Do you have any common mistakes?

[Chris Tsutsui]

I notice that I have made the same mistakes in the past, and there's sort of a pattern and I've got to do something about these mistakes so they stop happening.

Here are my most common mistakes:

1. Mark a piece of wood, measure and re-mark the piece of wood. Then cut on the wrong marking so the piece is too short. (I need a good eraser with me)

2. Put the cutting guide on the wrong side of the pencil markings so that the piece you want is a blade kerf too short. (I need to mark the scrap side of the pencil markings from now on)

3. Planning error in the design. Dimension is wrong on the cutlist so after you make all the cuts and begin putting it together, one or two pieces is off. (I guess i just have to double check or use some sort of software instead of pencil and paper)

Sometimes you know that something doesn't look right, yet you make the cut anyways and then it's too late.

That was happening last night...

[David Christopher]

Chris, I only cut on the wrong side of the line when I have no more wood left

[David DeCristoforo]

Well, I for one have never made any of those mistakes....

But for those of you who are prone to such lapses, the easiest way to avoid #1 is to scribble out the "extra" line. For #2, make an "X" on the waste side of the line. For #3, run your numbers at least twice. It's also a good idea to have someone else check your cutlist before you dive in. Often, if, say, you transpose numbers or make an error in writing the number, you will see it the same way the second time too whereas another person will be more likely to catch the error.

[Jason Beam]

For #1, I circle the mark that is the keep mark. It started out for visibility because sometimes my pencil lines were short little ticks and got lost in a sea of material surface. I would circle the mark so i could find it easily. This evolved into my "Not that one, THIS one" technique eventually.

So far, I haven't had a problem with #2 - though I do consider it right before the cut is made "am i on the right side?"

As for #3 - this is exactly the reason I use SketchUp and design each and every part in-place. This makes actually building more of an assembly process than a "figurin' stuff out" phase. I already did all the figurin' before. In addition to that, I may only measure one or two initial parts for a project - after that, every part gets marked in-place to accomodate the space it's going into - no measuring; just hold the rough piece up to the space it's going into and mark it. I don't trust measurements when something has to fit somewhere. I take the piece to the space.

[harry strasil]

I seldom mark the material for cutting, prefering to measure between the fence and the blade to set the distance and on my cut off saw, I have a stick down tape and also use a stop clamped on to the guides with a hand clamp for numerous cuts the same distance.

[george wilson]

I went a long way to buy some choice curly maple years ago. I was resawing the nicest piece into wedges for making an archtop and back guitar. I sawed the piece the wrong way,and ended up WITHOUT 2 pieces that were bookmatched. I was trying to cut the wood in the best way to get the most pieces out of it,and royally screwed up!!!That's the simplest way I can describe it,but I was totally unhappy about that! This piece had very small curls,not much more than 1/8" to 3/16" wide,my favorite kind of curl. The drive each way was a long one,and the wood wasn't cheap either!

[Rich Neighbarger]

Reading the tape upside down caught me a few times. I now use a lefty-righty... Problem solved.

[Mike Henderson]

I make a lot of mistakes but I don't know if I can classify any as "common". There are so many places to make mistakes that I'll probably never run out of opportunities, even if I don't repeat any.

Mike

[David DeCristoforo]

"There are so many places to make mistakes that I'll probably never run out of opportunities..."

Ain't that the truth! You would think that by now all of the possible mistakes would have been discovered and we would know about them. But it's like chess. The possibilities are infinite.

[Bill White]

It took me a long time to SLOW DOWN. Not that I still don't screw up, but being in rush when it is not necessary always led to errors. Then, by the time I fixed the ----ups, I had spent all the time I "saved" anyhow.
Bill

[Chris Tsutsui]

Well at least it's reassuring knowing that I'm not the only one getting frustrated from time to time.

Things can get so complicated on projects that seem so easy...

[phil harold]

1" mistake haunts me

[Matt Stiegler]

I always remember to turn on the DC before I use a tool ... but I frequently forget to open the right gate.

[Chris Harry]

Ive installed a TON of molding in my house, yet I still make the same few mistakes:

1. For some reason, EVERY time I start trim work, the first piece I cut is always off. 90% of the time too short so I get to re-start

2. Measuring and marking trim, cutting it at a 90 degree and realizing it needed to be a 45 to mate up with another piece (in fact, I just did this over the weekend)

3. Measuring and marking the short side of a miter, and cutting it like its the long side. Meaning of course I need a board stretcher or more molding

Really frustrating part is when Ive purchased primed and painted the molding for the job, but then run out because I made too many oops. Then I get to go get more molding, prime and paint and wait for it to dry.

[David DeCristoforo]

"...the first piece I cut is always off..."

That's not a mistake... it's an "axiom". But what is "funny" is that the last piece is always off too!