>Robert (?) Pirsig, in "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," makes the argument that sometimes you need to drift sideways in order to move forward. As long as you don't have to make a living from the shop, it's only negative if you (a) never actually do anything or (b) try to hard to do something when you're not motivated to. The latter is also a good way to get injured.
When I have those times, I either leave the shop or pick some little project, unrelated to accomplishing much of anything, that I can accomplish. I own a lot of broken-wing tools that need a little loving attention to be functional again, and spending time on one of those is often just enough. Eventually, I'll have a complete shop.
At the moment, one of the projects I've been struggling with is just general organization. I'm going to school for woodworking, and I plan on making a living doing it. And I plan on being able to enjoy it at least some of the time, too.
Recently I've taken to writing in a journal at the end of each day, so I know what I did, how long some of it took, how long some of it didn't, and othe stuff I did, even if it was just screwing around. Then I go over what I need to get done the next day, and why, so I have some sort of plan of action when I show up the next morning. That way I don't have to spend an hour trying to reinvent the wheel and then get motivated.
Even still, I'm in the scraping and sanding part of this infernal desk that I've been building, and it's starting to get old fast. I've been plugging holes, and scraping off pencil marks and mill marks. And then going down to the finishing room... the sides and back of the desk are frame and panel, so the panels need to be finished before I can do my final glue-ups... The list goes on. I did manage to get some of the tedious stuff out of the way today.
Then again, I also managed to put the finishing touches on a removable tray in one of the drawers on my tool chest. Peel and stick cork is wonderful stuff. :) And it's nice to be able to fit a small router plane, 2 spokeshaves, a block plane, a medium sized shoulder plane, and a scraper into a drawer that's maybe 6x9x3, with all edges down and protected. I still have another tray to build for marking and measuring... then one of these days I'll post pix of the whole thing.
>My secret Santa Thanks Jim! several years ago gave me a shop apron my pencel and tape are allways in the pocket. I don't have that problem. I have a nice anteek rocking chair in the corner of the shop I can survey my entire empire from there. Did any one watch NCIS last night where the lead investigator is making a boat with hand tools?
>A jack hammer Paul? And one from Harbor Fright at that? Oh the inhumanity! What's wrong with a sturdy pick axe and elbow grease? :-) Just kidding; good luck with the project. I know how those things can get in the way of "real" shop time.
Regards,
Mike
p.s. I finally used that broken down jack plane you gave me a couple of years ago. I needed to shave down a floor joist in a spot where I hesitated to use my Type 11 Bailey. It worked fine for what I asked of it.
I'm glad you put that old rust-bucket to use. That was a Sargent jack wasn't it? I have a recent make Record #4 that I use for doors and jambs so that I can trash it without caring about it. It's a pile of garbage, but everyone should have a dedicated garbage plane so that they can do rough carpentry without really caring about nail placement.
I'm looking forward to at least another 6-8 months of demolition and concrete work until I can get to the point where I can build a deck and an awning. Then I'll finally be able to do some woodwork, albeit not *fine* woodwork.
