Post Your Woodworking Mistakes - Be Humble

[SMOKEYBEAR]

Post your errors, what went wrong and could you save it?

I'll start

Juice groves on a cutting board. Saved it... its a 1 of 1. The router got away from me on a sub par setup that lacked firm stability. I don't have a pic of the run away router groove.. but I was able to get the "handles" cut clean even on the revised design angle.

 

[SMOKEYBEAR]

One more for now..

Crosscutting a cutting board, smidge bit of kickback - understatement, however I sustained significantly less injury than I anticipated. Once I recovered the project from across the yard and inspected my injury, I was able to salvage it. Just flipped all the bad sides to one side and made it the bottom.

 

[SMOKEYBEAR]

One last suggestion, there really is always a solution

 

[Aaron_W]

I don't think there is enough bandwidth to cover all my mistakes. I do however still have 10 fingers and 10 toes which I am happy about.

 

[gleman]

I was putting t-track on my outfeed cart and decided during the last three inches to admire the squirrels and birds. I also cut the **** out of myself installing the router bit.

 

[RonnieC]

I don't think there is enough bandwidth to cover all my mistakes. I do however still have 10 fingers and 10 toes which I am happy about.

I have not made a woodworking project yet where a mistake was not made. I consider woodworking to be a series of problem solving exercises- some due to the limits of the material or tools, some to correct mistakes I have introduced. I only get annoyed if it is a mistake that I’ve made too many times in the past.

 

[Aaron_W]

I have not made a woodworking project yet where a mistake was not made. I consider woodworking to be a series of problem solving exercises- some due to the limits of the material or tools, some to correct mistakes I have introduced. I only get annoyed if it is a mistake that I’ve made too many times in the past.

Yeah, I frequently modify projects on the fly to make my mistakes work.

 

[jar944]

Here are a couple recent ones

Notch cut on the wrong side for a window stool


A different stool with something wrong (I honestly don't remember)

 

[DGersic]

Cut, dovetailed, sanded and ready to assemble three drawer boxes. Except that they’re the wrong size. Had to re-cut from scratch. I figure I’ll use these somewhere, they just need bottoms cut and some glue.

 

[Jgaz]

Only my second serious kickback in 50+ years of table saw operation.

In this pic the stainless screw box and the pocket hole screw box positions were switched when the cutoff became a missile.


This bottom of the pocket screw box aka entry point


Exit point thru the lid of the box.


No harm done (except to my shorts) as I was standing out of the line of fire.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Last fall I was breaking down sheets of plywood for use in the CNC laser. On cut 297 of 300 the offcut got away from me, the saw grabbed it, and tossed part of it out in the driveway. It had your typical curved gouge in the back. The bigger chunk gave me a little bruise and scratch on my abdomen.

The message received was, Even though it's going well, constant vigilance.

No picture as the damaged boards have been lasered up, sold, and the 'sprues' used for heating months ago.

 

[Wubicon]

Yeah, I frequently modify projects on the fly to make my mistakes work.

The more I take on various projects, wood working, around the house/garage etc. the more I realize the true skill and talent lies in the ability to hide a mistake or imperfection rather than not make one.

 

[kaymccampbell]

My first kickback was more epic. The 2x4 I was ripping, suddenly decided to pinch the blade. It flew backwards and hit the garage door, maybe 10' away. It punched through the 1/2" OSB inner liner. Luckily it missed me, as I have a tendency to stay as much out of the line of fire as possible. I did have to wear a wrist brace for a few weeks afterward.

 

[txvwnut]

I forget what I was cutting but the tablesaw tossed it back to me for inspection. I was however was not ready to receive it and took it to the hand and shoulder. No cuts but several nasty bruises and a swollen thumb.

I need to see if I have pictures that show my mistake. When I built the vanity for one of our bathrooms I wanted it look like a repurposed piece of furniture. It's basically two drawers above what would be two cabinets with one removed for chair storage. Well when I was making all of the mortises I managed to make two mortises I didn't need on the side that is going to be open. No big issue as I have plenty of material and it's easy to whip out since the mortiser is all setup for the operation. Cut two new blanks and put in all the mortises I need and the two I didn't need. So now my vanity actually looks like a piece of repurposed furniture as I was not going back to wood pile.

 

[Aaron_W]

The more I take on various projects, wood working, around the house/garage etc. the more I realize the true skill and talent lies in the ability to hide a mistake or imperfection rather than not make one.

Most recent was an under bench organizer. I goofed a measurement on some shelves for books. I decided to put some smaller books there, problem solved.

 

[RMERR]

Managed to screw up some biscuit joining alignment. The error was covered once they were glued together. No picture, life's challenging enough without memorializing my mistakes. Besides, like we always say here, no picture...then it didn't happen!

 

[The Cobbler]

many mistakes made here . One that comes to mind in the mid 80's
A pc of 1x12 Mahogany to make a sill beside stairs , I needed something like 9' all I could get was 14'
decided to cut the board shorter so it would be easier to lay out & fit. laid the board on the ledge , butted up to the stairs, marked it & chopped it off. except, I didn't allow for the 4' that I needed to slide beside the stringer of the stairs . so now I had 2 shorts of 12" board .

 

[Sumboodie]

My woodworking is usually with a chainsaw. +/- 1" is good enough.

 

[PWC Repair]

I was just trimming off the joists for my son's front porch last week. The 2x8 by only about 1" thick cutoff managed somehow to flip down and get grabbed by the circular saw blade. While the blade was pulling the bit back up it brought the cord with it and bye bye power cord.

