Lessons from a first project part 1...

[Paul Kierstead]

I recently got motivated to try to put together something from what I learned from my first project. The URL for part 1 (of 2 I expect) is below. Note it requires a recent vintage browser (Firefox is a good option, Internet Exploiter might work, dunno) and is somewhat big if you are on dial-up.

http://web.mac.com/paulkierstead/iWeb/S ... t%201.html

PK

 

[Neomorph]

Just read you catalogue of errors and I think showing people things that can go wrong is just as much of a benefit (more so in fact). I do know that pine is a biatch to stain successfully (info from here in fact). Where did you get your pine from?

I must be one of those people who don't mind doing hinges because I always find that morticed hinges are easier than surface mounting. Maybe it's because the mortice stops the hinge sliding when marking the holes.

Making a dry fit to ensure there are no gaps that need filling and that everything is square removes the necessity for filling heh.. Took me a while of making mistakes to finally figure that out. Stop block jigs on my mitre saw and tablesaw have made cutting stock to exactly the same dimensions a doddle.

All in all the best lesson was finding this forum though... learned a lot here that's for sure.

 

[Philly]

Paul
I think you are being a bit hard on yourself-the project came out well. And I think you learned some real lessons!
When it comes to timber it matters not where you buy it-it must be conditioned in your workshop for a number of weeks before use (if you want a predictable result) It also helps if your workshop has similar conditions to the final resting place of the piece-you can then almost guarantee a happy result.
I look forward to seeing your next project. I'm sure you will avoid most of these problems this time.
Best regards
Philly

 

[Alf]

Paul,

I'm speechless at your willingness to lie on the woodworking couch and poor out all your troubles for the benefit of fellow woodworkers. Thank you. Some good stuff there - not least that despite your catalogue of faults my first thought was "what a nicely done project", so maybe one lesson we need to learn is it's seldom as bad to everyone else as it is to us (the maker). Thank goodness... :lol:

Cheers, Alf

 

[Paul Chapman]

A really helpful post, Paul, and a great tip on how to deal with a fat cat :lol:

Paul

 

[Chris Knight]

Paul,
Well done. I am sure this post will help a lot of people. By the way, your project turned out well in any case!

 

[dedee]

Paul, the man (or woman) who never made a mistake never made anything.

I am sure the casual observer would not notice those character defects.

thanks for sharing

Andy

 

[MikeW]

I'm with everyone else here, Paul.

You should see the first piece of furniture I ever built! Heck, you should see some I threw into the fire last year.

We're often harder on ourselves than we ought to be. I keep using my first wall-mounted tool cabinet. I could have built a new one, but it does hold my tools. It is a reminder to me where I started. There will be plenty of things you build which will remind you of how far you advance.

Take care, Mike

 

[syntec4]

Paul, all those little 'defects' in my projects are what I have learnt to call 'character'. Thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it. ;-)

I really like the finish that you achieved with pine. I find it quite difficult to make pine look nice.

Its a great piece anyway, I would love that in my kitchen.
Thats the sort of post we beginners can learn something from, thanks for sharing.
Lee.

 

[Alf]

I keep using my first wall-mounted tool cabinet. I could have built a new one, but it does hold my tools.

Good lord, Mike. I don't believe it. I didn't think anyone built their first tool cabinet large enough. :lol: Oh wait, you didn't say all your tools...

Cheers, Alf

 

[wizer]

Thanks Paul, was an interesting read and I really like the end result. I wish I had enough room in my kitchen for something like that. Do you find the onions and potatoes keep well in it?

 

[Gill]

I reckon you're being too hard on yourself. It's good that you've learned lessons from the project, but don't forget to reflect on your successes too. There are some very nice joints on the project, for instance.

Gill

 

[Neomorph]

Just re-reading my last comment and it didn't come out like I meant. I meant to say that I learned some pretty good lessons here and your lessons are a good addition to the wealth of knowledge here.

... and like others here have said, for a first project it's pretty damned good and it's obviously doing the job it was made for. Everyone learns better through mistakes imho.

 

[Paul Kierstead]

Just re-reading my last comment and it didn't come out like I meant. I meant to say that I learned some pretty good lessons here and your lessons are a good addition to the wealth of knowledge here.

No, that is exactly how I took your comments, it came across perfectly well.

Thanks to everyone for there comments! To clarify: I really don't mind the mistakes, but I am an "analytical learner" and these sorts of exercises help re-enforce my knowledge. I have had a critical eye on my own work all my life and it no longer bothers me at all; observe, learn, move on. Several projects later (all for friends, heh, I learned to experiment on them...) the lessons learned helped quite a bit. I try to live life without regrets and don't mind making mistakes, so long as I don't make them *too* many times

As to the wood: It was dried and in my house for a year before that project. It has since aged about 3 or 4 more years and is just now getting less 'pitchy' and behaving a little better. I have also gotten a lot more aggressive about tossing iffy bits for firewood.

Effectiveness: It works ok. The stuff is still in a relatively warm kitchen, but it is better then being in a drawer or plastic bag. The lower drawers tip out (the upper one is just a door) which I think is a bad idea since it loses an awful lot of space, especially for potatoes which tend to be in larger quantity. And once a potato went over the back edge of a drawer...that was an adventure. And beyond that, I generally stock at least 2 varieties of potato's, so I don't have enough space.

 

[matt]

Some mistakes we learn to avoid, others we just get better at disguising, and then there are those that turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

These days I take a much more pragmatic approach when predicting which flaws are likely to be OK in the end and those that need dealing with earlier on in a project. For example, I made a panelled cupboard door the other day that was slightly out of square. It was pre-glue but, rather than make it perfect, I went and double checked the cupboard and found that it too was slightly out of square. Neither notice.

My second best lesson was to keep checking. For example, perhaps just a few more strokes of the plane to make the door fit, save myself having to keep hanging it to check... You can guess the rest.

Learning is one of the most fun parts, second only to buying tools :lol: