We’re past the halfway point of Get Woodworking Week now, and the interest is running wild. The posts on other blogs have been top notch, and I’ve been happy to be a small part of this new endeavor.
Now, what do you think one of the biggest reasons people give for not trying woodworking? The cost? That they never tried it? Or… could it be the fear of making mistakes?
Believe me, when it comes to making mistakes, I’m the poster child. If there is a mistake I have not yet made in a woodworking project, stay tuned. I’m bound to do it at least once during my time writing the blog. If you want to see one of my worst foul ups, check this out:
Remember, though, it’s not important that you have failed… what’s most important is how you recover from your mistakes. A child will fall down dozens of times learning to walk… but, we celebrate when she succeeds at taking her first steps.
While you think about not letting your fear of mistakes hold you back, check out some of these awesome articles that have been submitted for Get Woodworking Week:
- The Joiner’s Apprentice: Preparing rough stock for a project
- The Penultimate Workshop: Peter Get Woodworking
- Matt’s Basement Workshop: Get Woodworking Week 2012
- The Digital Woodworker: Building a Japanese workbench
If I didn’t make mistakes, I wouldn’t be woodworking!
I usually spend more time figuring out how to fix my screw-ups than I do actually building stuff in the first place. And I’m constantly evolving as a woodworker, so I’m constantly making new mistakes.
Woodworking is a learning experience and learning (REAL learning) is just a series of learning from mistakes. As Tom mentioned, learning to walk is almost impossible to do without falling over. A lot. Similarly, I don’t know anyone who can pick up a saw and hand-cut dovetails on their first try. It’s a series of trying and failing and adjusting. Sure, Roy Underhill can bang out a dozen perfect dovetails in 2 minutes, but he spent a LOT of time screwing up dovetails to get to that point…
Another information packed blog entry Tom.
“Get Woodworking Week” is going great !
Thanks.
And, as far as mistakes go, “who, me” ?!
(Let’s just say my burn pile is in no danger of running out any time soon!) lol
What do they say, Brian? Real experience comes from not getting everything right the first time…
We woodcarvers have an expression: There are no mistakes in woodcarving, just smaller carvings.
Love the T-shirt!
On occasion I remind my wife that the difference between a woodworker and a craftsman is that a craftsman knows how to fix his mistakes.