Practice Makes Perfect - Improving woodworking techniques

Router bushing. This is my first go at using one of these. It came with the Rockler kit and follows the edge of the template. This is great for using spiral bits that do not have bearing.

Improvement isn’t yesterday or tomorrow.

Majority of the time, as professionals, we rely on our experience to carry us through something new. It’s not always smart, but hardly is there time to try something new. This is where mistakes, costly mistakes, are born.

One of my fascinations is incorporating woodworking techniques into building. Not just the creativity, but also best practices.

My first perfect wooden inlay bow-tie. There were six others that I messed up before understanding how the jig worked.

Of these practices is inlaying ‘bow ties’ or ‘butterflies’ into splits and checks in wood. I find these natural defects beautiful, but if you do not tie the wood back together, the split can grow.

The Rockler templating jig. The tape is unnecessary for the inside template but helped hold the main mount from shifting.

Most woodworkers seem to use a bandsaw to create their bow ties. For this I am relying on a templating jig from Rockler. The room for error is higher, but this will allow me to provide a solution on site. And thanks to a small holiday vacation at a location with a workshop, I was able to put time into my first practice piece. Taking a checked pressure treated 6x6 and inlaying another piece of white pine.

But that is what this is. Practice.

Growth and understanding of how to accomplish this task, where the other means is to learn through frustration on the job. Possibly losing time and money in the process.

Completed practice piece of my bowtie inlay into pressure treated pine.

From here, only time will tell if this is the best solution for this and similar issues. Already, additional ideas of where this can be applied has come to mind. And if anything, it is another arrow in the quiver.