 

[LeonardY]

I have a bucket full of mistakes. They are waiting to become push sticks.

 

[Beerhippie]

There isn't room nor time to post pictures of every woodworking project I've ever done.

 

[Beerhippie]

I had to cut a few dozen 1/8" X 1 1/2" furring strips to flatten a wall for drywalling. Of course, I was in a hurry and lazy so instead of doing it right I just set the fence of the tablesaw to 1/8" and started ripping.



That's the scar from the exit wound, thirty-odd years later. Entry wound scar is on the other side of my wrist.

 

[niget2002]

Do you want these listed as 'per build', or just a running list?

Every build I've done has probably had at least one mistake. Nice thing about wood, is most mistakes can be fixed in some way, shape, or fashion. Most people will never even notice them.

 

[LeonardY]

I was taught the difference between a good woodwork and a great woodworker was how they fix their mistakes.

 

[1Garageman]

I am subscribing to this group!! I defiantly fit in here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I will just say I have scientifically proven many times that being left handed is better when using a table saw!

 

[KenC]

I like to work with cherry. Cherry is also a fine wood to smoke chicken and pork, and beef if using a sweet sauce.. So that's where my mistakes get corrected.

Mistakes taste great!

 

[PCustoms]

Had some rough pine planks I've been literally tripping over for 2 years. Decided to run them through the planner, saw them up and use them for casing/trim on the opening to my woodshop, which is getting a sliding barn door soon.

Got it all planed down and started ripping, not being super **** as I want it rustic. Beetle holes, stains and intact knots are OK. Got it all ripped, cut all the scrap for kindling and set the wood aside.

Looking at the pile now, I only cut 2 pieces wide enough for the jamb, not 3. Plenty of 3-3/4 casing though

 

[T444e]

People take pictures of their mistakes? If there is no picture, did it really happen?

 

[PCustoms]

People take pictures of their mistakes? If there is no picture, did it really happen?

Shhhhhh

 

[engineer2]

Years ago Iost a fingertip due to table saw kickback, but on the bright side I think I can get 10% off at the nail salon.

Wife saw some pretty cutting boards in a tourist store on vacation. Me and my big mouth; "Hey, I know how to make those!"
A month of evenings and $100 of wood I made 3 nice cutting boards. One exploded when the purpleheart dried, so I had to redo it.
I told her next time just go buy the damn cutting board.

 

[jives]

Installed a new wall with a door in the house. Door was too big -- as typical. Measured twice, took the door to the garage, cut once. Fit the door back in the frame, only to discover that I cut off the wrong side of the door, i.e., the top. So ticked off that I took the stupid door back to the garage, glued back on the top and when dry, trimmed off the bottom.

It is a wonder I have all my digits.

 

[MongoTA]

Made a craft table for my wife. Sapele top, birch ply carcasses as the base:


Because I'm such a genius I grabbed my pencil scratch measured drawing and quickly made 14 drawers for the table. Gunna git it dun!



Because I'm such an idiot I misread my crappy handwriting and made them the wrong width.

I remember just chuckling, then moving on to the next step, which I refer to as "starting over". lol



All's well that ends 'sort of' well.

 

[WillyBoy]

Lots of good lessons so far. I'll gotten pretty good at gluing pieces back together so I can cut the other end. Sometimes I even use biscuits on the repair if it really has to hold.
1/4 inch dowels in the pencil sharpener and then tapped into the "wrong" holes, cut flush, and get on with it.
Hiding/correcting mistakes is the sign of real craftsman. You heard it here.

 

[nadogail]

There isn't room nor time to post pictures of every woodworking project I've ever done.

I too have made more than a few mistakes.

 

[Packard V8]

Woodworking mistakes are what feed the fireplace. Shoot, shovel and shut up.

jack vines

 

[Jim_No_Garage]

I get to look at this mistake daily. The bottom rail on the cabinet was too wide so the bottom drawer was dragging on the top of the rail. I removed the rail and trimmed it on the table saw. The piece bound on the blade, rolled up and kicked back at me. It caught me on the hip and I was bruised for a while . . .



There was a kickback in my HS shop class - no injuries but I still remember the sound of that piece of pine hitting the block wall behind the saw.

Cheers

Jim

 

[rharman]

I get to look at this mistake daily. The bottom rail on the cabinet was too wide so the bottom drawer was dragging on the top of the rail. I removed the rail and trimmed it on the table saw. The piece bound on the blade, rolled up and kicked back at me. It caught me on the hip and I was bruised for a while . . .



There was a kickback in my HS shop class - no injuries but I still remember the sound of that piece of pine hitting the block wall behind the saw.

Cheers

Jim

It has personality. Kinda looks like it's frowning.

 

[KenC]

One last suggestion, there really is always a solution

Well there is a better solution involving fire. Work with cherry, oak, hickory and pecan. Buy or build a good smoker. Cutoffs and mistakes make good eating meats!

 

[KenC]

Keep mistakes to minimum by never working from plans, or at least never let anyone else see your plans. Then every 'variance' becomes an 'improvement to the original'. They'll have to take your word for it.

 

[Beerhippie]

Keep mistakes to minimum by never working from plans, or at least never let anyone else see your plans. Then every 'variance' becomes an 'improvement to the original'. They'll have to take your word for it.

Throw in words like "bespoke" "rustic" "Ranch-style" "handmade"....