From: Esther Heller

Adam is opening the gates:

and give anybody and everybody a chance to tell me "all those things I wish
someone had told me when I was starting out"  :-)


This isn't so much what I wish I had known as something I figured
out.  When I learned to make my own clothes in my late teens, my
fussiness about workmanship increased as my workmanship did.  A
big problem in woodworking was my fussiness was greater than my
abilities.  The trick is to figure out things to make while practicing
your technique. The old "make a bunch of boxes to hold your crap
until they don't look like crap" to practice dovetails is an example
of how to do it.  Basic bookshelves are also good, the books hide
the details.

The other trick is to take time on details like finishing.  I have
been playing on the pottery slope (first wheel throwing class this
summer) and I notice the general facility working with my hands and
the willingness to fuss a few details from sewing and woodworking
seem to carry over to pottery nicely.  Trying to take your time on the
details that matter (cutting to precise lines and finishing) does
more to improve the general "look" than a lot of agonising over
getting the optimal tool (heresy I know!).

Welcome!

Esther