I dont know where else to ask this question, and I will try to phrase the question properly but I want you to understand what I mean so first this:
When I try to create a lampshade, or make a desk, or even modify a computer case, somehow it is never as good as the best I see online by DIYers or top company designers or even gifted amateurs, so what am I doing wrong? How do people learn how to make things so they look great. I mean I know a team of people would work to design, lets say, a sports car and when you look at it the thing is perfect its just so fuckin good.
Another example, some guy buys a computer case and modifies it and its frikkin great!!!!!
I try a design and all i do is ruin the case. How do I learn how to be good at making stuff ? How do people know how to do even simple stuff like making their computer look better - oh or is that difficult stuff?
>>960245
Being able to build things goes hand in hand with being able to see art.
It sounds pretentious, but you'll find most of the great, say furniture markers, or car builders; they'll have a keen eye for aesthetics.
That, along with well honed skill will get you to where you want to go. As for things not turning out the way you want them to, that could just be down to you need more practice at what you're doing.
Doing a lot of it will get you to a stage where you can knock stuff out all day for fun and it'll look exactly how you want it to, if not better.
>>960252
Hey thank you for the reply.
What you are saying is true but when i look online at the workshops of people who design stuff they have machines that cost $$$$$$megadollars and I just have hand tools and a few cheap electrical tools. are the tools important do I really need pipe bending machines and sandblasters and lathes etc. Is it down to having expensive machinery?
>>960245
when you are making something and you think oh shit, i could have done x differently, or when you finish and think hmmm, it looks shit because of x.
remember these things and then do them differently next time.
alternatively consider that it looks shit to you because you made it. sometimes beauty comes from what we cant see, if you made something then there is no mystery to it and so to you its plain.
if it looks bad but you dont know why then you are fucked sorry.
>>960256
Good advice man, good advice and I like this part especially
>alternatively consider that it looks shit to you because you made it. sometimes beauty comes from what we cant see
I should have seen it because I make music and a few of my friends think the music I make is better than the music they make, but I dont I think they are just being kind lol
so what you said makes a lot of sense to me now
>>960255
In once sense I am biased. My family have a lot of skills so to speak and in turn have a lot of fancy machinery and tooling I can use, and I myself have quite a collection of machines and what not, but at the same time I've also made a lot of things using just basic power and hand tools.
Having better tools and machinery help with repetition and accuracy but they are not the be and end all.
>>960245
you learn by failing, I'd at least I'd hope you learn from it
(getting your finger whacked by a pc fan is a good way to learn to always turn it off before trying to work on it)
and a pile of crap dipped in gold is still a pile of crap...choose function over appearance any day
just because something looks good doesn't mean it's any more durable or effective than something that doesn't
>>960262
Yeah thats something I kind of considered, that maybe skills are handed down from one generation to another, but still there must have been that guy in the history of your ancestors that was the one who started it all
>>960245
Practice, patience, attention to detail. It's a skill, and it takes time to cultivate. Take your time, sit and think about the piece you're working on, get the details in your head. Then start working. Be prepared to fail a lot before you get the hang of something.
>>960267
>choose function over appearance any day
I would ask you this: is minimalism function or merely appearance. I love minimalism, you see, and would consider minimalism being the mastery of minimal fuss and maximum effect
>>960283
Thank you for the advice - can I ask you this though? I keep looking at everything I wish I had the skill to create and it seems like if I am too patient I wont even have time to speed up and create something great before I die
Maybe I should just work in an office I dont know, but I wish I was great at making stuff I wish I had all the tools and knew how to use them to master craftsman status
OP here thanks for the replies you /diy/ers gave me some good advice and I love that
so thamnk you very much
>>960289
The patience is for learning. As you get better, you naturally become faster at the actual work.
>>960285
philosophically or my suggestion?
personally I don't care for the whole "minimal" thing...by trying not to make it a certain way (especially if you're doing it that way just because other people do), you end up creating it as something else entirely...if that at all makes sense
I've had to jerry-rig plenty of things; I was never going for looks, I just needed it to work
if you focus too much on how it looks, and or what other people think about how it looks, you'll never be satisfied with it even though it might work perfectly well for whatever you made it for in the first place
>>960308
OP here
I will just keep going - all the advice here seems to say one thing - if you can learn, if you can teach yourself, you can only get better
TYVM !!
thread closed
problem solved
>>960315
I understand exactly what you are saying and one day I hope I am proud enough of something I make to show it here on /diy/
>>960315
I agree with this guy. If you git gud at just making stuff work, you'll slowly git gud at making your kludges look better too.
>>960262
This,OP.If you already have at least beginner skills with basic tools try upgrading them.Get better saws with extra features and master those.Improve your drill sets.Expand your knowledge of hardware and learn to choose the best option for what youre trying to do.
>>960245
sometimes using better tools will make your finished job look 10x better. i know this first hand but you also need to attention to detail like others have said.
>>960245
the secret is trim anon. everything looks like shit until you learn to apply trim properly. fill sand fill sand fill sand prime sand prime sand paint
or a lot of case modders just apply rubber auto pinch weld weather seals to cover their shitty work. hell, rip off a skirting board and take a look at how shit it is underneath and you never noticed because there was a pretty wavy board covering the shittiness.
My biggest lesson for making things look good with hand tools is to undercut slightly and sand/file the edges down. Time consuming but I have more control over a file than I do a hacksaw or other large cutting tool.
It all takes time to learn though so practice a technique before doing it on the final piece.
