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Thread: I thought ww'ing was supposed to be relaxing...

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
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    Waterford, PA
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    Just finish the bench, flaws and all, and start using it. In time you'll want a different bench, you'll have worked on other projects and honed your skills and methods. I'm not saying you should do sloppy work, just do it and make mistakes, that's how you learn. If it will function, it is good enough. When you let go of "perfection" and decide to enjoy the process of creating it will become relaxing.

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Feb 2017
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    Northern Illinois
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    I'm sure that some of the others who replied said this also but . . . Woodworking is relaxing but trying hurry through design or milling lumber or building the project or especially finishing will only lead to errors and, in the end, frustration.

    If you're working 70 hours a week, I can't imagine having the energy to even get into the shop. However, I would recommend breaking a project into easily manageable parts that can be accomplished in short periods of time. That way you can take the time periods you have and get one of these tasks mostly or completely done and be ready to move on to the next step. You will be surprised by the sense of accomplishment you get from being able to complete a task, no matter how small. It may take you longer to complete a project but it will be more satisfying when it's done and done more in line with what you would like it to be.

    It took me awhile to learn this also, but, once I did, I got much more out of my time in the shop. Sometimes, I just go down there to organize things or sharpen chisels just so that the next time I need a tool I can find it and it's sharp.

    Randy

  3. #18
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    I haven't seen Brandon check back yet. I believe he has the 'analysis to paralysis' syndrome at an almost disabling level. I have bouts of this but, nothing that stretches things into years. I do enjoy having time to percolate on new designs BUT, at some point one begins changing things to no tangible or aesthetic benefit.

    Make your plan, check it twice and EXECUTE! I would rather have to make something twice than never get around to it at all. Granted we all approach things differently. My background has left me with a very low tolerance for things NOT getting 100% completed.

    This includes cleaning up after the task at hand, not after the whole job. I am always putting things away as I work. That way I know exactly where to find them and don't have to paw through a pile of stuff to look for my double-square . I just finished spending nearly as long cleaning up as it took me to mount four casters on a machine base .

    Thinking things over and making "field modifications" during your efforts is all well and good. Just don't let it grind you to an inexorable stop.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
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    Mt Pleasant SC
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    Brandon,
    I had similar frustrations when I started. My first large project had delaminating mahogany plywood that I tried to glue back which was a waste of time. Nowadays the internet is a huge help. While watching YouTubes on your phone you can pause it and take a screen shot with your phone or take a picture of your PC screen so you have it for later. Also you should post pictures on here for advice on how to cut those mortices.

  5. #20
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    Oct 2016
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    "real artists produce" - a quote that I repeat whenever I'm starting to analysis paralysis myself.

  6. #21
    Woodworking is relaxing if you do it when you are relaxed. If you are frustrated when you do it it can lead to more frustration......especially in the “learning stage” of new techniques. Tty not to beat yourself up......a lesson I need to learn.

  7. #22
    Woodworking is a skill. Think of it this way, athletes have talent, but few athletes have the natural ability to be excellent, just picking up a bat or ball. Having said that, your potential improves, the more skill you build. The only way to do that is to build. In order to build, you have to release the fear of making mistakes and make them. You have to embrace the idea that finished is better than perfect and commit to finishing. Then commit to improving. In the beginning this will make you waste wood. If you've bought expensive wood, then it will be a good lesson to learn and you will mock up, draw, design and plan, so as no to waste more premium wood. But, in the end, you HAVE to get it done. Not getting it done, even imperfectly is keeping you from building something better. Just .02 from a 30 year hobbyist amateur.

  8. #23
    Join Date
    May 2018
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    A lot of good advice here. On third wife now, over eleven years with her. She is happy with what I build for her. She picks the boards for the fronts and doors, the rest is up to me. She likes knowing where I am at not drinking, running around etc. As long as she gets new furniture every so often all is good. First wife I was broke and built for others to buy tools. Second wife was impatient and wasn't long before nothing got built. Built some nice things with low end tools, wood stove got fed good and I built my skill set when with first wife. Now have way better and way more tools. However less willing to try new techniques now and way more critical of my self now.
    So do what you can now,move on building your skill set. You will improve with each new project. Practice, practice and more practice will pay off. You a!so learn by repairing/fixing mistakes as you go.
    Good luck
    Ron
    Last edited by Ron Selzer; 11-03-2020 at 10:07 AM. Reason: Tablet puts in what it wants not what is entered

  9. #24
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    Jul 2007
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    Yorktown, VA
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    This is the way I look at Woodworking after decades of building stuff.

    Unless your last name is Maloof, Stickley, Greene, etc. there is a 99 % chance that in 100 years everything you make will end up in the landfill and the termites and ants aren't going to care about how well it was built or what type of design details you put into it or how much you sweat and pondered the build.

    Yes, you may get your kids to take it when you are dead and maybe even your grand-kids, but after that it goes to a non-family member because it won't go with their current furniture style in their house and then when they are finished with it, it will go into the landfill. I can't think of a single piece of furniture that my grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents owned or built that is still around today.

    Even folks that inherited furniture that was owned by a former President, will get sold so they can take a trip to Hawaii with the family.

    What is important to me about a project, is not important to anyone else in the long run.

    My first workbench was used by me for ten years and then passed on to my Brother. When he sold his house and he moved, he left it in his garage with the other built cabinets and shelves. I am pretty sure at this point it is in the landfill.
    I got enjoyment from building and using it and he used it for many years. Was it perfect, no, but it was enjoyable to make.

    So, I suggest you don't worry how long it takes to design and build or the mistakes that you make. Each new build will improve as you go along.

    Also, just use normal woods until your skill level allows you to safely use more expensive woods. You won't spend as much and if it doesn't turn out they way you wanted it to, you can give it to a neighbor or family member but you will have gained the experience through building it.

    Do you think drivers at the Indy 500 just woke up one day and took a 4 hour training course and just jumped right into driving there? They spend most of their lives, some starting as early a 4 years of age driving go karts, driving and practicing their entire lives. There is no reason to believe that you or anyone else is just going to start WW'g this weekend and start building Maloof Rocker and have it be 100% perfect.

    So, just enjoy spending time in the shop to get away from the 70 hour work week.

  10. #25
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
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    NE Iowa
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rob Damon View Post
    Unless your last name is Maloof, Stickley, Greene, etc. there is a 99 % chance that in 100 years everything you make will end up in the landfill and the termites and ants aren't going to care about how well it was built or what type of design details you put into it or how much you sweat and pondered the build.
    I agree for the most part. I'm not sure what the take-away should be, though.

    Not a single line of code that I wrote in 20s or 30s is still running in any computer. At least half of what I've done since the year 2000 is already irrecoverable history. The vast majority of what I write will only be read by a few people, and only be relevant for for a year at most.

    Yet I put a great deal of care into getting this stuff as right and fit as I can. For functional things in particular, I care about the engineering, even if it doesn't have to last for a century or more.

    I feel the same about most of what I do for myself. Design things to the level of quality and strength and permanence that fits their purpose, but execute well. Care about the execution.

  11. #26
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    May 2018
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    Lancaster, Ohio
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Demuth View Post
    I agree for the most part. I'm not sure what the take-away should be, though.

    Not a single line of code that I wrote in 20s or 30s is still running in any computer. At least half of what I've done since the year 2000 is already irrecoverable history. The vast majority of what I write will only be read by a few people, and only be relevant for for a year at most.

    Yet I put a great deal of care into getting this stuff as right and fit as I can. For functional things in particular, I care about the engineering, even if it doesn't have to last for a century or more.

    I feel the same about most of what I do for myself. Design things to the level of quality and strength and permanence that fits their purpose, but execute well. Care about the execution.
    well written, definitely agree
    ron

  12. #27
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    Jun 2012
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    New Westminster BC
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    I don't build stuff for posterity, I build stuff for that first minute when the person I built for sees it for the first time and the look on their face. Also for that minute years later when I see they are still using it. (Of course as soon as I leave it may go back in the attic but what the heck the moment was good while it lasted )

  13. #28
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Upland CA
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    5,548
    My workbench story started with new doors being installed where I worked. One of the take offs was over 2" thick, solid core, and hardboard skins. It leaned against the wall at work for a couple weeks, then I tried to move it and found it was heavy and solid. I took it home.

    I had some cheap sawhorses, and made an instant workbench. I even found the door handle hole to be useful for drilling holes in boards without damaging the door. A little while later, I got some 4x4 and 2x4 material and made a framework for my 'bench'.

    Several years passed, with me using it that way, until I found some 6" wheels real cheap at a store going out of business and I installed them. Now I could wheel my bench out in the driveway, throw a tarp over it, and use it to spray paint stuff. Did a lot of that. I also made some 6x6" plywood donuts to keep the wheels from turning when not needed. Made the donut hole just the right size that the wheels drop in, and don't move. Very solid. Sprayed the whole frame white, when I painted some trim for the house.

    A couple more years passed, and I built drawers out of scrap, and mounted them under the bench, along with a WW vise on one end. Time passed again, and I removed the bench top (door), and replaced it with two layers of 3/4" particle board with a birch trim around the edges, and a 1/4" thick white melamine work surface. That was almost 15years ago, and I really should replace that melamine surface someday.

    This whole process started in 1980, and I have absolutely no reason to replace it. I know it is not a 'real' woodworkers bench, but it has worked well for me, and is still rock solid.

    The moral of this story is "Just DO something". Your needs will change over the years anyway.
    Rick Potter

    DIY journeyman,
    FWW wannabe.
    AKA Village Idiot.

  14. #29
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    Longview WA
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    Practice, practice and more practice will pay off. You a!so learn by repairing/fixing mistakes as you go.
    Part of enjoying woodworking is knowing most mistakes can be repaired or ignored. Most of the time others will not notice them. Mistakes are a part of life. How one deals with their mistakes can be the difference between happiness and misery.

    One of my recent big mistakes was done to a half blind dovetailed drawer front. Someone mentioned using a forestner bit for removing waste. My aim was way off on which was waste and what wasn't:

    The Mistake.jpg

    My first thought of course was to cut a new piece and start over. Then after a chuckle it occurred to me this side would be pointed to a wall and no one would see it. At worst if it was a piece on commission the front could be recut and the lesson learned of not trying to come up with quicker ways or speed through the work. If it is supposed to be enjoyable, don't rush.

    Much of my woodworking is improved by stopping and thinking about the work instead of trying to hurry up and get it done. Often after a short time in the shop.

    My first workbench was used by me for ten years and then passed on to my Brother. When he sold his house and he moved, he left it in his garage with the other built cabinets and shelves. I am pretty sure at this point it is in the landfill.
    I got enjoyment from building and using it and he used it for many years. Was it perfect, no, but it was enjoyable to make.
    My father made a workbench in the 1950s. It was in his place of business for years. It came to me and was kept dry and safe yet unused. A friend was able to use it so it was in his garage for many years. When he sold his house last year the buyers were happy to have it.

    For me the best part of the story is having the vise that used to be on it:

    Bench Vise.jpg

    From online sources the ball for the handle became a cylinder in 1936.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  15. #30
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
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    E TN, near Knoxville
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    Part of enjoying woodworking is knowing most mistakes can be repaired or ignored. Most of the time others will not notice them. Mistakes are a part of life. How one deals with their mistakes can be the difference between happiness and misery.
    ...
    A bunch of decades ago I learned the lesson about dealing with mistakes and defects that don't affect function. I discovered that when making things for myself, once in use I never noticed or even thought of defects again. And unless glaring, no one else ever noticed. The stress of perfectionism is replaced by the joy of life

    When making things for gifts or to show as examples (or to sell, which is almost never) I do want the craftsmanship to be exceptional, for example the form, smoothing and finish of woodturnings.

    JKJ

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