Obsessive Accuracy...

[robinson46176]

Not something I get accused of very often... Now and then I like to poke at the subject with a sharp stick just for fun and this is just such a poke.
I believe that it is something that can become a risk to most that take on woodworking as a hobby. We are constantly bombarded with ads for all manner of gizmo's and gadgets that claim to be the one single thing that will take us to the promised land of awe inspiring accuracy in our woodworking. Accuracy that will put our neighbors to shame and put the women folk into a giggling fit of rapture with its awesomeness.
I think that a lot of the problem comes from hobby woodworkers not being able to decide if they want to be a woodworking artisan or be a machine technician...
While I have an intense love affair with my machines (of all kinds) I do prefer to think of myself as more of a free-form artist than a technician.
“Ultra accuracy” in woodworking tends to hang on the hook of amateur woodworkers. Not that they cannot do far superior work than many professionals, just that they are not required to make a living at it. I keep reminding folks that “professional” only means that they do it for money. Not to be assumed is that they are automatically any good at it.
I have personally known an awfully lot of “professionals” that were not worth a crap at their job. Thinking about it with pragmatic honesty we all have to admit to knowing of several in the category. Guys that fix your car but used 7 unnecessary parts doing so and could have fixed it with one part if he had tried the right part first. In my old trade of shoe repair I had a competitor that did the job for 27 years and never was really good at it. He was capable of doing the basic work in a somewhat decent manner but just didn't care enough to put in the effort.
Never the less, in most cases in a commercial environment “ultra accuracy” is normally reserved for situations that truly demand it. Pretty much all of more casual production is based on being “good enough”... Big herds of time and money spent getting a garden hoe accurate to the nearest .001” is not conducive to high profits. I was in a professional woodworkers shop last summer for a visit and in our chat he defined one particular dimension as being "about that much" with his hand out with his thumb and index finger about 1/2" apart.
I have been threatening to make this picture for years and just decided to do it today while I was goofing off.

[ATTACH]16577[/ATTACH]


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[judaspre1982]

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[jm51]

I think that a lot of the problem comes from hobby woodworkers not being able to decide if they want to be a woodworking artisan or be a machine technician...

Not a problem for me, I am 100% a machine technician and am quite happy to leave the artisan stuff to others.

[moose]

Amen JM51! And Francis, if there ever was a man on this forum that should be listened to, it is you. There is no one that has your common sense and wisdom when it comes to experiences with machinery in general and solutions in life learned the hard way. You have a way of expressing yourself through your experiences and stories in such a way that you should have written a book about common sense woodworking. Myself? No, I'm not a woodworker although I do enjoy turning but I do not worship my SS, nor do I often talk about it or write about it. SS is a tool like any other but my life does not revolve around it, especially for the little time I may have left here. I enjoy your wisdom immensly Francis so keep it up.

[trainguytom]

Self actualization. It's different for everybody.
For some, it's art, a snug fitting hand cut dovetail.
For others, it's techno, a PERFECT fitting machine cut dovetail.
Potato, poTAHto, tomato, toMAHto

Personally, I think it's a waste of time trying to achieve metalworking dimensional accuracy for woodworking. Doesn't mean my parts fit badly.
I do a lot of final minor adjustments...tenon too small, wood plane shaving & a little glue to make it bigger...stuff like that. Doesn't cause me any stress.

Doesn't mean I don't respect the guys who need the next newest incremental thingie or sweet digital gizmo. They got theirs, I got mine.
Gee, this is kinda like going to a general woodworking forum & saying Shopsmiths are better than separate tools.

Here a poke, there a poke, everywhere a poke, poke...

[dusty]

Not something I get accused of very often... Now and then I like to poke at the subject with a sharp stick just for fun and this is just such a poke.
I believe that it is something that can become a risk to most that take on woodworking as a hobby. We are constantly bombarded with ads for all manner of gizmo's and gadgets that claim to be the one single thing that will take us to the promised land of awe inspiring accuracy in our woodworking. Accuracy that will put our neighbors to shame and put the women folk into a giggling fit of rapture with its awesomeness.
I think that a lot of the problem comes from hobby woodworkers not being able to decide if they want to be a woodworking artisan or be a machine technician...
While I have an intense love affair with my machines (of all kinds) I do prefer to think of myself as more of a free-form artist than a technician.
“Ultra accuracy” in woodworking tends to hang on the hook of amateur woodworkers. Not that they cannot do far superior work than many professionals, just that they are not required to make a living at it. I keep reminding folks that “professional” only means that they do it for money. Not to be assumed is that they are automatically any good at it.
I have personally known an awfully lot of “professionals” that were not worth a crap at their job. Thinking about it with pragmatic honesty we all have to admit to knowing of several in the category. Guys that fix your car but used 7 unnecessary parts doing so and could have fixed it with one part if he had tried the right part first. In my old trade of shoe repair I had a competitor that did the job for 27 years and never was really good at it. He was capable of doing the basic work in a somewhat decent manner but just didn't care enough to put in the effort.
Never the less, in most cases in a commercial environment “ultra accuracy” is normally reserved for situations that truly demand it. Pretty much all of more casual production is based on being “good enough”... Big herds of time and money spent getting a garden hoe accurate to the nearest .001” is not conducive to high profits. I was in a professional woodworkers shop last summer for a visit and in our chat he defined one particular dimension as being "about that much" with his hand out with his thumb and index finger about 1/2" apart.
I have been threatening to make this picture for years and just decided to do it today while I was goofing off.

[ATTACH]16577[/ATTACH]


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I guess I just don't understand. Why in the world do you own micrometers at all and no story boards.

[robinson46176]

I guess I just don't understand. Why in the world do you own micrometers at all and no story boards.

The mikes only come to the woodshop for pictures. ]16585[/ATTACH]

[shipwright]

I love the way you think Francis. I still think we may have been separated at birth.

On the topic of accuracy: Maybe the difference between amateurs and "professionals" is that professionals know form their experience what "good enough" is and amateurs, without the experience strive for more accuracy than they need because they would rather err on the safe side.

To clarify "professional" above: To me, the term means someone who has experience and has achieved a high level of competence in his chosen field. I've known lots of the guys you describe, I just wouldn't call them professionals..... just my personal definition.

To clarify "good enough" above: Now we're into something I can really rant about. I have often said that "good enough" are the two most misunderstood and wrongly maligned words in our shop vocabularies, maybe in our whole vocabularies. People say that "good enough" just isn't good enough for them. They want to be perfect. I don't get it. "Good enough" is always good enough by definition and if a bit of work requires extreme accuracy, then only extreme accuracy is "good enough".
Oh-oh, gotta stop now. I'm getting too wound up.

Just my (humble?) opinion.

Paul M

[Gene Howe]

I dare not describe my wife's apple pie, nor her quilts as Just "good enough".
I'd better have a string of superlatives at the ready when she asks my opinion, because I do like pie!:D
OTOH, my wood workin' is just good enough, and chock full of "design opportunities".

[heathicus]

I also almost never use any kind of paper plans. I would much rather just see a picture. Most of the time it is just something I see in my head. Can't explain it, it just works for me.

For me, it's a mix. If I have a clear picture in my head, then I tend to not work with paper plans and detailed, measured drawings. Much like the dice tower I built the other day. I saw a picture of one, grabbed some wood scraps, and was able to build it to my liking on the fly. No plans, no measurements ever taken.

But, just as often, I do not have a clear picture in my head. And in those cases, I find that "building" it virtually in SketchUp, or reviewing printed plans, and drawing and measuring everything out is necessary so I can get hat mental picture. Like the table saw stand and outfeed table I also built recently. I had a goal for the functionality, but didn't know how to best get there. So, SketchUp and drawings and asking questions was necessary. This probably comes from lack of experience and as I gain experience I'll do more of the building in my head and can rely on SketchUp a little less.