Disasters

[Truffle & Podge]

I have just messed up a project which i now know was doomed from the start, it caused me so much frustration and pain that i wanted to quit right there and then. I had a right old tantrum, threw a few things and generally screamed the house down, got angry with myself for being so stupid and felt utterly worthless :(|. It got me wondering when things go wrong for you guys, how do you react? Are there any cool calm cats out there who put it down to experience and serenely move on? Or do you act like a wildcat, lashing out, spitting fur and fury?

[mizgeorge]

I'm a bit of a pollyanna, so it either goes in the scrap pot or, more usually, gets turned into something else. If it's something I'm really not sure about to start with, I tend to prototype in non-precious metal. I only very rarely end up cursing at piece, but usually I'm calling myself names for being incompetent rather than anything else :)

[caroleallen]

Depends on how long I've spent on it and how expensive the materials are. I just moan a bit and move on normally.

[Exsecratio]

Show me somebody who claims to never have made a mistake and I'll show you a liar :)

I tend to look at it, learn from it then just move on, not much in this life gets under my skin, I guess sometimes I'm too laid back for my own good :)

best wishes

Dave

[art925]

I have just messed up a project which i now know was doomed from the start, it caused me so much frustration and pain that i wanted to quit right there and then. I had a right old tantrum, threw a few things and generally screamed the house down, got angry with myself for being so stupid and felt utterly worthless :(|. It got me wondering when things go wrong for you guys, how do you react? Are there any cool calm cats out there who put it down to experience and serenely move on? Or do you act like a wildcat, lashing out, spitting fur and fury?

Action Learning is the key; use what you have learned during the process what went right or wrong, write it down if needed and use it next time! If there is a learning opportunity to be had, it does not matter how you react.

[Dennis]

It's not doomed, it just needs a new approach. If it hasn't come to you after a good nights sleep, lay it open on the forum. Dennis.

[JonLendrum]

Ive been learning how to do a simpe stone setting, I melted the bezel strip and had a wobbler crushed it up with pliers and threw it on the floor. Pretty childish of me but i enjoyed squashing it up!

[caroleallen]

I think you're right Dennis. I spent months developing a new piece for casting. It was a little book with a tiny mouse on it that I carved out of milliput. The whole thing was a nightmare what with hinges and everything. I finally sent it off for casting to a company I hadn't used before and it came back really rough. They said it was rough when they got it (it wasn't) so I duly filed it down and polished it up for doing again. It was just as rough the second time and needed a lot more filing and polishing. In the process, I managed to thin down one bit too much, so it was ruined. I wrote it off but used what I had learned to design a new piece which is nothing like the first piece (no mouse) but will work much better. It's still being cast (by Nexgen, whose quality of work is much better) so fingers crossed it will work this time.

[Dennis]

Fingers crossed, but I'm sure it will.

[Dennis]

What you have learned, John:

Don't use flimsy ready made bezel strip, but cut your own from 0.4mm fine silver sheet.
Work in a darkened area so as to anticipate over-heating by the colour.
Use a softer flame by partially closing the air hole on your torch.
Don't hurry, but give the solder time to flow.
Don't work when you are already over-tired, because you need to concentrate. And that's just five. Dennis.

[medusa]

it depends. I might see if I can re-work it. But when I actually melted an antique art nouveau piece I was enamelling (got distracted by someone coming in) I cursed like a nutter. Not just because of the work I'd put in, it was the last firing and looking damn good. not even just because of the price I paid for the pendant, but because I know I would have re-sold it for 10x and could have done with the dosh.

When stuff like that happens, with no saving it, I just blank it and move on.