The barriers are not erected which can say to aspiring talents and industry, “Thus far and no farther.” ~ Ludwig van Beethoven
My mentor had a favorite exercise. He called it the five-minute dovetail. It involved making a single dovetail joint in two small chunks of wood. No measuring, no layout, just cutting. Cut a tail in one piece, trace it on to the other, cut the pins, and put the pieces together. Five minutes, maybe less. The results weren’t always pretty, but he kept them them all. He had a big box full of beginner’s-luck, veteran’s-rust, can-I-take-a-mulligan, and doggie-chew-toy five-minute dovetails.
The point was to get the blood flowing. It wasn’t about being productive. It was about about developing that dexterity that comes only from practicing without training wheels. It was about warming up your sawing muscles. It was about honing
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