a little sage advice

[Jens]

Found this on FHB, thought it should be shared

"There was one perfect carpenter, and they nailed him up." That's what Ed Fiske, the first builder I ever worked for, used to say whenever he made a mistake, which wasn't often. The other thing I remember distinctly about Ed was that he never seemed to think less of himself for having made a mistake. I was reminded of Ed after getting an email from my friend Jeff yesterday.

Jeff had seen last week's post, which ended with me firing a nail through the face of my brand new oak handrail. Jeff wanted to know "exactly" what I did after shooting that nail through the handrail, and he also told me about the best carpenter he ever knew, a guy named Drew Arent.

"How come you never make mistakes?" Jeff asked Drew once.

"I make them all the time," Drew said. "What makes you think I never make mistakes?"

"Because I never see you jump around, swear, and throw stuff," Jeff said.

I used to throw my hammer. Only when I was working outside, though. I would make some stupid mistake, usually because I ignored the little voice in my head warning me not to do something, and I would boil over with anger at myself for being so lazy. Why didn't I drill a pilot hole first? Why didn't I move the ladder? After pausing just long enough to choose a safe trajectory, I would wing my hammer end over end as far as I could.

It was actually a pretty effective gesture, like counting to 10, because I would have to walk a long way to fetch the hammer, and then walk back, which gave me time to calm down.

Over time, I learned a lot about carpentry mistakes, not the least of which was how to avoid many of them. I learned not to base decisions on laziness. I learned not to rush at certain times and not to push too hard if I'm tired. I learned that most nailing mistakes, especially hammer tracks, happen because your body's in the wrong position. I learned that there's always a way to correct a mistake and that figuring out what that correction might be is tough to do in the late afternoon, having just made the mistake, and much easier the next morning.

And the latest thing I've learned about making mistakes, like firing a nail through your brand-new handrail, is that they make good fodder for a blog.

[Okie_Bob]

Thanks for sharing Jens, I have had similar problems for as long as I can recall. Try not to throw my hammer as the older I get the more it hurts my shoulder!
One bit of advice I learned from this forum is to sit down every morning and plan out in my mind exactly what I am going to do today. It's amazing how much easier it is to think things through and do them right the first time then to have to do them twice..or more. I don't even have to pick up a pencil, just walk through chores in my mind and then go do them.
Okie Bob
PS: Believe that was from John ...or maybe Glenn

[glenn kangiser]

Musta been John, BoB.  I'm not that organized  but I quit throwing hammers. 

I throw rocks, railroad ties, 2x4's etc. but not hammers.

Gotta admit that I crushed an Arrow T50 Stapler in a 50 ton press recently so that I would never ever try to use it again though. 

[John_C]

..... I throw rocks, railroad ties, 2x4's etc. .....

Is that like throwing the caber?   

[Ernest T. Bass]

I learned that there's always a way to correct a mistake

That's what the foreman who built a log cabin for us said about his inexperienced crew, and they managed to make some mistakes that couldn't be fixed...

Great post! I rarely lose my temper at myself, but I can relate to that little nagging voice that always precedes the stupid mistake...

[glenn kangiser]

..... I throw rocks, railroad ties, 2x4's etc. .....

Is that like throwing the caber?   

I can throw them far enough to miss my toes.

[Okie_Bob]

Ok Glenn, I gotta hear the story about the T-50 stapler...I know it has to be a good one. I use one myself and don't recall
ever wanting to do what you did!!!!
Okie Bob

[glenn kangiser]

OK, BoB.  I used it and it quit working.  The tripper inside would just slip off and no staple would come out.  I put down the stuff I was trying to hold with one hand while trying to staple with the other. I pulled the stapler all apart and oiled it etc. thinking I had it fixed.  [idea]

Another 5 minutes of putting clips etc. I was ready to go.  I tried it out - shot a few staples - great I thought - fixed alright. 

I got in my one legged pose with my knee holding part of the stuff, hand holding more stuff - grabbed the stapler and shot to hold everything in place.  Yup -- you guessed it -- no staple came out.  I called it a couple names grabbed it - may have continued muttering obscenities    - threw a tantrum and went straight across the shop as my wife laughed and wondered what I was up to....

I said "I am fixing this thing so I will never be tempted to try using it again", and proceeded to smash it flat in my 50 ton press.  Yes -- that fixed it.  I never had a bit more trouble with that stapler. ...

[Jens]

A friend of mine was getting upset about his drywall screwgun not working right on a job we were on.  Finally he took it by the cord, and started swinging it at the ground like a mace until it busted apart.  I was pissed, cause I coulda used parts off of it!  Seemed childish to me, but made him feel better.

