"Sloppy habits do not stay contained. They bleed into everything else you do in the shop."
Exactly! It's that mindset that always asks How little can I get away with? It's that mindset that never lets you improve because your heart's not in it ... not really -- when everything is just another bothersome task, done reluctantly. Where's the fun in that?
The true game is: How well can I do this? How good can I get?
“…an inelegant thing to do” damn, you Canadians are absolutely brutal!
I love the sentiment though. A former supervisor of mine who taught me a lot used to say “the difference between an amateur job and a professional job are in the details.”
Yeah I see people using them in videos for cabinets and some furniture to muscle in self-drill screws but it just seems excessive and loud. Definitely moosing it. I feel like if my little CXS drill can’t sink it I’m doing something wrong.
Fantastic peice! The idea that how we handle throwaway work shapes our entire practice hits harder when its backed by physics. I ran into this same thing teh first time a jig split on me mid-cut because i skipped that one extra step. Fasinating how Fortune's framing of elegance turned it into a mindset thing rather than just technique.
Little shortcuts have a way of becoming default behavior. In my opinion, slowing down doesn’t make the work precious, it makes it predictable. And predictable is usually what keeps things clean, tight, and stress-free. Great post!
"Sloppy habits do not stay contained. They bleed into everything else you do in the shop."
Exactly! It's that mindset that always asks How little can I get away with? It's that mindset that never lets you improve because your heart's not in it ... not really -- when everything is just another bothersome task, done reluctantly. Where's the fun in that?
The true game is: How well can I do this? How good can I get?
Absolutely! The excitement is in the details and doing good work!
Always strive to be elegant. Michael Fortune is a great teacher.
“Always strive to be elegant.” That’s a t-shirt slogan if i’ve ever heard one!
I promise to be elegant from this point forward. No moossing for me.
Moosing is only acceptable in rugby scrums!
I feel you’re being remiss if you don’t follow-up with a short discussion on moose-knuckling.
You will have to join a different website for that sir! 😂
“…an inelegant thing to do” damn, you Canadians are absolutely brutal!
I love the sentiment though. A former supervisor of mine who taught me a lot used to say “the difference between an amateur job and a professional job are in the details.”
We can be! 😂
How do you feel about impact drivers in the woodshop?
I have one but it usually only gets used on construction projects. 🤷♂️
Yeah I see people using them in videos for cabinets and some furniture to muscle in self-drill screws but it just seems excessive and loud. Definitely moosing it. I feel like if my little CXS drill can’t sink it I’m doing something wrong.
I agree. My small Bosch 12v drill is more than enough for fasteners in the shop. 🙌
Fantastic peice! The idea that how we handle throwaway work shapes our entire practice hits harder when its backed by physics. I ran into this same thing teh first time a jig split on me mid-cut because i skipped that one extra step. Fasinating how Fortune's framing of elegance turned it into a mindset thing rather than just technique.
I’m glad you enjoyed it. 🙏
Great Article. I would love to hear more Stories about Michael.
Little shortcuts have a way of becoming default behavior. In my opinion, slowing down doesn’t make the work precious, it makes it predictable. And predictable is usually what keeps things clean, tight, and stress-free. Great post!