DIYbanter - View Single Post - Where Do Ideas Come From

charlieb

wrote:

I think for me, it is certainly "necessity is the mother of
invention". I am great at using tools and materials for things they
might not be considered for by their respective manufacturers.

Well turning certainly lends itself to that skill and ability.
Lots of people think up things that they can't do with the
tools they have - and abandon the idea. You start with
an idea and, if necessary, make the tool(s) to then make
the idea a reality.

Most folks who get into turning and stay with it have
some sort of grinder, maybe a flex shaft or equivalent
with various burs , files etc.. - most if not everything
needed to make some of their own tools.

If you need a small tool - dental tools are great - either
"off the shelf" or easily modified. Dentists NEVER
throw tools away - even if a new and improved one
has replaced an old one. Ask and you may receive.

I make a lot of different things I use in the shop or on the job
because I am too impatient to go buy them, and something inside me
likes the challenge of designing and making my own jigs a fixtures.

Ah but a significant part of "creativity" involves problem
solving. If, rather than seeing something as a problem, you
choose to see it as an opportunity to use your brain and
existing skills to find a solution, you're more likely to
create something new - at least to you. So maybe Attitude
is an element of creativity?

I don't really have too much of an artistic leaning to a lot of the
things I do, but I enjoy the practical aspects of solving a puzzle. I
would figure out how to make a make a jig to cut extreme angles on
trim before I would ever think to make your articulated chain.

Hey, we're talking creativity here - not "Art". I've got an
idea worked out, now I have to come up with a use for it.

When HP developed the first pocket sized programable
calculator they called it A Solution Looking For Problems
To Solve. People found all kinds of problems to solve
with it.

I'm always amazed when "tradesmen" say "I can't do MATH"
and then take a flat piece of sheet metal and make a 3-D
object with tight seams that fits perfectly - or close enough,
or a carpenter who works out and then builds a staircase
- with a landing if need be - that fits the alloted space, meets
code and allows for subsequent rugs or flooring at the top
and bottom, or a trim carpenter who deals with walls not
being plumb, corners that aren't square and floors that
aren't level. Ever watched a Phd. try doing an exposed
aggregate walkway, or try cutting roof rafters?

I think my artistic inspirations (such as they are) are generated by
me seeing a shape or construction method or idea of something I like,
then going back to the shop and workging out the details to make my
own version.

But you had to have combined things you've done before in
a new way - at least new to you. And when it works your
brain gives you an endorphin rush - a reward for being
"creative". It's built into us. So the next time a "challenge"
comes along the subconscious thinks "Hey! An endorphin
opportunity!" and you look for a way to meet the "challenge".

Them that tries may or may not succeed.
Them that don't try don't fail. But they won't succeed
either.

charlie b