In my junior high shop class, the instructor insisted that we begin by planing the edge of a board. The edge had to be straight and square. I spent most of the semester trying to accomplish this.

I later realized that the plane was not sharpened or adjusted properly, making it almost impossible to accomplish that most basic task. There were some even more basic skills that needed to be taught first.

I’ve always told students or apprentices or anyone wanting to make things out of wood that basic skills were important but were only mastered by “time on task”. In the meantime, it was still possible to enjoy making. But frustration will occasionally rear its ugly head.

So, get to work on mastering those basic skills.