re: Helping Amateurs Cultivate Professional Habits

I’m in the same boat with you. I have a number of problems such as developing the patience it takes for true precision, especially when it comes to hand tools; chisels, planes etc.

I learned about planer/jointer tear-out very quickly. I didn’t launch anything across the shop, but those little teardrops in the wood told me something was wrong. If I’m unsure of which way to run something through the planer, I make sure to set it high for the first pass then check the stock for tear-out. When I’m confident, I pencil an arrow on the edge of the board if I have to make additions passes. I also learned that sometimes it’s impossible to avoid planer tear-out, especially when the grain changes direction mid-board. In that case, I either a) leave it a little thick and get ready to do a lot of sanding, or b) find another board to use.

Attention to detail is another issue. Not that I lack attention to detail always, but that I don’t know about the details until after the fact. That can only come with experience.

What I have found that helps is to make a list of things that go wrong, then figure out how to fix them next time. I try to correct the way I do things so they don’t turn into a bad habit that will lead to failure in the future.

I’m still struggling to complete my first ever project. I chose something fairly challenging, for me anyway, so I would have more opportunity to learn. Had I started with a very simple project, and pulled it off flawlessly, I would have walked into the next project over-confident. Seeing all of the mistakes I’ve made makes me stop and think before I do something. Even then, I still manage to screw some things up, but I still learn a little more.

What keeps me going is the knowledge that nobody came from the womb a master woodworker. Everyone was here at some point. I have to pay my dues like everyone else did. The key is learning from my mistakes and changing the way I work so I don’t make that mistake again. As long as I keep that mindset, and accept the quality of what I’m making for what it is, the product of a new woodworker, I won’t get discouraged, but will improve with time and experience.