Old timer at a shop in Portland taught me a trick for scribing that I still use

I was working at a custom cabinet shop in Portland about 6 years ago and this guy named Frank must have been 65. He saw me struggling with a scribe for a built-in that was off by a quarter inch. He handed me a little block plane and said "let the work do the talking." He showed me how to run the plane along the wall edge instead of marking and cutting separate. Frank retired a year later but that tip saved me hours on jobs since then. Anyone else pick up a trick from a seasoned cabinetmaker that just stuck with you?

2 comments

2 Comments

ryan_gibson849d ago

Yeah that thing Frank said "let the work do the talking" hits different. It's like most skills where you stop fighting and just pay attention to what's actually happening instead of what you think should happen. I see it all the time with people trying too hard to force things.

morganhill9d ago

Forgets that walls breathe and shift all year round anyway.