[glenn kangiser]

Some machines must die for the sanity of mankind....

[Okie_Bob]

I love it Glenn, never would have thought of using a 50 ton press to fix a staple gun but, yep, bet it worked just fine!!!
U 'da man Glenn!
Okie Bob

[John_C]

... proceeded to smash it flat in my 50 ton press.  Yes -- that fixed it.

Never tell Glenn he needs to use a bigger hammer. 

[glenn kangiser]

For you guys, BoB and John.

[considerations]

I hate those staplers.  Jam, misfire, don't fire, never ever had one that worked well, and I've had lots.

[glenn kangiser]

I thought it was just me...

Wanna borrow my press?

[hnash53]

Say Glenn, I really chuckled at your fit over the Arrow stapler.

I've done stuff like that...afterwards I say, "Now it's fixed for good."

Thanks for the laugh.

Hal

[AK fisherman]

Ahh, the story puts a smile on my face as I think of the many hammers that I've thrown over the years..... I also remember seeing my dad, back 35+ years ago, take the lawn mower, swing it over his head and let it fly. And he wonders why at age 70 he has back problems!

Anyway, I taught high school woodshop for 12 yrs before getting into school counseling. I always liked to give safety examples to my wood students and one day found some great construction goofs listed on the internet. Here are the two that I remember;

A wooden crate factory was in the midst of a labor strike so all the white collar guys headed to the shop floor to try to get some crates finished up to fill an order. One of the supt's was giving a demonstration on how to use the nail gun. He placed the gun on the lid of a 6' high wooden crate, tilted it a few degrees without noticing, pulled the trigger and promptly nailed his left testicle to his thigh!!!!!

The other story involved a production carpenter nailing off sub-flooring. He was briskly walking across the floor nailing every 12" or so until he came to the end of his air hose. He took a step, swung the gun only to have the gun came down short, right on top of his foot where it fired off. His buddies cut a small piece of plywood out of the floor and took him off to the hospital.

True? Who knows, but the high school kids sure got a kick out of them.

Lance

[Ernest T. Bass]

I have a cousin who had her hand nailed to a board accidentally when they were building their house.... But it doesn't compare to the white-collar guy. That sends shivers down my legs...

[Jens]

I have a cousin who had her hand nailed to a board accidentally when they were building their house.... But it doesn't compare to the white-collar guy. That sends shivers down my legs...

As well as through something between them!

They way I read the foot nailing story, the nurse in the ER asked, "how many times did you have to hit it to get the nail to go that far through your foot?"  I may have written that here already, don't feel like checking!  It's a great story either way.

My wife's ex-uncle was an x-ray tech.  He told us about a guy who came in with a fuel pump stuck in his head.  During a fight in the shop, he and another guy were chucking things.  The other guy had a fuel pump handy, and chucked it, lodging the pump arm in the guys skull.  Reminds me of losing my eye in Denang...rubber band fight, brutal warfare.

[pagan]

The grandfather of a good friend of mine used to cut cars in half with a torch when he got pissed at them. I didn't believe him until he took me for a walk down in the old back field and there in the tree line was a line of ten cars, all cut in half. Then he took me to another field and showed me an old flat head Ford V-8 lying on the ground. He told me one day it stalled so his grandfather got it running again and threw a brick on the gas peddle and went to have a long, relaxing lunch. When he came back the engine had stopped. He checked the tank and found out it was empty, so, as you probably guessed, he filled the tank, started the engine, and replaced the brick. After a third tank of gas he gave up and got his torch. He cut the engine out and left it in the field and took the truck to the trees and cut it in half.

[Don_P]

A couple others that come to mind;
"The difference between a good carpenter and a bad one is a good carpenter will fix his mistakes"

I was complaining about something one day
"A good carpenter would fix that and never say a thing"

"It's a poor craftsman that blames his tools"
So I told the eager beaver I held it blameless as it went over the side of the hill.

I'm about convinced there is not a decent stapler made 

[OldDog]

Glenn,

I used to build several clocks and used an electric brad nailer for small trim and accent pieces.

It seems that every time I was making a delicate joint and holding trim with both hands one foot and anything else I could find the nailer would misfire.

On one such misfire I calmly pulled the plug, grabbed about 6 feet of cord and beat it against the floor until the cord was all I had  left.

The air nailer I replaced it with has never failed in 15 years or so.

That was one time when a cussing, throwing tantrum paid off.  I had a new cord for my battery charger!

I am just too old, fat and short tempered to fool with junk tools.

[glenn kangiser]

Nice to see another normal sane person here, Old Dog.