Friday, January 21, 2011

you may make a mistake or you may simply change your mind...

In either case, it is good to know how to fix things. I had installed the door knobs on my latest cabinet, and then decided that they were too high. My decision had been based on where they fit my hand, but when I saw them on the cabinet, I regretted my decision. So how to fix? in the series of photos below, you can see.
Use a square chisel from a mortiser to cut a square hole surrounding the hole drilled for the knob to fit. Cut a block of wood to fill the hole after it has been chiseled out with a straight chisel.
Glue the block of wood in place and use a block plane to plane it down to the surrounding stock.

Without my finger pointing toward the fix, you would likely never know it was there.
Compare the photo at left to the image shown yesterday to see the results of my fix. Compare and contrast. Was my fix worth the few minutes of head scratching and labor? Or did you like it better in the first place?

John Deal has reminded me of Susan Goldin-Meadow's work on gesture and I have mentioned it several times before in the blog. Use the keyword gesture in the search block at upper left. The point, I am reminded, is that the failure to engage the hands in American education is not for the lack of evidence, but for the lack of leadership and motivation. I thus regard it as but a matter of time, and a matter of your help. Make, fix, create.
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5 comments:

  1. Aaron7:57 PM

    Nicely done. Alternatively, use a contrasting species and add another at an equal distance below the knob.

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  2. Chris Sagnella7:59 PM

    Doug-

    I like the adjustment of the knobs, it looks more proportional to me anyway. As a beginning woodworker, it's nice to know that someone of your skill level is so doggone humble- thanks for practicing what you preach.

    -Chris Sagnella

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  3. Doug Stowe9:03 PM

    If I don't make a few mistakes I don't feel that I'm learning anything. That of course is one of the problems in American education. We need to allow our children to fail, pick themselves up, make things, fix things, etc.

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  4. Doug Stowe9:04 PM

    Aaron, I like your idea of the contrasting woods. I did think of that. but I wasn't wanting to teach inlay in this particular project which is already complicated enough.

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  5. Anonymous5:11 AM

    Another thing to consider. I find that many of my projects reflect my height (I'm fairly short), so they work well for me but not necessarily for others.

    Mario

    ReplyDelete