...... No tape measure or rulers, just eyeing up proportions and making tab A fit slot B.
Slow morning here at work waiting for quality control to finish inspecting my first piece
Brian
[OP]
Contributor
...... No tape measure or rulers, just eyeing up proportions and making tab A fit slot B.
Slow morning here at work waiting for quality control to finish inspecting my first piece
Brian
The significant problems we encounter cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.
The penalty for inaccuracy is more work
Member
Yes. all the time. The beauty of handwork is fitting one piece to the next and being able to take what the available wood presents.
~ Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they sought.
[OP]
Contributor
I've not had the opportunity to try yet, normally i know a table will be 12x18x37.high. Do you find working to set measurements confining?
The significant problems we encounter cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.
The penalty for inaccuracy is more work
Contributor
When I totally wing it and design as I go, I typically end up with something that doesn't do it's job very well and doesn't look very nice either. So I like to start with something based on measurements after working through the design. Often, the measurements on paper or sketchup are very precise but when I get to building I'll begin to deviate much like Sean described and the ruler gets a lot less use.
-- Dan Rode
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle
Member
Yeah, I don't enjoy working to a strict plan as much. Mind you I'm not completely loosey goosey - I know how high I want a table for example of the space I want a cabinet to fill of the size it needs to be to hold its intended contents. But I rarely need anything beyond a measuring tape to find such approximate sizes when I'm roughing out. And while you don't need to be whipping out micro rulers and such, you are still needing to be precise, you are just taking "measurements" directly from the piece instead of the intermediary of rulers and calipers and such.Originally Posted by Brian Hale
~ Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they sought.
Contributor
I'm often designing something for a given circumstance, so measurements are important. The only time I really just do whatever is when I'm putting together tool holders for my wall.
Bumbling forward into the unknown.
[OP]
Contributor
Many years ago (back wben Kodachrome 50 was available) i remember watching a guy layout dovetails with a compass and divider and thinking a ruler and calculator would be easier. Lately however I've come to realize that most of my mistakes in the shop are the result of poor measuring like marking 3/8 instead of 5/8 and how using a direct transfer method may help. That also ties in with using a knife instead of a pencil....
The significant problems we encounter cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.
The penalty for inaccuracy is more work
Member
It's not just about making mistakes as far as remembering the correct number - 3/8ths vs. 5/8ths. Direct marking takes out the middleman. There is no translation to numbers representing units and back again. Moreover, direct omits having to choose units at all; the choice of anything but the smallest of units - like thousandths (sheet of paper type thickness) - is less precise.
~ Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they sought.
Moderator
Almost always.
I start usually with rough measurements and dimensions for aesthetics, not for fit. I'm forever nibbling/shooting/trimming (and then of course shimming) to get things to fit. It's more fun (read, I'm too lazy to measure everything so accurately).
Member
Yes, I've begun to really enjoy working this way. As with everybody else, I always start with basic dimensions to make sure I will have an aesthetically pleasing product (though I don't always succeed to the level I'd like), but I then trim/fit everything by direct transfer. Sometimes the transfer is indirect, such as with a pair of dividers, but I generally just transfer from one piece to the other.
After spending years in a production woodshop where everything was built to measured drawings, I find this a relaxing (and more precise) way to work. Of course, if I was trying to copy an existing piece, I'd be using the tape measure a bit more.
Member
Brian.
Several years ago, after a rash of measuring mistakes, I converted from a fractional to a metric shop. It took a month or so to get completely comfortable to the point I thought in metric instead of needing to translate inches to mm. Once I was seeing and thinking mm my "mistakes" have become very rare, of course I can always find some way to mess up but measuring usually isn't one of them.
ken
[OP]
Contributor
Having been a machinist for the past 26 years precise measurements are an intimate part of me, it's how i think when I'm at work and it follows me into the shop, tough habit to break.
The significant problems we encounter cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.
The penalty for inaccuracy is more work
Contributor
For me part of the charm of old dividers is thinking about how they were used to pace off increments proportionate to the
overall project size. And it's still a good accurate way to work involving little use of rulers.
Member
I'm not a machinist, but I have a lathe. If I want to make a dowel/pin/round tenon to fit a hole, I'll drill a hole in a test plate and use it to test my work as I get close. Same if I'm making a lid or two part friction fit match container, etc. Calipers would work, but there ain't nothing like the real thing!
~ Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they sought.
[OP]
Contributor
Maybe I need to remove the calipers from my shop. I can make the tenon on the end of a stretcher fit the mortise like a piston but often the stretcher is to short. The longer measurements are where i stumble and fall
The significant problems we encounter cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.
The penalty for inaccuracy is more work
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