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Does there ever come a time when we quit making mistakes?

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2K views 27 replies 21 participants last post by  Woodbutchery 
#1 ·
Does there ever come a time when we quit making mistakes?

I just finished making cuts on the head piece of a king-size bed frame and when I placed it up against the wall after the cuts were made, I noticed that it seemed shorter than the footboard piece. That's when I realized that my drawing in sketchup, which I came in to reference, had said [6', 6 1/2" ] and my brain had remembered [72 1/2"].

In this design, I can fix it and it won't even be seen, but it's annoying. Mostly because I thought I was past this type of mistake. I've got a fix for future projects, etc., but what it comes down to is that it's just personally embarrassing.

On the other side of that, I was able to quickly get past the annoyance factor and figure out the fix.
 
#3 ·
I think the occasional mistake comes with the territory. It sounds like you did all the right things, like having a detailed plan. It is unfortunate when it ruins a large assembly.
Remember, a destroyed king bed is still a wonderful queen bed!
 
#4 ·
My wife told me I quit making mistakes when she decided to marry me. She doesn't allow me to think anymore on my own and without help.
When things happen to me like what happened to you I just call it a design feature or a change order and go on.
 
#5 ·
When I was in high school a shop teacher said to me if don't make mistake how can you learn. It took me alot off years and mistake to find out what it met. What it means to me is mistakes teach us we can read books and listen to teacher and instructor . But it is are mistake that show what we did wrong and the next project we build we keep that mistake in mind and don't make it again. Mistake are a part of any trade that why they call it experience. You experience it learned from . Then there is complacence if I got spell right and that is another blog lol.
 
#8 ·
So far the answer is almost exactly what I imagined.

Once upon time I let myself be moved to inaction for fear of MAKING the mistake. Now I make it and move on.

Since this is the back panel of the frame, I figure I'll add a 2nd piece of one of the cut-offs to the end with a couple of boards on the outside to provide stiffness, and shore up the inside with a piece that will help act as support for the slats as well. Again, since all of this will remain unseen, it was mostly the smack-myself-on-the-forehead for having overshot the cuff.

Gotta share - there's someone on the LJ list that's got a tag line with "no matter how many times I cut it, it still comes up short". As I was thinking through all of this, I remembered that line and was able to laugh WHILE figuring out what to do about it.

You are all a great inspiration for the many projects I've seen on the board, and for the words of encouragement.

Thanks.
 
#9 ·
Every project I still make some sort of bone-headed mistake. It's frustrating! The current project I'm working on is a large cabinet for the bathroom; I carefully marked and cut dovetails for the carcase and then meticulously (so I thought!) marked the shelf layout, which is asymetrical and stopped dados so I'd only have one shot to get it right. Lined it all up, painstakingly checked and double checked my measurements, made all the cuts and then spread the glue….went to assemble it and realized that I'd flipped one of the sides the wrong way…messed up the shelf layout….had to leave the shop for the day after that one. The upside is that I'm gettting good at covering mistakes!
 
#11 ·
In my line of work, I write a lot of instructions for people to put things together, or to test them. I've been doing it for many years (the designing, writing and assembly and testing) and I still make mistakes. The only difference is that people know the quality of my work and don't spend a lot of time verifying it, so when something fails, it is colossal, costing time and schedule. That hasn't happened in at least a week. ;) Our experience gives us a way to continue while the mistake is corrected.

The difference between a novice and an experienced person at a given task is that the novice's work has more mistakes. The most experienced people make fewer mistakes, on average, but that is all.

Long story short, you will keep making mistakes. Rely on it. I don't like it when I do, either, but that's life.
 
#12 ·
I never make mistakes, just unintended design modifications. My biggest mistake comes from reading the wrong side of a number. Ie I know I have to draw a line at 52 & 7/8 and instead draw it at 51&7/8 just seeing that 52 as closer. I
know immediately what my screw up is.
 
#13 ·
I gave up that notion a long time ago. I consider myself very good at measuring, calculating, etc, but I still make mistakes. Usually I can work around the mistakes. Sometimes have to scrap the piece and start over. Just part of the price of doing business. Usually I can use the messed up piece for a smaller part.
 
#14 ·
You can avoid mistakes if you are willing to keep making the same thing every time. You will become a master at that one thing and it will eventually be as near perfect as it is humanely possible. There are actually many craftsmen and artists who do this, many of them highly successful. Personally this would not be for me, as the fun I get from woodworking is learning new things all the time. But we are all different and what satisfies one person might not work for someone else.
 
#22 ·
For me this type of mistake falls under the category of what I call "project tunnel vision" When I'm working on a project, I very often get so absorbed in the minutiae of the part I'm currently working on that I fail to take a step back and reconsider the big picture often enough. This lack of perspective causes me to make the most boneheaded mistakes, something I just smack myself in the head over after I do it. To combat this, I force myself to stop and regain perspective right before I begin any dimensioning or shaping. It helps, believe me.

As far as Sketchup goes, I just print the darn thing out and take it into the shop with me because I am quite certain that I cannot remember my own name from one moment to the next.

And no, you will never stop making mistakes. At this point I've come to realize that some of my worst mistakes have become "opportunities" for a new project.
 
#23 ·
My previous answer was obviously facetious, but here is what I communicated to students when I was still teaching.

A mistake or error only becomes failure if you don't learn from it.

The example I used for students was snow skiing. World class Olympic athletes fall all the time as they push to be better (faster in their world). When skiing the first time, I fell on the bunny hill. It didn't take long to master that, so pushed to harder runs, fell again, mastered those, and then moved on to falling on the intermediate slopes. Lather, rinse, repeat.

When we push ourselves to improve, we will err, learn from that and do better the next time. As a woodworker, or any other activity that involves skill, if you are no longer making mistakes, then it means you are only doing things you know how to do and not learning. Personally, I don't like bunny hill level woodworking, so will embrace errors and the lessons learned as part of the route to improvement.
 
#25 ·
I always have to check,double check,triple check my measurements because I'm some what dyslectic, but I still make mistakes .The difference between a novice and an experienced woodworker the novice only has two choices ,start over or give up and experienced woodworker can find a fix for the problem,just like you have.
 
#26 ·
I walked to the shop this morning. I needed 4 pieces of ash cut at a 6 1/4" width. It was rough edges so my plan was to make the first cut a quarter inch to big and the second cut at 6 1/4", so I made the first cut a 6". And, I did it on all 4 pieces. A flawed plan at best.
 
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