Our unhealthy obsession with perfection: CNCs and digital woodworking

The more we can eliminate ourselves from , the better our projects will turn out.
PDF variation of this essay:
Register for my totally free regular monthly newsletter to check out a buddy piece to this video ►.

Discover get going and set up shop for less than $1000. Download my Totally Free GUIDE ►.
The WTS Podcast: Conversations with innovative people ►.
Register for my free regular monthly newsletter ►.

PATREON ► ►.
TOOLS I USE ►.
T-SHIRTS ►.
FACEBOOK ►.
INSTAGRAM ►.

SENDING BY MAIL ADDRESS:.

.
448 Ignacio Blvd. # 237.
Novato CA 94949.
—————-.
Woodworking for ® is a signed up hallmark of ZRAM Media, LLC.
#woodworking.

Our unhealthy obsession with perfection: CNCs and digital woodworking

Ted's Woodworking Plans Online Course
Woodworkers Secrets Revealed – Click Here to Discover the #1 Woodworking Resource!

You May Also Like

About the Author: Woodworking Carpentry

24 Comments

  1. I genuinely dig these “insights” videos. One, you’ve got a lot more experience with the entire woodworking process/experience than I have. But also because it helps ground those of us who get too caught up in the details that don’t apply to the actual experience.

  2. The more we can eliminate ourselves from woodworking, the better our projects will turn out. So how can we find meaning in our work?
    PDF version of this essay: http://bit.ly/3ksgvYR
    Sign up for my free monthly newsletter to read a companion piece to this video appearing in the 3-3-23 issue ► http://notesfromsteve.com/

    1. I love what you do, but I really have to disagree with you. While it is certainly true that “wood working” means making something out of wood, you are ignoring the other related term “wood worker,” which denotes the entity doing the work. I used to work at a GM plant making the Silverado, at various points on the line were robots that would weld things on the frame. The people that programmed the robots were programmers, no one, not even the programmers themselves would ever call them a welder. So why, when we move from an industrial setting to a home shop, do we now call people that programs robots (as that is what CNC or laser machines are) “wood workers?” A wood worker either moves the wood through a stationary tool, as is the case with a table saw, or moves a tool through a stationary piece of wood, such as with a circular saw. If the results are of poor quality it is the person to blame, as the saying goes, “It is the poor craftsman that blames his tools.” Conversely, even programmed correctly, a robot can break and do completely random things (I once saw a robot start throwing trucks across the floor). Now, some will argue that even after the robot completes it’s assigned task, the “wood worker” then has to assemble the parts. However, by that logic then my wife is also a “wood worker,” as before we met, and much to my chagrin, she was a huge fan of IKEA, and anyone that buys furniture from that store or others like it, have to assemble the furniture themselves. Again, why the difference? Why does one form or assembly qualify as, “wood working” and not the other?

    2. @Arbbal pretty much what I came here to say as well. There’s woodworking and there’s the wood worker. There’s the medium of wood, which doesn’t have to be exclusive, and then there’s the human being of action WORKING the wood. At some point, the separation between the wood and the working/worker essentially changes what is happening. Designing wooden kitchen cabinets that are made in a woodshop by other human beings does not make one a cabinet maker, but a cabinet designer.

      Somehow for me this brings to mind what JPII said (in paraphrase) – work is for man, not man for the work, man is always the purpose of the work – “the basis for determining the value of human work is not primarily the kind of work being done but the fact that the one who is doing it is a person.” Laborem Exercens

  3. Hit the nail on the head, the “left behind” feeling makers get when they can’t either afford or they do not have the confidence level to try digital fabrication is a very important topic. I’ve been on both sides of this exact feeling and for whatever my two cents are worth… It’s OK to have this left behind feeling, it’s OK to embrace it. But every maker has a choice to either let it stifle their creativity, or make them better. Steve, I love your insight I don’t comic much, but I always listen when you speak. Thank you for what you do.

  4. Great video. I think it speaks to 95% of home woodworking. My trade is machinist, so I had to rethink tolerances when I retired and took up woodworking. My main project for a few years is building children’s rockers. All cut out and fitted by hand and common power tools. It’s a design passed from my grandfather to my dad to me. I don’t sell them, only give them away mostly to random children I see at the store or a restaurant. The smile on their little faces makes it all worthwhile. I keep a completed rocker in my truck to give out.

    1. Way to go!! Doing something just for the reward of seeing someone else’s joy in receiving it is wonderful. We need more people like you.

      Thank you for what you are doing.

  5. As a new woodworker, I do find the whole extreme precision thing a little over whelming. I tend to over think things as it is and when I decided I wanted to get into wood working and dove into the woodworking rabbit hole on YT it got frustrating. A couple channels really helped me step myself back and “re-tool” myself and expectations. Thanks for this video.

  6. Steve Ramsey the Ultimate Woodworking Philosopher. For a garage monkey you have some valuable insights to not only woodworking but life in general. Can’t wait for the Steve Ramsey Life Documentary. 🤪 I am a long time sub and seem to fine value in each of your videos even just watching a tape measure be pulled a million times. I know people who have been seeing therapist for years and would get a quality view of life improvement from just watching your videos. Thank you for making society a much better place.

