LumberJocks Woodworking Forum banner

So am I too hard on myself??

2K views 27 replies 20 participants last post by  Smitty_Cabinetshop 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Thought I would throw this out there for everyone to share their experiences. Am I the only one who, sometimes, has to start over on a project, make a new part due to being a lug head, or make several trips back to the hardware store to buy more supplies because I hosed something up? I find myself, more times than I would like to admit, saying things like.."Come on you dip ******************** pay attention" or "How many times did you measure that and you still cut it wrong" or throw a piece of wood across the shop because you carefully took your time and proceed to screw it up anyways. My favorite saying to myself is "Tod how can you be so stupid when this should be easy.

I would love to hear about others trials and tribulations to, maybe, make me feel a little better.
 
#3 ·
Am I the only one who, sometimes, has to start over on a project, make a new part due to being a lug head, or make several trips back to the hardware store to buy more supplies because I hosed something up?- trifive
No. That's one of the ways we learn.

Dare I guess there's an influence in your past that has been overly hard on you and expected you to not make mistakes?
 
#4 ·
i dont think ive had a whole day in the shop and not made at least one boo boo,most are small and no big deal but sometimes….....well let me just say it's part of the learning process and dont spend time worrying about it,just learn and try not to repeat what went wrong.
 
#5 · (Edited by Moderator)
"Good judgement is the result of experience. A lot of experience is the result of bad judgement."

That holds true with woodworking, too. One thing I have had to learn is when it's just an oops and when I need to walk away and do something else. I'm more cognizant of when my mind is wandering and mistakes likely to happen. Not that long ago, I would try to push through and make things worse. Now, I find that it's OK to put something aside and do a task that requires less concentration, like cleaning up or simple equipment maintenance. If all else fails, I can just take a nap. :)
 
#8 ·
It doesn't help that I am a super perfectionist…..got that one from my dad. We both, when doing home repair to furniture building, would show people the finished result and proceed to point out all of the flaws and perceived mistakes. Most people say if you hadn't pointed it out we never would have noticed.
 
#10 ·
It happens, usually when I stay up to late and get up to early, two cups of coffee and I figure I'm ready, NOT. I have often measured twice and cut once, oops the tape measure was upside down and I took the 6 for a 9, oh well measure 4 times and cut twice, LOL.
 
#11 · (Edited by Moderator)
If I can, I NEVER use a tape measure. Story sticks, measured blocks, and anything except a tape to make cuts.

Go in with 10 fangers, and come out the same is my goal. I don't know anyone that doesn't make a mistake once in a while. The more you make, the better educated you become, and with that you will make less, but this is always looking forward 3 steps, and sometimes you are so busy looking at one thing, another goes zip, and gets past ya.

Someone tells you they NEVER make a mistake, well, Mom told me to never call anyone a liar SO….......
 
#13 ·
It doesn t help that I am a super perfectionist…..got that one from my dad. We both, when doing home repair to furniture building, would show people the finished result and proceed to point out all of the flaws and perceived mistakes. Most people say if you hadn t pointed it out we never would have noticed.

- trifive
There are flaws and mistakes, and then there are character features. If you have to point it out for someone, it's not a flaw, it's character.
 
#14 ·
well now, didn't realize i was in a club with such talented indviduals, hehehe, i've make my share of uh ohs, forgot to pick up this and that, made mutiple trips in just one day to discover i still hadn't accomplished a goal. so, it happens, i jsut start off on another adventure and hope it ends well.
life happens for sure.
Rj in az
 
#15 ·
You want a test of patience….try being a perfectionist and dealing (everyday) with a shop full of OTHER peoples mistakes, as well as your own.

I'm surprised I've never gone to jail….
 
#17 · (Edited by Moderator)
To somewhat misquote Alexander Pope "To err is human, to ADMIT it takes a BIG person." C'mon now, we ALL make mistakes, probably more frequently than we'd like. There are a variety of reasons, being tired, trying to rush something, whatever. Stop the self flagellation. it happens. We can TRY to minimize our boo-boos, but that's about all. Let's face it, sometimes the wood itself doesn't seem to want to be worked nicely.
If civilization as we know it won't crumble, or the sun won't rise in the morning because of your mistake, THEN you can worry about it. Otherwise, forget it. I was recently using some old pine with an aged look for a small project, and was trying to be very careful as I only had about enough of this old wood to do the job and tried to make it come out nicely. Naturally, I cut some of the pieces a little too short. (insert cussing here) Later that evening, an idea came to me of how I could use the pieces I'd cut, making a stepped or rabbeted effect on my project, adding a little more visual interest. Lemons into lemonade.
I would only ask you to remember two things when you start getting hard on yourself: 1. God put an eraser on the end of a pencil for a REASON, we're gonna make mistakes, and 2. You have a woodstove to get rid of any REALLY bad screw-ups.
 
#18 · (Edited by Moderator)
My wife measures projects by the number of trips to the store, but I continue to look at it as learning, and there is no such thing as "Free" education… And sometimes a screw up can result in learning a new skill to make the fix or make the project cooler with the mends, see the patches on my entertainment center.

+ my sig line too!
 
#19 ·
Mistakes are merely design opportunities. Opportunities that abound in my shop. Since I rarely work from a plan and, like therealSteveN, never use a tape measure, I'm free to incorporate my mistakes. But, sometimes the biggest mistake is getting out of bed. Some days are like that.
 
#20 ·
Sigh of relief…..sounds like I have lots of company. One thing that helps me is knowing that most people don't know the difference between a rabbit joint and a rabbit smoking a joint. So if there is a a little gap here or a missed spot there while sanding only I will notice it….most people think the project looks great.
 
#21 ·
Hahahaha…. Woodworking play on words, don't see it to often, good one. The majority of people weather they notice or not can recognize an honest effort in an imperfect world when they see one. Theirs always that one character for whom the glass is always half MT though.
 
#22 ·
You want a test of patience….try being a perfectionist and dealing (everyday) with a shop full of OTHER peoples mistakes, as well as your own.

I m surprised I ve never gone to jail….

- Tony_S
My 13 year old son is working for me this summer. Im certain I'm go to jail.

What has helped me is to stick to a system. It has drastically reduced mistakes building wise.

Now if I could stop effing up anything I spray.
 
#23 ·
I make plenty of mistakes, I'm just happy when they don't result in a trip to the ER. Still have all my fingers, but most of them have scars. Fixing mistakes on a project is a lot easier and cheaper.

As others have mentioned, sometimes you just have to walk away for a while. Sweep the floor, put away tools, sketch out the next project, or, my favorite, go take a nap.

I'm sure I read it here and I'll probably mess it up but: "The true craftsman knows how to turn mistakes into design features."
 
#25 ·
I'm sure I read it here and I'll probably mess it up but: "The true craftsman knows how to turn mistakes into design features."

-Sawdust Maker

thats always been my method-lol
 
#26 ·
My cabinet maker Grandfather would never admit to having made a mistake, especially in his older years. If you asked him about something in the shop that didn't look quite right, HIS response was "I'm not finished with that yet. I've got something on my mind to do with it……" We youngster in the family knew that he'd screwed up and wasn't gonna admit it, so while our official response was "Oh, that explains it…" or similar, we would secretly chuckle about it.
Feel free to use that quote when something doesn't quite go as planned.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top