re: Helping Amateurs Cultivate Professional Habits

I’ve tried hard to minimize my shortcomings; though, I’m only partially successful – I’m not a naturally-gifted woodworker. I purchased precise layout tools as a first step – digital calipers that I use religiously; as well as Incra and Woodpecker T-squares and rules. I’ve moved away from my miter saw, and now use a precise cross-cut fence; I’ve upped my game on sharpening chisels and planes, so that the tool does the work, rather than me forcing a dull edge through something.
I seem to knock-about pieces: not getting them off to a safe location while I’m working on another piece: I ding them, drop them; or seem to be always moving them: and then I wonder why they look like they do.
And I know all of this.
MJCD