You can trust your vision.
That may seem a bit counter-intuitive but it holds true a lot of the time. People do not really realize how acute their depth perception and spacial relationship judgment actually is. Yes it is easy to be off level a quarter inch, or a half inch out of plumb. But that is the point. It can often appear to be straight and level when it actually isn’t exactly. And things can look a little weird sometimes when they are placed by exact measurement.
There is a valid principle in Art called viewer participation. Our brain will fill in the blanks. Many times how something looks can depend on what else is in proximity. If for example a cabinet is installed perfectly plumb near a line of tile or casing or molding that isn’t as exact, it might actually look better to split the difference or match the existing.
Look closely
Look closely at this capital “E.” At this barely legible small font size it is still obvious that the top “half” of the character is slightly smaller. Almost all fonts do that, because if not then it looks top-heavy. That is how perceptive we are visually even though we don’t realize it. Stencil fonts made all the same always appear crude. The “O’s” and “C’s” need to be ever so slightly smaller or they appear bigger than the other letters. The spacing between the letters even needs to be adjusted sometimes.
Sign Painters have to know this stuff, and woodworkers should too. That is probably why people like abstract Art. It frees our subconscious minds from needing to make judgments.
Be Deliberate
Close enough right? “Good enough for Government work.” “Good enough for the girls we go with.” Although it is usually the women we have to please most often in this profession. Plus there are a lot more of women doing it. Doing it very well.
If you don’t have time to do it right, When will you have time to do it over? It might be sometimes right to be that little bit off, but it had better not be accidental or just plain shoddy. That, we have an acute perception for as well. So whether or not you make it exact, make it deliberate. Level and plumb and “true” is usually the best idea. Compromise only when it’s really obvious that an adjustment will improve the perception. We have to earn the right to break the rule.
Quality workmanship will keep you busy
Woodworkers, or any craftsman for that matter, who do quality work are never out of work. Every job well done will bring (manifest) another one or more. It’s a law. LOA The Law of Attraction.
Trust Your Judgment on what is Quality.
As a woodworker specialist WoodworkersLikeYou, you will be your worst critic. If it is good enough work for you, then everyone else will love it. That is our motto here. Even if we have to ‘buy” a job here and there to maintain our standard, it will come back around in the long run.