  7. Re: Imperfections: a while ago I built my first electric guitar, and while it was under the guidance of a professional, very skilled luthier i still made occasional errors – I now love pointing these out to people and being like “Here, look! I made these mistakes because I was learning!“, and many of them have funny stories attached to them! The guitar stilll turned out rly well and most non woodworkers probably wouldn‘t be able to spot the flaws w/o me pointing out, but to me they are marks that say “I was here, I made this” as opposed to a perfect guitar from a factory 🙂

  8. Great insight Steve! One of my other hobbies is Model Railroading, and I enjoy building what are called “Craftsman Kits”. They are buildings that are made from wood, and the kits are made using a laser cutter.

  9. For me the meaning in any of my projects comes from the love intended and included in that project. Perfection is unobtainable for me, but that does not diminish the love involved in the project. Having said that–just good enough is not. The effort to obtain very good is a measure of the respect for the process and the recipient.

  10. Steve, I’ve been watching for years. When you speak of the simplicity of woodworking and the fact that the “best tool for a project is the one you own”, “perfection is unachievable” and to stop listening to influencers about how good or bad a technique is”, it speaks the highest of truths. Your words can ground us all and bring light to what woodworking is and is not. Thank you Steve, thank you!

  11. I was very interested in trying out a CNC. Grabbed a small one a few years back – small desktop model. In my opinion it’s all woodworking, if you enjoy design (consider a wooden clock or puzzle with intricate parts) then the CNC is great. If you enjoy the manual making – then traditional is likely more for you. I made some trinkets and small ornaments etc. with mine, then sold it and replaced with a 3D printer. I get my design fix with the printer and the woodworking remains “traditional”.

  12. I’m a hobby sewist and quilter and the struggle of getting out of the perfection mindset is real. I think some of the current trends towards perfection are based around the idea of monetization. “If it’s not perfect, nobody is going to buy it and my business will fail.” A lot of people who know me tell me I should sell what I make because we are forced into hustle culture and thinking if we’re not making money off something, we shouldn’t be doing it. I tell everyone who thinks they are doing a good thing by encouraging me to sell my products that I sew to honor my Granny’s memory and because I like it but if I started selling things, I would quickly grow to hate and resent sewing b/c my need for perfection would take over and ruin the whole experience. I make what I want, when I want, and how I want and give it away to whomever I want. The pressure for perfection is way less b/c people overlook imperfection if they are given a gift/don’t have to pay for it. I have recently begun to embrace the journey and stop pointing out my mistakes to other people and instead make mental notes on how I could have done things differently.

  13. I bought a used CnC 2 years ago and love the process of learning how to use it to make projects that I want to make–things that are meaningful to me. I enjoy the precision it allows, which is different than striving for perfection because believe me, you can screw up a CnC project just as quick as anything! Think of it as a different way to do template router work without all the mucking about with a bandsaw, templates, and flush trim bits.

  14. “It’s about you.” Simple and absolutely accurate! Thanks for expressing something I have been trying to explain to my wife for a long time. She now gets it! 🙂

  15. In my opinion, Frank Howarth is at the zenith of this argument. He uses his CNC a lot, but his creativity in design and execution is the real work. Thanks for your insight, Steve. Keeping us grounded, as always. 👍

  16. “All woodworking can be done with a 1/4 chisel. Eveverything else makes it easier.” ~James Wright or something like that. In truth, I am in that tech crowd.

    Rob Cosman seems to get amazingly precious woodworking with a chisel and hand plane.

    Like you said, “Is it meaningful?” I like to make stuff. I like hand tools for several reasons. I also don’t shy away from power tools. The question for me is what do I “feel” like using today. It’s my hobby.

    More accurate, faster… that’s for the pros. I want to make stuff. More with shavings than dust most days. Oddly I have a couple of large pails of sawdust from my planer, table saw, band saw, sander… that needs disposed of. 😂

  17. Allowing myself to have mistakes and imperfections in my projects has been the largest hindrance to my woodworking projects. Often others say they come out wonderfully and don’t notice anyway.

  18. That was so wonderfully stated, Steve. The only thing I would add to the “enjoyment of working” is the profound sense of accomplishment that can be found in it. Like a runner’s high or a perfect shot in golf it makes you want to do it all over again.

  19. Along with woodworking, I also do bookbinding. Awhile back I printed and bound a 4 volume set of books from an author from the 1500s. I poured my heart and soul into that work and went all out on it. I used real leather. I hand sewed the book on cords (which is why old books have the horizontal bumps on the spine, it’s a piece of cord that attaches the text to the cover). However, in volume 3…I accidentally sewed it upside down. Normally, you leave a larger space on the bottom, because perspective makes it look weird on the shelf if space between the cords is identical. Perspective makes the bottom gap look smaller, so you compensate by making it slightly bigger. However, I wasn’t thinking when I sewed the book together and did it upside down, so the larger gap was at the top. To fix it, when I stamped the titles on the outside of the book, I did it upside down (so that when on the shelf, all the books would line up correctly). However, the text in volume when on the shelf is now upside down. It still bugs me to this day and it’s been like 7 years since I made them. However, at the same time, I understand that what I made is completely unique. And…a little part of me chuckles that my grandkids or great grand kids (or some random person 100 years from now) will open the book and see volume 3 upside down and be baffled by why it was done that way. Was he trying to say something profound? No, I just wasn’t paying attention to the text block when I was lining up the holes for the sewing the book together lol.

  20. Finally, someone who describes exactly how I feel about woodworking. I get to leave the computer to use my tools with my hands in the middle of my garage. Great video.
    Louie.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *