When Things Go Bad!

[lonehunter]

WE all have, well, I have times when nothing goes right in the shop!

Do you keep beating your head against the wall? :BangHead: or do you walk away from the shop for a while?


Jeff

 

[CarvedTones]

I walk away if I am so frustrated that the other option seems to be head banging.

 

[Ken Massingale]

I'll be very honest, Jeff.
For too long in my life I was a guy who didn't try to control myself when things (anything) really got me frustrated. I threw things, cussed like a sailor (still working on that one, tho,) ;-) and probably scared the heck out of those close to me, and hurt them emotionally.
Something happened to change that aspect of me about 10 years ago when I got into woodworking in a serious way. I don't know if the satisfaction of starting with raw lumber and processing it into a piece that myself and others could appreciate greatly contributed to the change in my personality, or if it was coincidental in that I simply reached that point in life.
Anyway, to answer your question, I just step back and try to evaluate what the heck I did that made things go wrong, try to have a chuckle at myself and go on with fixing whatever I screwed up. :gar-Bi

ken

 

[boxxmaker]

Actually,the only time I have that problem is when I go to the shop :gar-La; But really when it starts gettin to me,I just walk away for a while,go out on the lower deck and watch the mountains,then when I wake up,I go back (sometimes) an try again :gar-Bi

 

[Trent Mason]

Ahhh..... I think we all know that feeling. :BangHead: Back when my shop was at the house, I would just cut everything off, go upstairs, open up a beer and drink it (Repeat process until you've forgotten about what went wrong in the shop :rotflm. Now that my shop is across town, I try very hard not to screw up. But inevitably, it happens. That is particularly difficult, as you have the entire drive home (in bumper to bumper traffic, no matter what day it is) to think about it. :swoon: I guess it is making me more calm and accepting of mistakes. Like Ken, I used to fly off the handle all the time whenever anything got me upset, but that is NOT a healthy way to live. So I'm trying, in every area of my life, to just chill out and take it one moment at a time. When we get so involved and have such a narrow focus, we really lose sight of the beauty in all of it. Failure is a part of life, but we have to take it in stride and overcome it. :icon_thum

 

[Mike Davis]

I'll be very honest, Jeff.
For too long in my life I was a guy who didn't try to control myself when things (anything) really got me frustrated. I threw things, cussed like a sailor (still working on that one, tho,) ;-) and probably scared the heck out of those close to me, and hurt them emotionally.
Something happened to change that aspect of me about 10 years ago when I got into woodworking in a serious way. I don't know if the satisfaction of starting with raw lumber and processing it into a piece that myself and others could appreciate greatly contributed to the change in my personality, or if it was coincidental in that I simply reached that point in life.
Anyway, to answer your question, I just step back and try to evaluate what the heck I did that made things go wrong, try to have a chuckle at myself and go on with fixing whatever I screwed up. :gar-Bi

ken

Very much like my younger days and still sometimes, trying hard to get past it.

The funny thing is everybody that meets me say I am the most laid back person they ever met.

Like a volcano, calm on the outside and churning underneath. :kamahlitu

 

[LeftyTom]

I walk away. When frustrated, I know I would try to force a cut, or some other unsafe, harebrained maneuver.

 

[Gotcha6]

Perseverance doesn't necessarily mean you can't take a period of time and reflect. If I didn't learn from my mistakes I wouldn't learn at all. Step back & take a few moments/minutes/hours/days/weeks/months to think about the problem. Once I have analyzed the problem to an acceptable solution, the rest is easy - just work.
Skills & wisdom in the shop are no more than a product of experience. Experience is what you get from mistakes.
A man that says he hasn't make mistakes in the shop just made one with me - he lied. :gar-La;

 

[scsmith42]

Most times when I get frustrated while working on a project, if I don't walk away I end up getting hurt.

Several years back I unintentionally shot a 3-1/2" ring shank nail about 3" into my hand when I was working while upset. That's not a lesson that I need to learn twice...

Scott

ps - the surgeon had the coolest pair of stainless steel vice-grip pliers (medical grade) that he used to pull it out. I tried to talk him out of them (since theoretically I paid for them), but no dice! Sure would have made an interesting addition to the tool box...

 

[Bear]

My kind of guy Ken.

 

[Bear]

Hey Mike, that is what a lot of folks say about me, until, I have to go to the garage to work on a vehicle, then the neighbors make their kids come inside and they close all the windows until I go back into the house. I finally gave up and went to the doctor and told him I wanted some happy pills. My wife loves them!

Bear

 

[Bear]

Yep, I agree, I learn so well from my mistakes that I can duplicate them perfectly.

Bear

 

[lonehunter]

I stopped throwing things a long time a go! LOL.That just meant I had to go get what I threw!

I just hate when what used to be easy is now hard and takes 4 times as long to get done.

Jeff