Mishaps and Mistakes

This is the bane of any craft and the person who practices it. Undoubtedly it occurs without exception, but some are better at masking the results than others. Admitting that you would have done a particular act differently does not negate a person’s technical skill. In fact, it shows an incorrect choice in the face of unforeseen circumstances and nothing more. So when does a mishap become a mistake? The short answer is when it cannot be corrected. Even then it is best to remember that we should not be afraid of making mistakes. I believe it was Albert Einstein who said “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”

I can remember one incident that happened to me in making a marquetry panel some time ago. The cutting was done using the piece by piece method where each part is cut independent of the others. Likewise, each one had its own separate pattern reproduced as a whole on my computer. I would print a batch of these as needed as the marquetry progressed. Regrettably, I had a loss of data on my hard drive before all the motifs could be rendered. This also affected my backup drive. My effort to reproduce the pattern was only partially successful. The XY coordinates did not match the original leaving the aspect ratio of each mismatched to the pieces I had already cut.

In order to salvage the marquetry, which was 75% complete, I turned to a technique used in the restoration of missing or damaged components of inlay. This is done by taking some light-weight paper, place it over the area to be replaced and rub a soft-lead pencil over the edges of the area to be replaced. The rubbing is then trimmed and glued to veneer specified in the design. Cutting can be done with a fretsaw or knife. Sometimes 2 or more adjacent pieces will be missing. Over-cutting these areas are necessary and then cutting back with a knife to their original location after assembly. All this is rather tedious, but essential in my case. I have seen whole marquetry created this way, but will save that for another post.

Obviously, I have no photos documenting this turnaround. I do have some images of what is involved in this procedure. Below is a piece of curved crossbanding which was inlayed using the same method. The total length of this was nearly 3 feet. Cutting 1 inch at a time (to enable concentric uniformity) and inlayed with hot hide glue the whole project was done in 2 hours. After practice you learn where to cut the tracing. In the end I was able to save the marquetry panel and proved, at least to myself, that a mishap and/or mistake can be corrected.