I'm going to rant about my latest project...

[Gary Herrmann]

then I'm going to self medicate with a couple margaritas (with Aguila tequila). Sorry this is so long, but I need to get this out of my system.

I milled some cherry (yes, the same stuff that kicked back at me last week) to 1/2" thickness and sized it for a nice little box for my wife. Set up the Leigh jig and started cutting dovetails. Had really bad blow out on one edge - with a backer and front board, having also used a marking knife all the way around to avoid this very thing.

OK. Its a big chip. I'll cut it off and make a smaller box. Not exactly to spec, but she'll still like it. My wife would probably ooh and ahh over a splintery plywood box - thats just the way she is (luckily for me).

Cross cut and start over. Cut one board. Perfection. All is right with the universe. Cut the next. Still going good. Cut the third, and the cam clamp on the jig slips just a bit. Enough so the boards won't line up. Try to repair - nope. Start over or cut again. This is getting to be a pretty small box.

Wife reminds me she has tennis tonight. Asks when I will be done. Hah! An excuse. I'm not quitting, I'm, uh, taking care of my parental duties. Yeah, thats it.

Sometimes this hobby REALLY frustrates me. I know sh@t happens. I would just like it to stay in the backyard with the rest of it next time.

Deep breath. OK. Take a quick shower. Order pizza and watch a Disney flick with my 4 year old. That's good therapy. Maybe self medicate when he goes to bed...

Oh, yeah. Throw the cut off pieces of cherry in the fireplace once its really burning well. That'll show that cherry who's boss.

End of rant. Nothing more to see here. Thanks for following my twisted rant. Move along...

[Silas Smith]

I was finishing the very last cut on the fourth piece of a jewelry box yesterday. Wouldn't you know it, the tear out is so bad that I basically say forget it and added yet another couple of pieces to the fireplace. This was after about 1 1/2 hours of milling to deal with a very twisted and difficult board (great character to the wood though). What can you do? Today I am already starting the process over again (3rd attempt). I guess what they say about it being the journey not the destination is true.

[Norman Hitt]

Gary,............I Feeeeeeeeeeeel.....................for You!!!! I am somewhat surprised though, 'cause I thought those kinds of days only came to W. Tx.

[Gary Herrmann]

I've got a piece of W. TX in my basement. That little patch right in front of the Leigh jig. Could also explain my desire for tequila...

[Andy Pedler]

I can totally sympathize with you. I'm pretty new at this woodworking thing, but it is a fun distraction in the back shed. I'm in the process of making a chess board for my Dad (sort of like the one in Pop WW'ing a few years back).

Anyway, I had the alternating strips of maple and walnut cut and glued up, then cut again, so I had my 8 strips of alternating 2" squares. I worked with them to get them all smoothed out and planed down so they fit nice and snug together, all ready for the final glue-up. But it was getting a little late, and I had to work the next day, so I made the executive decision to put off gluing until I had more time and wouldn't be rushing.

Then it rained the next few days.

I went back out to the garage a couple days later ready to glue up the boards and they'd all warped all over the place. Argh! But I guess the lessons you learn the best are the ones you learn the hardest.

At least my chess board is having a happy ending. I did the glue up with the warped strips anyway (after letting them sit with weights on them for a few more days to try to straighten them out...didn't work so well). After a lot of sanding I finally have a board that's looking okay.

Hang in there! The worst day ww'ing beats the best day at work.

- andy

[Keith Cope]

Gary,

It may be something with that St Louis wood (and I think I've had some of it too)!

Keith

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Gary,

I think you did the right thing. Walking out of the shop and disposing of the evidence of the frustrations. Tomorrow is a new day! Good luck!

[Dave Malen]

A woodworker and a fireplace. Great place for those unfinished projects

Dave

[Matt Woodworth]

Throw the cut off pieces of cherry in the fireplace once its really burning well. That'll show that cherry who's boss.

I laughed out loud at this. Attaboy!

Frankly, as I was reading your post I was thinking that you were kind of lucky that all your mistakes were happening at the start of your project. If I mess up then I consider it no big deal. It's at the end of the project that I start to get really nervous.

[John Lucas]

Take a break away from it and then go back and see if you can master it. It seems like you tried everything. On a couple of tries you had wood shift in the clamp. I would review thispart of your procedure carefully. When you are routing, you wont know if there is any vibraton in the wood but if there is, it can cause your type problems.
I think my biggest question is abut the bit. I love CMT bits BUT, there are times when HSS is much better...and this is one of them. They can be sharper and a better construction for cutting the fine tails.
I use them with the WoodRat and with the LEigh. I was shocked when the mfr sent them..."Why use these if I can get brand new carbide tipped cutters?" I asked myself but when I used the HSS, I found the answer. For some small joints, that is all you can get...
ANyway, try it.

[Jim Dunn]

I'ts catching in Pacific all the way out here too. Must be something in the air polution in St. Louis. Watch the martinis when in the shop though

[Bill Arnold]

... Oh, yeah. Throw the cut off pieces of cherry in the fireplace once its really burning well. That'll show that cherry who's boss. ...

Gary,

As others have said, we all can relate. Stuff happens and you just have to know when to walk away for a while.

As to throwing the cherry in the fireplace, I dunno. I use mine in my smoker -- nothing like smoking a big turkey or some Boston butt with a thick cloud of cherry!

Regards,

[Dale Thompson]

Hey Gary,
Just think of how great that burning Cherry smells in the fireplace as you are watching a video with your 4 year-old. I'm an old codger so I can only "remember the magic". Yours is not a "rant". It is a cleverly disguised "gloat".

I've been there, Gary. Cherish the moment. The world is not out of Cherry but the 4 year-old will be on his/her own before you even know it.

Tell your bride the story with a glass of wine under candlelight. I'm sure that she will understand.

Dale T.