Woodworking Mojo?

[ByronBlack]

Is there such a thing? Has anyone lost their WW-Mojo? If so, can you tell me how to get it back, I think mine has done a runner for mexico and is not coming back!

It seems over the last month, anything I touch goes to dust or the scrap-pile! I seem capable of ruining almost anything even with the most simple procedure.

Please, someone tell me how I can recapture my Mojo, i'm running out of wood for the amount of butchering i'm inflicting!!


:twisted: :twisted:

:lol: :lol:

 

[TonyW]

Cheer up Byron. I am sure you have not lost your woodworking mojo - merely temporarily forgotten where you left it !

The scrap pile you mentioned may even be good for the long winter nights - nothing more cheery than wood on a campfire and a couple of beers, wine, whiskey, vodka etc etc.

One way of getting it back may be to look in the Axminster catalogue page by page then put in a nice order - spending money seems to work for the fair sex

Cheers
Tony

 

[Gill]

spending money seems to work for the fair sex

So what mojo did your wife lose that was restored by a spending spree, Tony? More to the point, were you responsible for her losing it?!



Gill

 

[TonyW]

So what mojo did your wife lose that was restored by a spending spree, Tony? More to the point, were you responsible for her losing it?!



Gill

I realised too late what I had done when I pressed the submit button - my excuse too much red wine tonight!! .

This "too late" realisation is the usual reason for my wife to lose any mojo - and you are correct in your assumption, more often than not I am responsible for it :? Last time it cost me for a new dining room suite (wish I had the skill to make my own!!)

:wink: :wink:
Tony

 

[NeilO]

looks like Byron`s Mojo is hanging around with all those workshop pencils, that you put down for a split second and they vanish :? ... and all those socks that always seem to go missing in the washing machine, you know the scenario two go in , only one comes out :twisted:
Hope you find it again Byron, and soon

 

[mailee]

No it's not just you Byron. I am in the middle of making a fire surround when I realised it needed to be 55" wide on the mantle and I had already got it to 58"!! :shock: It has taken me most of this afternoon to put it right again and now I am back on track. Happens to us all at one time or another. :roll:

 

[Smudger]

Walk away and read a good book/watch TV/listen to a good CD. When it's all going wrong is when you lose fingers as well as enthusiasm. Same as working too long or when you are tired.

 

[wizer]

I lose and find my ww mojo all the time. I have my ww mojo atm but have lost the use of my back, so i'm still stuffed. :roll:

 

[engineer one]

it's not mojo bb it is arrogance :twisted:

what i think happens is we begin to think we can do it, and rather as the golfers say, that is when it bites back.

it is the silly things you do, like not checking which way the mortices should be related to each other

fortunately on my latest endeavour i have checked everything i did, but it will happen soon :?

just go back, and start double checking before any cutting :roll:

good luck to all who are battling the loss of their skill or the ability to do it
due to some kind of sickness

paul :wink:

 

[woodbloke]

Byron - don't believe in mojo's I'm afeard, but everyone has good days and bad un's. When I happen to have a bad one, then nothing will ever go right, so I never fight it..... suggest you lock the workshop up, go away, have a cup of coffee and then do some digging on SWIMBO's veggi patch, highly therapeutic and will earn lots of brownie points to boot!
One tip I would pass on....when a bad day happens, it's an excellent time to clean and tidy the 'shop :wink: so that when you come back to it later it's absolutely pristine and then you'll stand a much better chance of starting off on the right foot - Rob

 

[ByronBlack]

the only problem I have is this is not just a bad day - it's a bad month and my workshop has never been so spotless or organised !! I think i'm going to lock up for a couple of weeks, and go and hide in a cave for a while and read 'Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance' or something!

 

[andy king]

Probably the best advice here - though it won't restore your mojo, is setting out rods and cutting lists.
Once you have a setting out rod you have a reference to check against before commiting the saw or chisel, and from the rod you can obtain all your sizes of the pieces you need.
Write them down in a list, naming each piece, rail, stile etc along with the sizes they should be. Once you have machined all your pieces you can write on them in soft pencil to indicate each piece as well, and then use the rod to set out mortices, tenons, curve etc.
In theory, you should eliminate any silly mistakes which is all to easy to do by keeping dimensions in your head or on scraps of paper.
It's silly mistakes that frustrate and then your enthusiasm and mojo go with them!

Andy

 

[ByronBlack]

Hi Andy, thanks for that. I have however done this, when I wasn't progressing much a few weeks ago, I took the time to stop and drawer some proper plans, make a rod and set all my guages etc...

The problems I seem to be having at the moment is just working with wood properly i.e cutting the mortices was a disaster, drilling into the end-grain for some bolts has gone awry and when i've tried using a router with a template to cut out some access-holes that went wrong and ruined a stretcher.. these are all pretty basic things that I seem to be hashing up.

I'm going to leave the project for a couple of weeks and enjoy myself doing something else and then go back to it when i can concentrate more.

 

[OLD]

'Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance' or something'. Interesting you mentioning motorcycles anyone who rides them will know that some days it just does not work, the coordination is off ,it does not flow and you come home frustrated with them. My theory is its when you have something on your mind and are not able to fully concentrate and be part of the 3D experience. Its similar with woodwork as its not easy to do and for me i want to have the project completed and show it off which is not good for methodical work and concentration.
When mistakes occur i make my self repair them to a good standard as a punishment really as it takes up even more time ,it certainly makes you concentrate and think things through next time.

 

[keithhickson]

..................... and you are correct in your assumption, more often than not I am responsible for it :? Last time it cost me for a new dining room suite (wish I had the skill to make my own!!)

:wink: :wink:
Tony

Don't worry it is ALWAYS OUR fault :lol: and you seem to have learned, as have most of us, that the way to peace and harmony restoration is allowing or encouraging "retail therapy" for one's partner 8)

 

[DomValente]

I may be wrong BB, but haven't you just recently taken delivery of a lot of power tools?
Perhaps you are expecting too much from them.
Planing has now become simpler and faster, so you expect the hand work to proceed at the same pace and you become impatient when it doesn't.
So, either relax, or buy a morticer.

Dom

 

[ByronBlack]

I may be wrong BB, but haven't you just recently taken delivery of a lot of power tools?
Perhaps you are expecting too much from them.
Planing has now become simpler and faster, so you expect the hand work to proceed at the same pace and you become impatient when it doesn't.
So, either relax, or buy a morticer.

Dom

Hi Dom - it does seem that way. But i've only got a bandsaw recently and the drill-press. But you may have a point about unrealistic expectations - I need to keep the machine/hand-tool balance in check I think. A morticer would do the trick though! But then I could spend that cash on some spanky new wood..

 

[DomValente]

Byron Black Wrote:

But then I could spend that cash on some spanky new wood

Not if you're going to make kindling

Dom

 

[ByronBlack]

I found my mojo today!!

This git had it: