It’s the little things
The main thing we want in the shop is for things to go right, but that doesn’t always mean something major. The minor things are sometimes the best. I’ve had…
The main thing we want in the shop is for things to go right, but that doesn’t always mean something major. The minor things are sometimes the best.
I’ve had a perfect day in the shop, using tools, completing a project or basically just doing-it-myself when I can celebrate one of the following:
• Measuring twice and not getting something different.
• Cutting something wrong, but it works out anyway because I measured wrong.
• Remembering that black = hot, and white = neutral without having to look it up.
• Managing to cut no more than one extension cord when trimming shrubbery.
• A small piece of scrap exactly the right size, and the correct species.
• Dropping a chisel, and the handle end hits the floor instead of the cutting end.
• Minimal glue squeeze-out.
• Assembling a tool that came with an extra screw/bolt/nut instead of being one short.
• The phone rings after completing a tricky glue-up, not in the middle of it.
• The only kickback experienced after a long day involves a recliner and a cold beer.
A.J.
A.J. Hamler is the former editor of Woodshop News and Woodcraft Magazine. He's currently a freelance woodworking writer/editor, which is another way of stating self-employed. When he's not writing or in the shop, he enjoys science fiction, gourmet cooking and Civil War reenacting, but not at the same time.