Just realized my scribing skills got better after watching an old timer

I was on a trim job last Tuesday and this older carpenter came by to grab his saw. He looked at my scribe line on a baseboard and said "that's tight, most guys leave a gap there." I didn't even think I did anything special. But it made me realize I've been paying more attention to grain direction and planing the edge just a hair, not jamming it in. Has anyone else noticed a random compliment from a stranger making you rethink your own work?

3 comments

3 Comments

kim.zara10d ago

Wait, you seriously went back in his mind after just a random old-timer comment?

val94910d ago

Funny you should ask that because I had something similar happen to me years ago. A guy in his 70s told me I was holding my vise grips wrong when I was fixing a fence post. I didn't think much of it at first, but later that night I replayed what he said and realized he was right. The way I was squeezing was putting all the pressure on my wrist instead of my forearm. I adjusted the way I held them the next day and it made a world of difference. Sometimes those little comments stick with you because there's truth in them, even if you don't want to admit it.

jordan_webb10d ago

Ha, that's funny you mention that! @kim.zara, I got a buddy who's a finish carpenter and the same thing happened to him. Some old guy on a site he was working told him his coping looked "like it was done with a chisel and not a jigsaw." My friend said he didn't even know what the guy meant at first, but then he started paying more attention to how he was leaving the inside corners a little proud instead of trying to jam the piece in. It totally changed the way he cut his joints after that.