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Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Detailing Your Car Indicates DIY Ability

How well do you detail your car? That may be an indication of how well your DIY projects will look.

The finish level of projects vary. Sometimes you just need something functional, sometimes you need a higher level of detail. Reaching a high level of detail is a threshold that's difficult to cross. Can you do it?

How well do you detail your car? When you're cleaning the interior, do you do a quick vacuum and call it done? Do you move the seats forward and back to get every inch of carpet vacuumed? Do you clean each pocket and compartment? Do you pop off the fuse box cover too?

A high level of finish requires a commitment to detail. If you're content to leave things good enough, it will show in your finished product. I've had to recut many a board that ended up a little too short.  Gaps don't look good. With my mantle project, I had to ensure each joint fit correctly. This is even more important when you're working on top of something existing. The panels had to cover the brick completely.

When I cut aluminum for my Ghost Trap, the panel came out with a pretty straight edge, but that isn't good enough. I used a file to ensure edges was perfectly straight.

An eye for detail isn't required to build stuff or to be a maker, but it helps. An eye for detail can make a good project great. In many cases no one notices if details are precise, but they will if the deatils are off. Measure two or three times and pull out the level and the right angle. If you want your projects to turn out well, look good, and fit together correctly to avoid hassle, it takes time and effort. Pay attention to every little detail.

If you're already a maker, you know this. If you're just getting started spend the extra time to get it just right. No one may notice but you will, and if it's off someone will notice.

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