Over the holidays, I was hand-cutting some dovetails for an upcoming magazine project, and I didn’t split the line well enough while sawing a set of pins. The joint fit together, but it was way too loose. A disappointing fail. I took a day off from that frustration to consider what I had done wrong, then chopped off those pins and re-marked them to give it another go. Thankfully, my second attempt was much better! The joint fit together with a few mallet taps and no ugly gaps this time.
My mistake brought to mind a quote I recently read by Arnold Schwarzenegger: “Choose progress and not perfection because no one is perfect.” There’s a guy who has spent his whole life setting goals and making progress toward achieving them. The quote stuck with me…maybe just so it could come to mind with my next little shop mishap!
Perhaps you have set some woodworking goals for 2024. Some of them, like hand-cut dovetails, can be pretty challenging. We’re all bound to make a few mistakes while we try to improve our skills. And there will be frustrations, you can be sure of it. But how about we aim for progress instead of perfection? Because sticking with it, and making small steps toward better outcomes, is where the real satisfaction lies.
Chris Marshall, Woodworker’s Journal
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