How fast do you work?

[dbhost]

Woodworking is a hobby for me. So my pace is somewhat geological. I get projects done, eventually... If it feels like work, why do it? I'm not getting paid...

[Tom Slick]

The less I plan (of course I do this to "save" time) the longer the project takes.

I work fairly fast, it depends on my mood and if I am just tinkering or really trying to get something finished. I am usually in too much of a hurry. I can become obsessed and ignore other things until the project is finished.
Most of my projects are not "fine" wood working so I try to plan/engineer them so that I have the least amount of setups. for example shelf or divider placement may be determined by running the piece through the saw for a dado then turning the piece 180* and running it though again.

[footprintsinconc]

i am a slow worker when it comes to ww. that more depends on my mood. however, when i an on the roll, i speed up. but as soon as there is hickup, the things can come to a halt for several months. so my work speed varies drastically depending on if i have other things (landscaping, cleaning etc) going on.

[Knottscott]

I tend to be on the slow side, but it depends on alot of things. For starters, most of my projects are prototypes of original designs...influenced by other designs of course but any plans that exist are usually very crudely sketched out by me on a notepad, so I run into a fair number of "unforeseen" circumstances. But there are times when I go out to the shop on a Saturday morning and have a coffee table in the finishing stages by Sunday afternoon if the wwing gods are smiling on me.

I've also still got 6 kids at home...they keep us hopping, plus I share my shop with their bikes and outdoor toys which further slows my efficiency. My shop has no climate control, so it usually closes completely during the winter, and slows to a snails pace if it's really hot leaving me a few precious months a year of true "green light" weather. To top it off, my shop space is pretty small which makes it difficult to be efficient because there's not much space to lay things out. Nonetheless, I probably average 2-3 good sized projects a year, plus maybe 2-3 smaller things....if I were a pro we'd survive about a week on my output!

[sparkeyjames]

I get all sorts of projects that need to be done and they pile up till I can't stand it anymore. Then it's like the Tasmanian devil from the cartoon with stuff flying everywhere. Since I sometimes have a short attention span. Having several projects going simultaneously keeps me interested. Then I run out of $$$ for getting supplies and things come to a sudden halt. Somewhere along the line the projects will reach 100% completion. It just takes a while. Wipe hands on pants and repeat.

[drumpriest]

Great stuff guys! Dustmight, everything I build is an original as well. I typically obsess about the design first, making computer models to see how proportion works, the tons of wood that I should use, that sort of thing. This latest one I pretty much winged it. I made a rough model (much like a rough sketch), but left a lot of details to work out during construction.

I don't think that is why, but I've had more screw ups on this project than any I've ever done. I think it's a combination of it being shop furniture, and the materials are very cheap, and I'm a bit rushed to get onto the next actual fine furniture project. I hope that I'm getting all of my bad shop karma out on this thing, and the next few builds go better.

[gerti]

On woodworking projects, it seems like I'm slower than molasses in the dead of winter in northern Minnesota.

I'm like Joe. Also if it starts to feel like work I'll slow down even more or take a break.

Guess we have a Minnesota theme going... Same for me.

[jhart]

We have to stick together!!!

[crokett]

How fast do I work? Or how long does a project take? If I work too fast, I make mistakes and correcting those usually takes longer than it would have to do it right in the first place. I try to think as much as possible before I start anything, but often I will encounter something unknown and have to stop and think some more. This is the part my wife doesn't get - it takes time to deal with surprises.

[ssmith1627]

I'm very new to all this so my work is really in flurries. I'll creep along when I get stuck trying to figure out how to do a certain step. Building the bed for my son it was how to make cove moldings and get them to come out right. Such a small thing but it took me a while to get good results. I stopped working for weeks after getting stuck there. Once I got back at it, I flew through the rest of the project.

I do try to look at all the steps over and over and over before I start something. Same with my workbench. I had to learn enough to feel I could get through with it. I don't want to start and get halfway and just not be able to figure out a certain part and not be able to move forward. Or to have the tool to do that part.

But like I said, I'm a newbie. I've built a good bit of shop stuff now but I'm only on my 2nd furniture project.

Steve

[ironhat]

Mar ('my wife' sounds too possessive to me) would often ask what takes me so long. Then, I had need of an extra pair of hands one day as I was making ups some monstrocity of a jig to do something that even I forget. It took 30 or 40 minutes and the procedure was like two minutes. At that point she 'got it' and even said so. But my biggest issue is that at the end of the work day my body only has another 60 to 90 minutes of work in it and then I have to rest it. On the weekends I'll push from 7 to 11, rest for and hour or so and then go until about four. Then, that's it. I'm not worth setting out for the trash pick up.

Many have noted that when it feels like work you quit. In addition, when I start making too many stupid mistakes or when I'm getting upset with something it's time to quit, as well.

[pelligrini]

I would consider myself pretty slow, but I'm a lot faster than I was a few years ago. I think most of it comes with experience. Setups and execution come quicker for me now. I spend a lot of time creating jigs and fabrication support items for projects, because I don't have them yet.

I also keep trying out new joinery techniques, which tends to slow things down. I would probably be better off sticking with what I know a little more so I could get it down pat. I do like playing with new toys and trying out something different though.

The big thing that really slows me down is when I modify a design during construction. Quite often my bright ideas on the fly will create more unforeseen problems down the line. I end up spending a lot of time figuring out how to get it all to work again. Simple project plans just stay in my head, but I will draw out the complex ones in CAD. If I would just stick to the plans I’m sure I could get things done a lot faster, but that would take half the fun out of it.

[atgcpaul]

I'm pretty fast with the main construction but then get hung up on the small
details that noone else will appreciate but me. Applying a good finish can
sometimes take longer than the construction itself.

Almost all of my projects incorporate some new challenge and it's in the
execution of that where things can grind to a halt. It can be days/weeks/
months before I figure it out, but once I get there, it's a race to the finish.

Paul

[drumpriest]

It's good to hear that I'm not the only one that takes on some new challenge with just about every project. I almost always have something in a build that I've never tried before, as that's what excites me, to see if I can do this new fancy thing.... And I find that when there isn't some challenge like that in a project, I'm more prone to rush it to get it done, and then mistakes occur.

Paul, I hear you about the finishing process, that's why I am so excited about my new HVLP sprayer and the USL that I found. Great looking finish, HUGE time saver.

I definitely enjoy my slower paced projects more, and they tend to turn out the best, but I'm under pressure at times to get a build done.

[Duff]

Case by case. IF I'm motivated, I can do a project in a day, but normally 3-4 days taking my time hemmin' & hawwin'. Typically same results.