When is it good enough?

I have learned the hard way to try not to point out my mistakes to everyone. Most people will never notice unless it is seriously flawed. It must be practiced, it does not come naturally.

-- Maplewood, MN

Guilty also. been there and done that.

-- Hope Never fails

As long as we are never satisfied, we will continue to strive for perfection and always fail to achieve it. Excellence is a journey not a destination. In time you will look back and see how far you have come. My son-in -law and I were installing the counter top in our home.(my projects, the kitchen at 404 Blackaby). The main thing we felt so good about was how perfect we had the mitered corners on the edge band on the counter top. On the Flynn’s project it was how well we mitered the laminate. It’s not that we haven’t satisfied customers all along, it’s that these are areas we have identified as needing work towards perfection. As these things are corrected we move on to others. It’s called craftsmanship instead of workmanship.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

For me, it is good enough when I know that is the best I can do with my current skill level and the tools available to me. If I know I can do better, then I will do it over and do it better. If I know I’ve reached my own limits, then that is where I stop. But that is a learning experience for me and I carry that knowledge with me to the next project. It is how I improve my work.

My philosophy: Aim for perfection, but don’t be too hard on yourself when you don’t achieve it (which is every time, right?). My mom has a sign in her home office I quite like, as well…

“If you aim at nothing, you will hit it.”

-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/

Interesting topic. I agree with Red’s answer. It also depends on the task. I have a different standard for cabinets in my rented house than on my jewelry boxes.

-- Check out my new website! http://www.theeasellife.com

I’ll make compromises where they don’t matter; settle for less where less won’t be noticed; hide mistakes where mistakes can be hidden. If it’s in plain site where I’m going to see it? It’s a do-over. If it’s in plain site where I can live with it, and nobody else will notice, it is what it is. I do, however, reserve the right to change my mind with any and all of the above criteria, depending on how I feel at the time. After all, we’re not building guidance systems for a moon launch here, we’re building things from wood. The perfection is in the uniqueness of the piece and a little error here and there is the nature of working with a living entity.

I guess…

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

For me, it is all about how patient I am willing to be. The more time I take on every step, the better the result.

I tend to look forward to seeing the finished product, and that makes me impatient, and THAT leads to more imperfection. The longer I am at this hobby, the more I see myself slowing down to do my best and enjoy the process, rather than looking forward to the end result.

To me, woodworking is a perfect parallel of life. Live in the moment, do the next right thing, enjoy it one day at a time. Happiness isn’t a destination…. it’s a journey.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

I was asked this very question…..I flash back to a good friend who was also an artist, and taught painting.
When taking her class, I had just done my first painting and I was looking at it with brush in hand, wondering what it “needed”.

She walked over and asked if I was done…I replied “I think so, but….”. She took my brush and said “When you think you are done, STOP.” Quite often we can actually make things worse….

So thats my answer: It’s good enough when it’s good enough. When you think you are done, you are done. Walk away from it, refresh, come back and re-assess.

My .02, and worth exactly what you paid for it :)

-- If you can't set a good example, at least serve as a horrible warning... www.rarewoodcreations.com

It is a universal trait. We are never truly satisfied with our work. We tend to focus more on what we perceive as flaws rather than on the success of our work. This self critique is beneficial in that it will lead us to become better woodworkers.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

Thank you all for the feedback. All very good points that i will take to heart.

Thank you

-- Hope Never fails

I think that is all or our hope: to keep learning, to improve, to try something new. What a gift if we could all do it right the first time.

Gizmo,

I would consider it more of a curse if we could always do it right the first time. There would be no joy of discovery, of building a skill. You don’t get the satisfaction of looking at past projects and knowing how far you’ve come in your abilities. For me the journey of learning is the part I enjoy most, not what I’ve made.

-- Owen Johnson - aka IowaWoodcrafter

I reached perfection once… It was amazing.. then I woke up and found that it was just a sick nightmare. I strive for it and get close. I take pride in how well most things come out and laugh a bit about the ones that don’t

-- making sawdust....

Good point owen. But I guess I meant that tongue and cheek.

-- -John "Do I have to keep typing a smiley? Just assume it's a joke." www.flickr.com/photos/gizmodyne

Years ago I studied with Wendell Castle and a time or two I would feel as though a certain part or maybe the piece was starting to look good,Wendell would come along and I would ask him what he thought his answer is one I still use today “It’s your piece with your name on it”.That kind of puts it all into perspective for me.
So now here 20 some yrs later I have yet to build one worthy of my elusive “great piece” but I am always feel really good about signing it or it goes nowhere.

If I do my best and LOML is satisfied, so am I.

-- waroland, Mount Juliet, TN

I don’t care that much.
If it turns out O.K. the first time, great.
If it does not I’ll start over again.
This is the one area of my life that has no deadline and has to please only me in most cases.
I have worked all my life with precision and deadlines and I refuse to bring that crap into my hobby.

This doesn’t mean I wont try to do a real good job with what I’ve got.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

I’ve not yet made a perfect box, and don’t expect to.
I try and make each better than the one before.
If I’m not sure about the quality I show it to my wife and ask for an honest opinion.
Sometimes she goes straight to the fault and sometimes its only me that sees it.
Her not seeing it doesn’t make it right, just puts it in perspective for me!

A sign I saw on a recent trip may have application here:

Chase perfection; catch excellence.

Thanks to all those of you who have made me feel welcome.

Chuck

There always comes a time when the project is done…and then ya just gotta walk away. It’s done…There’s other projects waitin’, that need doin’. Frettin’ about that last project will only drive you nuts. “It’s Miller Time”!

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

I think everyone hit the nail on the head.

-- The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them

Way back when I had some fun throwing some barn wood furniture together. Just playing, took it down to the auction got $50.00 bucks out of it. It took me about three hours. At the time the money came in real handy. Remember when $50.00 was worth something? I’d just gotten my first air nail gun. Everything was butt cut and nailed. Many artist do a sketch just to work out ideas. At times we chase perfection and mlss out on creativity. We might end up with one near perfect box and lose the chance to build an inspirational piece of furniture.

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com