!@#$!@ Stupid mistake

W

Will Leavitt

Joined
Jul 28, 2006
Messages
3,953
I'm working on a complex project.... really complex. It's hot as p#ss down here, 90s with 80-90% humidity and I'm working over a charcoal forge. Wasted 6 hours of forging because I didn't take another water break and started a hot cut on the wrong side.... :barf: :(

I was thinking "is that right" whomp whomp whomp with my 4# 2nd heat "hmm that doesn't look right" whomp whomp whomp..... ARRRGGGHHHH S#$$ S#$# S@#$ and other more colorful words. I forgot my forging plans on the bench.... ARRRGGGHHHHH

Like we all know and hell I KNOW better, when you think you need a break you need a freaking break! :( :foot:

At least I have 1 more piece of steel for this dang thing. :(
 
Hang in there Will, we have all been there.:grumpy:

That is one of the hardest things but the older you get the more you learn to listen to that inner voice! When it's time for a break it's time for a break!

I still do it sometimes, keep pushin on when I know better. Just smile and chalk it to experince! Sometimes you got to laugh to keep from crying.:p And your right it is freaken hot for May!:D
 
Hell after all these years I know better, I tell people all the time...... but I was thinking just finish the cut and get some water and central air conditioning.

Ah hell, if it wasn't aggravating it wouldn't be knifemaking.
 
I hear you Will, one of my biggest obstacles to overcome is to know when to chill... I can just keep going until a knife is good but sometimes I take it too far. I have a wakizashi hidden behind my workbench that looked perfect at 8 pm... it was toast at 8:30.

When I'm too tired to do a good job with orders I try some odd stuff and other grind ideas, lol. I'm so bad about it... time for a break from knifemaking so what will I do, make some more knives, lmao.

I tried to make a wharncliffe the other day with a chisel grind and ground it on the wrong side, lol. Luckily it was out of straight bar stock, I turned it into a tanto! :D
 
I've been programming our new welding robot at work, and the boss decided to tell the customer that pulling in the date would be fine. He failed to mention this to me, until new deadline time. I was told June 1st. Anyway he tells me don't do anything else but this and you will be done faster. I told him if I do only this all day plus overtime, the only thing I'll accomplish faster is crashing the robot, and possibly injuring myself. He did not like that so much.

About four hours later and mistakes (forgetting to save steps; having a cursor in the wrong spot when adjusting programs) coming on more frequently. I am concentrating as hard as I can to make sure I do not screw up this thing, when the boss decides to walk up right behind me, and bark out my name. That triggered my minds safety mechanism, which got me the f*ck away from the robot. It just so happened to also drive my left shoulder into the boss, and cause me to drop the controller on the ground. I was pissed, but he seemed to understand what I was talking about after that.

Listen to your mind.
 
Sorry Will. Gah! I feel your pain, kind of. 80-90 degrees???? Sounds like paradise to me. :D Ah yes, The Inner Voice. I've been seriously working on listening to him. It's a Zen thing for me. I find I can work faster, by working slower. Mostly, I watch my breath. When my breathing is slow and steady things go better. I work out of a service truck and when I need a special tool and decide to use what's in my bag instead, I usually end up taking 3-4 times(or worse) the time it'd take to walk to my truck. That's one I constantly struggle with.
I've been trying to work on my knives,grinder build etc more, but also only when I'm "feeling" it. Makes me feel like a "real" artist. :)
 
I sold my first knife in like 1995. You'd think I'd know better.

After half a pitcher of sweet tea and sitting down to "figger" it out I think I can salvage it with a couple of additional hot cuts (thoroughly planned and executed ;) ) and a lot of dang fullering. I hate fullering. I have to find my hot cutter though cause I slung it across the yard, it may be in my neighbor's backyard.

80-90s now will be nearly 100 in another month or so with our 95% humidity and no breezes.... still sound like paradise? :D

Carl, I know where you're coming from. I work in QC at Hyundai's Alabama Paint plant and it's amazing how many problems come out of rushing the robot programmers or when the ummmm "other" managers decide to make changes and leave without notifying Paint Engineering and QC. We'd run an issue down and we're all screaming "did you authorize this? No, did you?" at increasing supervisory levels until managers are involved. QC and Production used to scream at each other but now we know where "new" changes usually come from.
 
Just remember it is something you enjoy. If you are like me, you enjoy it for the same reasons you are now cursing it.:D
 
Will Leavitt said:
I sold my first knife in like 1995. You'd think I'd know better.

I have to find my hot cutter though cause I slung it across the yard, it may be in my neighbor's backyard.

QUOTE]

Will I hear you I drove my first nail professionally in 1971 at the age of 14 and if I don't listen to that inner voice and know when to back off when I need a break, I still make stupid mistakes. :eek:

I screwed up a cabinet I was working on in the driveway of my garage one day and when I walked the 120' length of my driveway to look for my hammer. My neighbor is sitting on his porch and he pops of with, "it's over by the mailbox and laughs". Then he says I didn't think anyone could sling a hammer that far, and laughs again.:eek:

You see I think it has something to do with the perfectionist that is in people like us, good is not good enoungh and stupid mistakes really seem to push that button!

Sounds like you have it well in hand now. You see that is the mark of a professional is that can take an OH! OH! and turn it into an intentional. Oh by the way after I cooled off I was able to salvage that cabinet that day with minimal work!;):D
Click to expand...
 
You mean you're supposed to take a break before you ruin something?
Good thing no one told me I was doing it wrong this whole time :rolleyes:

Seriously, though, it's the mistakes that teach us. When was the last time you learned anything from a project that went exactly as planned? If it was easy then I suspect most of us would have got bored by now and found something else to burn our time and money.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top