How many times have you heard a fellow woodworker say that they are behind “schedule” on a project or, “I can’t believe how long that took to make!”
I am plagued with this all the time. I did a podcast many months ago on organizing yourself when working on multiple projects. In that episode I was talking about combining like tasks with like tasks like doing all your milling at the same time, etc. Lately I have been building task lists for my projects. I have had a list for my Roubo bench stuck to the wall of my shop for the better part of a year which is great since I dip in and out of the bench so often that it helps me to remember where I left off.
Lately though I have been frustrated with my progress on a few projects because I can’t seem to get even a single task on my list completed. For example, on my Roubo list was the item, “leg vise”.
It seems I have been working on that task for several weekends now and have not been able to gain the satisfaction of crossing it off. It is such a little thing but the act of crossing something off a list gives us OCD types a real warm fuzzy feeling. I think the problem here is not that I work slow it is that there are so many little parts within that one task. I’ll break it down and I think you will see that this applies to just about everything you make.
Workbench Leg Vise
Mill chop stock true and square
Cut chop to final size
Layout for hole for vise screw
Drill hole for vise screw
Layout for internal garter mortise
Cut garter mortise
Cut garter stock to approximate stock
Fit garter into mortise
Mill parallel guide stock
Drill parallel guide pin holes
Finish guide with decorate profile, chamfers, etc
Layout through mortise for parallel guide in chop
Cut through mortise
Flare outer mortise walls to allow for wedges
Cut tenon on parallel guide
Fit tenon
Cut wedge stock
Install wedges and glue up parallel guide
Drill peg holes
Hammer in pegs
Layout chop taper
Cut taper
Layout chop bevel
Cut bevels
Finish plane/sand
Install chop and go to work
This list doesn’t even include installing the vise nut into the leg but you can see that all of these steps go into the single line item of “leg vise” on my list. If you really want to be picky you can break down the above steps even further. Think about all the step included in cutting a tenon. Layout, cut shoulder, cut cheek, smooth and fit, possibly undercut shoulder, etc, etc. Now careful on this slippery slope because you will quickly get into list building and no woodworking. I think the point it clear. If you feel like you are getting no where, don’t get discouraged; but rather, sit down and break down what you have to do. Each one of these tasks can be done with minimal shop time and you feel like you are getting somewhere when you leave the shop after crossing off 1 or 2 of these items.
Maybe you are the type of person who doesn’t need this level of organization, or just doesn’t make lists to keep on track. I still think this post contains something to think about. All of these steps take time and time is money if you are a professional so being able to gauge how long it will take you to build something is your life blood. So next time you feel like you are making no progress and have a customer, spouse, conscience, etc hounding you for results take some time to plan your build so you can really estimate how long it will take and build in some milestones. Remember though, whether you are a hobby woodworker or a professional, don’t forget to have fun. These milestones keep you on track but they should not be a burly bald man with a dog collar beating on a drum in the stern of your shop shouting, “stroke, stroke!”
4 responses so far ↓
1 Torch02 // Jan 11, 2010 at 11:44 am
I commented on a similar post over at Mike Lingenfelter’s blog (http://theinquisitivewoodworker.com/wordpress/2010-woodworking-new-years-resolution/) that I find lists invaluable to progressing on projects – I feel quite aimless in the shop if I don’t have a list of what I need to accomplish. I probably fall somewhere between “Workbench Leg Vise” and the list you posted as far as detail goes, but I think the level of detail in the list is going to be a purely subjective matter – varying from person to person.
2 Larry Marshall // Jan 11, 2010 at 12:09 pm
Great post, Shannon. My work history required that I learn to use lists in the ways you suggest. In addition to the virtues you point out, sub-dividing ‘to-do’ items makes it easy to start, pick up where you left off, AND to use small time blocks to move the project forward.
Personally, I do this while being very lax about strking things off my lists. The reason is that I don’t want to feel that accomplishment is related to drawing lines through items. Rather, to me, it’s about moving the project(s) along.
Cheers — Larry
3 Jeremy Kriewaldt // Jan 11, 2010 at 5:51 pm
I agree entirely with your post. For the amateur who is holding down a full-time job and dealing with real life , a list is very useful for a number of reasons. I keep my list in the form of Notes in Outlook. I have 2 main lists – Projects and Shed. The former is stuff I want to make and the latter is tools and shed furniture. When I decide that something needs to go on the list, it goes on as a one line entry, and I try to keep the list in the order in which I am going to attempt it.
Once an item comes up to the top of the list, I start adding to the item by setting out the steps for that project. If a step will take more than 1 hour, I try to break it into smaller steps both so I know where I will get up to and so I can cross it off (using the delete key) once it is done. Sometimes the steps are even smaller – they remind me of the order in which I want to do things – many of my mistakes come from forgetting what I did and why in previous sessions, this way I know what I thought I would do next and that usually reminds me of the reason I chose to adopt a particular order of work.
I find going from the more general to the more particular and detailed a very useful practice in trying to get any project done.
Cheers
Jeremy
4 Aluminum Extrusions // Jan 17, 2010 at 11:31 pm
Don’t lose hope. I find myself at this point with almost every project I attempt. It’s a sign of having more responsibility than a stack of lumber. I appreciate knowing that I am not alone in my feelings.
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