Mule

Never measure.

Sounds funny, right? Especially when making resonator guitars.  Isn't it all measuring to 1/32 of an inch? Well, it used to be.  Measuring, marking with the sharpest pencil you can find, hoping the ruler doesn't move and you don't notice it. Suddenly half of the skill of making guitars is measuring between little lines correctly.

So I came up with the short saying (there are many more) "Never Measure". If you dont have to measure while making a guitar you can spend more time actually making guitars, and not fixing measuring mistakes.  How is that done?

The biggest way is through the types of jigs and fixtures I build.  If I make a template that has locating pins on either end perfectly on center, I only have to measure perfectly once.  From then on I can use a template to drill holes, which now can be used on all my other jigs.  Now I spend all my time making guitars and not playing with rulers.  And its always perfect.  It goes right along with another heuristic of mine: "Make a system." If it's work that is repeated there is a system that can be made to do it.  It frees up my work and work power to be aware of how its working, how I can make a better part or how it fits into the whole of making instruments.  If my nose is constantly in my work- meaning I'm looking only at the pieces - I'm missing opportunities. Those opportunities could be for better work, new ideas, or just plain having more fun making resonator guitars.

For the time being there's still six inch rulers all over the place here, but "Never Measure" keeps improving the processes.