Is it the journey there or the finished product for you?

[tmuir]

I've been making the top for my workbench over the last few days and its got me thinking about what I like the most.
Is it the finished product or the journey there that is more important?

I could of very easily bought some 30mm MDF and just cut it to size and slapped it on for the top but I decided to make a solid jarrah top.
I could of glued it up into 2 halves and then ran that through my thicknesser and very carefully of glued the two halves up to make the top but I opted to glue it all up and then level it with the old jointers hand plane I have. I've never used the plane before and the blade was blunt.
I could of reground the blade on my grinder and just finished on a diamond lapping plate but I reshaped and squared the blade on a 300 grit Japanese water stone, hand lapped the back to a mirror finish on my water stones and then leather strip and then hand sharpened the blade with the water stones and leather until it was sharp enough to cleanly shave the hair of my arm.

Doing it this way took me two hours to sharpen the blade and I am still only 2/3 of the way through levelling the bench.
So thinking about it although I always love the finished product its definitely the journey there that is more important to me.
I enjoy taking my time and knowing and when I've finished I know I've completed something that was truly worth me doing.

What does everyone else prefer, the journey or the finished product?


Phew that was a bit Zen for this time of night.

Tony

 

[Cedge]

Tony
The journey, of course. The end result is just the trophy commemorating the Journey.

Steve

 

[Brass_Machine]

Tony
The journey, of course. The end result is just the trophy commemorating the Journey.

Steve

Couldn't have said it better myself

Eric

 

[Divided He ad]

For me.... It's the discovery while upon the journey that is the draw, I love to find out what I can create and relish the challenge of making things work....
The end result is not always perfect (usually far from it) I scrap a few bits along the way but the end result is usually something I am quite proud of. As Steve said the 'trophy'
Even things I make for my three customers .... I hate selling them! They're mine and I want to keep them! (even though I have no use for them!?)

That said I have also made quite a few little gifts and quite happily part with them? But only for friends who deserve them


Good Question Tony, Nice to know about others passion for their work ;D

Zen... I always do my best thinking in my shop



Ralph.

 

[DickDastardly40]

Finishing the job in hand is just a milestone as the journey continues into the next project.

 

[BobWarfield]

To put an even finer point, it is the learning, or the parts of the Journey I've not seen or played with before.

Cheers,

BW

 

[rake60]

My personal best stress relief comes from sweating, bleeding and swearing.

Once the project is finished all of those things end. :-\

Rick

 

[ksouers]

Definitely the journey.

If I just wanted the engine I could easily buy one already completed.

 

[CrewCab]

Another vote for the Journey here .............

< Zen mode on >

if only we could do a Team Build "Tardis" we could enjoy the best of both many worlds ;D

< Zen mode off >


OK ........ where was I ................ ???

CC

 

[Cedge]

Definitely the journey.

If I just wanted the engine I could easily buy one already completed.

Ksouer
I built my collection rescuing engines from oblivion. Before the resurgence of interest in steam engines, many of these fine old pieces were destined for the scrap yard as the old fellows who built them were buried.

I've got several levels of attachment to the pieces I've gathered. The top level is reserved for those engines that I've bought directly from builders who were breaking up their own collections. I have both a history and a feel for who their creators were. Many a man had me promised that I'd preserve his work and share his joy at his creation.

I've enjoyed them just as I promised, but in learning to build my own I also learned why those often emotional requests were made. There is nothing to surpass watching your own hands create something of beauty. Yes.... it's the journey, with all that it encompasses, but the end result is also a monument to having lived the experience.

Each piece holds a little bit of the builder with in it... be it blood, sweat, tears, obscene echoes or just the simple pride of doing things well. With each project, we leave something behind that says a little about who we were. I hope that mine will say good things about my journey.

Steve