Ever feel like chucking the whole thing?

[Dan Karachio]

Not to be a whiner, but lately nothing I do in the shop is working. Having taken music lessons in the past, this kind of frustration is usually a sign that I am about to bump up in skills, but it's a pain and frustrating. As a pathetic exercise in self pity, I actually priced out all my tools for what I might get for them on Craig's List! So, instead of whining and cleaning up the shop over and over, I am pushing on, but I hope it ends soon. FYI, my two stumbling blocks are in cutting clean and accurate dovetails and mortise/tenons - by hand, with a router, a table saw, bandsaw... just need to find what works for me.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Dan,

I have been there periodically throughout my life in more areas than just woodworking in my shop.

Currently I am experiencing a similar problem finishing a table I built for my wife.

It has a lot of firsts on it for me but the old "finishing" problem is biting me again.

Couple that with going deaf now and running up against insurance company constraints yesterday. My patience is wearing thin.

And yet, I 'll strip the lacquer off that table top and get it done right. I will either get a fix for my hearing or learn to deal with being deaf.

I have outlived my father by 15 years already. I have 3 wonderful kids, 7 wonderful grand-kids, 4 wonderful great-grand-kids with another on the way....and life is good.

I will beat this finishing problem and learn a lot along the way.

You will overcome your problems too!

[Dan Karachio]

Hi Ken. Now I feel like a spoiled brat for whining about wood working!

I'm not going to pretend to know everything about how to handle your hearing, but I can tell you from family experience this - that you are acknowledging it is no small thing and will make things easier for you and your family. My mother in law cannot hear, but she will not acknowledge it. She simply refuses to accept it and yet we all yell in her face and she misunderstands people all the time, including doctors, because she cannot hear them (leading to more misery). We want to help, we want to talk to her, but by being afraid to admit it and deal with it, she is actually shutting herself out from everyone. If she had a different attitude, she would be happier. Does this make sense?

Okay, I will tackle my skills issues and best of luck to you on that finish! I'm sure you will lick it!

[Andrew Arndts]

I hear your anguish man... We all go through it.
If I can parallel Wood working to performing Comedy...
A comedian will be working on ones routine for 10 years until they find their voice. Now I would have to say that a wood worker can very easily take 10 years to define a particular style or method but more often I would assume that it would take much less time.

My Grandfather had a sign in his office that read, "The hurrier you go, the behider you get." He also had a saying, Patience is a virtue. "Possess it if you can. It is seldom found in woman, and never found in man."

If anything, take a break from dovetails. perhaps as short as a week. Find your focus.

[Brian Ashton]

I just turned to my wife and asked her how many times have I wanted to sell off all the tools and throw it away. She says it's at least 6 times in the past 15 years. Sometimes the tools are not touched for a year but I always end up come back to them.

I've been at it since I was 12, I'm 46 now, and(!) I still can't cut great fitting dovetails. Just did some last night and they suck! But! I have really learned how to hide the loose fitting ones! Personally I really couldn't careless if they're tight or not anymore. I no longer do woodwork for a living so it really doesn't matter anymore.

Don't sweat it. It'll come. Lower your expectations to where you do it because you want to and enjoy it not because you want to be able to compare with someone else's skills. If there's no joy in it then put the tools away till you find you have the desire again.

[John Coloccia]

Sometimes it's good to take a deep breath and get back to basics. I do this a lot when a machine starts acting funny. I start from square one and methodically make sure it's setup properly. Sure enough, I'll find something that's drifted just a tiny bit. That gets fixed and things are good again.

Maybe forget the joinery for a couple of hours and make sure all your tools are tuned so that wood comes out with faces that are parallel, edges that are square and everything straight. Precision work starts with precision stock preparation. When I goof, it's almost always because some edge somewhere wasn't straight or parallel.

Anyhow, it's a great feeling of satisfaction with I can go to whatever machine I want, make a cut, slap a straight edge or a square on it and have it be, for all intents and purposes, perfect. It's one less thing to worry about.

[Harold Burrell]

I remember when I was a kid. My dad passed away when I was 14. Tough time for a guy to lose his dad...

My mom remarried 3 years later. And in the "adjustment" time with my step-father, he tried to teach me to golf.

