My mentor called my dovetails "sloppy" last fall and I ignored him for months

He said my pins were too narrow and my spacing looked rushed. Now I cut them wider and mark everything before I saw. Anyone else get feedback they brushed off and later wished they'd listened sooner?

2 comments

2 Comments

kellyallen6d ago

My first dovetail mentor told me my tails looked like they were cut by a beaver with a hangover. I got so mad I didn't talk to him for months. Now I realize that beaver was probably on to something because my current joints actually fit tight instead of looking like a jigsaw puzzle. Sometimes the harsh truth is just a little too sharp to swallow right away.

river_thompson4d ago

Some of us need to figure things out at our own speed though. If he shut you down right when you were starting out that could have killed your passion for the craft before it even got going. There's a difference between honest feedback and just being a jerk about it. Not everyone thrives under the tough love approach, some people need encouragement and room to make mistakes. I've seen people walk away from woodworking completely because somebody decided to be brutally honest instead of just helpful. Maybe he was right about the joints but wrong about how he said it.