Perfection-precision

mf294-4 said:
What do you think? Is a person born with the natural talent of perfection-precision or is it learned with hours of experience. Starting out machining at 62, I don't have to many years of experience left or that many end mills either. I'm not located where there are a lot of experienced teachers either. Seems like my projects end up close enough but not what I would like or strive for. I'm not going to give up but it is discouraging at times.
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Sometimes perfection can cause ulcers. That is why tolerances were invented. Precision comes from practice. Some do pick it up quicker than others. I was one of the slower ones. It seems so easy now after I left the trade.
 
I think perfection is akin to beauty. It does exist. It just aint in a number. It's in the eye. It also is not the same from one to another. Rat Rods are a "perfect" example. It is one persons vision of awesome. It's another persons vision of cobbled together junk.
 
You will learn in time that if one thing is beautiful you will see something that is elegant. Perfection is a word, that's all. You will never reach it nor will anyone else. It is always just out of your grasp. It's good to seek it for sure but don't get tied up in the idea that it can be had. My HO Chuck, for you the best is yet to come.

"Billy G"
 
Bill Gruby said:
You will learn in time that if one thing is beautiful you will see something that is elegant. Perfection is a word, that's all. You will never reach it nor will anyone else. It is always just out of your grasp. It's good to seek it for sure but don't get tied up in the idea that it can be had. My HO Chuck, for you the best is yet to come.

"Billy G"
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Alas, a beauty-meter is not on the Starrett catalog, because the sense of beauty is very personal.
For the most of us a Monarch 10EE lathe is more gorgeous than the contemporary lathes looking like stacked boxes, but why? (¹)
About the precision, I'm doping my cheap bandsaw, and I added an indexed protractor coming from a professional woodworking machine (when it will be finished I'll post some photos and the whole story).
Since I'm pretty picky, I checked the indexed angles with my precision drawing squares: what is given as 45° was out of almost 0.5 mm over 250 mm.
For a general woodworking purpose it is enough (it makes a 0.1 mm error on the corner of the standard 50 mm door frames), but I prefer to have something better, so I added a couple of set screws to move the index support, since I can't redrill it with good results, and now the indexed angles can be corrected if I need to have them with a better precision.
Of course it's not aesthetically beautiful or elegant… but it works as I want.


(¹) I guess a kit to give the flat Asian lathes the curved look of a Monarch would be appreciated by the market (if you become rich selling these don't forget to donate $$$ to this forum…)
 
This helped me---When aiming for a precise dimension, take 2 cuts. Eg. If you have .040" to go, take 2 cuts of .020" that way you are allowing for tool deflection and all the other uncontrollable variables. Use sharp tools, I have a powerful magnifying glass that I use to inspect my cutting edges. Make sure your setup (including cutters) is rigid. These 3 basic steps eliminate a very large amount of headaches.
 
Practice practice practice! In a recent project I had to rebild some chapel window frames. Ten of them. My woodworking skills? Well, I only have to walk near a piece of wood and it splits! I couldn't saw straight to save my life. So, having bought a nice new pull saw , and a pack of pencils, I got out my digital calipers and went to work. I was fittinh new sills and side frames to the existing curved triangular frame top. The joint where the side meets the top, I really should have taken a picture of, because it was so complex. Having gone through "I can't do this" "better put this off till next week" and all the other ways of procrastination (that well known thief of time) I finally got stuck in. The first one took me over a week, but the joints proved to be not so difficult, and by sticking to the rules like"measure twice, cut once" and "keep yer pencil SHARP" I got one done. By the time I got to number ten the joints were a first time fit, and one window was done in a day! Then came the BIG ONE! The "x" shaped peice above my head is new, and I hasten to add I did not make it, it was macined from solid by a local woodshop (the original was rotten and made up from seperate pieces) but I did fit it. The end result was far and away better than anything I ever believed I could achieve. So, concentrate on the job, measure carefully, check before you cut, believe in yourself and practice, practice, practice!
I still prefer my lathes and milling machines, but I am no longer"scared" of woodwork.
Phil
UK

- - - Updated - - -

here it is finished

January 2009 001.jpg January 2009 009.jpg Chapel four new windows004.jpg Stampe Chris Jesson 016.jpg Chapel finished shots before move 011.jpg
 
hermetic said:
Practice practice practice! In a recent project I had to rebild some chapel window frames. Ten of them. My woodworking skills? Well, I only have to walk near a piece of wood and it splits!
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Phil, it's easier for a metalworker to work wood than for a woodworker to work metal.
You get a superlative result mainly because you "think metal", and this gives you far more precision.
I've seen many pro woodworkers using pencils wider than a sharpie… then buying wood putty in 5 gallons cans ;-)
 
.PERFECTION ------- I want to do everything perfect, even when I don't know how. That was told to me by a 30 year veteran machinist during my apprenticeship. I never have forgotten it or him.

"Billy G"
 
I wonder how many actually know the difference between accuracy and precision.
 
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