I sucked.

However, as much as I hated it, I refused to give up (I am horribly competitive). And then...it happened. I still vividly remember hitting the shot. It was a beauty. And I remember thinking, "Hey...I can do this!"

The same feeling has come on occassion with my newest endeavour...woodworking. I remember the first time I tried handcut dovetails (actually, the first several times). They were horrific. Something out of the Flintstones. But I perservered...ugh.

And then, I got it. It worked. I made a box that was nearly perfectly fitting. And I thought once again, "Hey...I can do this!"

Keep at it. You'll get it. The failures make the successes all the sweeter. AND you will grow in the process.

BTW: This vid really helped me...
http://www.woodworkingonline.com/200...obby-pedersen/

[Rod Sheridan]

"Ever feel like chucking the whole thing?"

Yes, every time I make two lefts instead of a pair, or realise that although the 3/4" and 5/8" forstner bits are beside each other in the box, the 5/8" bit is the one with 5/8" marked UNDER the bit location.

I chuckle everytime I watch the credits at the end of The WoodWright's Shop.

You can see an outake where Roy is looking at a partially completed Windsor chair, and he tosses it in the scrap.

It makes me chuckle every time I see, because we all have those moments.

Keep forging on, the fact that you've asked the question means you're thinking about the process, that's a good thing.

Regards, Rod.

[John Coloccia]

"Ever feel like chucking the whole thing?"

Yes, every time I make two lefts instead of a pair, or realise that although the 3/4" and 5/8" forstner bits are beside each other in the box, the 5/8" bit is the one with 5/8" marked UNDER the bit location.

I chuckle everytime I watch the credits at the end of The WoodWright's Shop.

You can see an outake where Roy is looking at a partially completed Windsor chair, and he tosses it in the scrap.

It makes me chuckle every time I see, because we all have those moments.

Keep forging on, the fact that you've asked the question means you're thinking about the process, that's a good thing.

Regards, Rod.

Somewhere sitting in my dumpster is 4 or 5 guitar necks, several bodies, etc etc. All happy little accidents. I refer to them as "prototypes" but only because I didn't get it right the first time. LOL.

[glenn bradley]

I eased a lot of pain by collecting old pallets and any other usable cast offs. I did (and still do) use this material for mock ups and test runs on new techniques or designs. A pallet runner would not make a good practice board for dovetails but, when it comes to dovetails, I am not driven by them. I use them occasionally but they are fussy for me and so I generally design without them.

You may want to reconsider what you are trying to make at this stage in your work. After a large or taxing project I will routinely make a batch of small boxes, picture frames or do-whats-itz just for diversion. I do not persue the curlyque styles but would probably become quickly frustrated if I went after a crowned highboy with eagle-clawed feet. I have never done this type of work and skills need practice to develop.

Breath, cancel the CL ad, relax and have some fun ;-)

[Mitchell Andrus]

Self-improvement isn't supposed to be easy. Watching TV.... now THAT'S easy.

PM me your address, I'll swap you a 32" TV for all of your tools to settle your nerves. Saturday is good for me.

BTW, I too studied music, took lessons. 2 hours/day for two years got me into a few jazz and swing bands on the sax. Pain/reward.
.

[Ben Franz]

I think getting frustrated with oneself is close to a universal life experience. Not to over-generalize but, people attracted to craft activities like woodworking seem to be more suceptible to self criticism - we are detail oriented and any "mistake" or imperfection can be very upsetting. Maybe it's just unavoidable. I try to let go of my fixation on perfection as I get older but it isn't easy. Compare it to an activity like golf: If you play like I do, a round of golf is maybe 95% failure with 2 or 3 successes and that's what keeps it interesting.

[Chris Padilla]

I thought everyone's stuff turned out perfect the first time. Mine does.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I thought everyone's stuff turned out perfect the first time. Mine does.

In your dreams Padilla.....only in your dreams....


and this from a guy who has curtains on his shop windows too!

[Chris Padilla]

In your dreams Padilla.....only in your dreams....


and this from a guy who has curtains on his shop windows too!

My God, those curtains have been gone for like 5 years!!! I think I know what to get you for your shop for Christmas, Ken....hehehe