Popular Woodworking 2006-10 № 157, страница 65

I always use my large bevel square for one measurement on a chair leg and the small square for a different measurement. I never vary this routine.

operation and complete it, you can then erase all the information it required from your mind and focus only on the next step.

As you perform a repetitive process, always work the same way. Just as you don't want to jump back and forth between operations, you don't want to use different techniques. For example, if when dovetailing you start out cutting tails first, keep doing it that way.

This advice does not apply to just the job at hand. To avoid mistakes whenever you are working, develop working habits. By doing a process the same way every time, you can take advantage of muscle memory. Eventually, your body remembers how it felt when you were performing this operation before. It not only speeds you up, but when something doesn't feel right, it probably isn't. Learn to listen to your body.

Also learn to listen to the little voice in your head. Besides always working the same way, a good technique for avoiding mistakes is to always use the same tools. For example, in making chairs there are times when we have to use two bevel squares set to different angles. You can see the potential problem. Confuse the bevels and you have a mistake to fix, or a new part to make.

When working with different angles, I identify the angle to wh ich the bevel square is set with tape and a marker. The difference between 14° and 16° is difficult to discern by eye alone.

All my working life I have owned two bevel squares that are easily distinguishable. One is much larger and its handle is made of a much darker wood. I always use the bigger square for certain angles and the smaller square for certain others. I never vary, and I never will. When I am distracted and pick up the wrong bevel the little voice starts screaming. When I pause to figure out what set him off, I find I have picked up the wrong bevel.

If you use more than one marking tool (such as bevel squares or marking gauges) only once or occasionally, you will not be able to develop a habit. In this case, find a temporary way to distinguish them.

Again, painter's tape with a notation written on it indicating the setting or the job will avoid confusion. Remember to peel it off when you put the tool away so it doesn't confuse you next time.

Here's another good tip to avoid confusion. When you are done with an adjustable marking or layout tool, collapse it. You can't use it mistakenly if it is closed

up. Every one of my students has watched me collapse a bevel square when I am done with it, and holding it up for them to see proclaim: "The only safe bevel square."

When I am helping a student learn an operation, I will use his tools so he can see how they should work. However, if the student has made a mistake that I need to fix and things are a bit tense, I change gears and follow the rule of always using the same tools. I only fix things with my own tools. They are comfortable in my hands and I know them intimately.

Here is another example of how I avoid mistakes in process. I am obsessive about using my tape measure only. I will walk across the shop to find my tape measure with numerous students offering me theirs. All my life I have used a Stanley 10' Powerlock and I know and recognize its blade.

We teach students to stay as much as possible in the same relationship to their project. In our case, this means staying in front of the chair as much as possible. We call it the Chairmaker's Position. Try to do the same in

your work. You are more likely to become confused if you keep changing your body's orientation to the piece.

Also, as you work, try envisioning the completed piece in front of you. Being able to see what is not there helps make sense of what you are doing. Before you cut, hold the part as it will fit into the piece, or place it as it will go into the partially assembled work. I do this with miters. I hold the piece and then I draw angled lines the way the miter will go.

They are rough lines, so they cannot be confused with the exact line I will make with the miter square. Checking the line I drew with the part held up in position, I do not trace the angle the wrong direction. I learned this one the hard way, but it has since saved me a lot of grief.

When you get to my age you talk to yourself a lot. While this is not desirable in social situations, it is a good woodworking technique for avoiding mistakes. Your mind is less likely to wander if you are describing to yourself what you are about to do.

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Popular Woodworking October 2006