Measure twice, cut once...not enough for me

[dennis thompson]

I am making a little cabinet from plans in Woodsmith. It calls for 1" wood & I'm using 3/4" so I have to make some small adjustments. There are three shelves which sit in dadoes cut in each side. The two top shelves have doors between them, so the distance between the dadoes is important to the fit of the door, which I've already made. I measured the doors at least 5 times, left the proper space at the top & bottom & laid them in place to make sure I cut the dadoes in the proper spot. I also measured this at least five times, put my line on the side & cut the dadoes on the wrong side of the line, so I'm off by about an inch! I guess the the solution is to remake the sides of the cabinet or make the doors a little longer, I'm think I'm going to make the doors an inch longer & hope it looks OK.
Dennis

[Buck Williams]

Happens to all of us, plan "B" usually works, and you're the only one who knows about the design change.

[Jay Rasmussen]

Dennis,
Been there – done that.

I put an X on the side to cut now.

Jay

[Carl Beckett]

Can't imagine that there is anyone here that HASN'T done this

Plan B.

Your human, this is a good thing

[Larry Edgerton]

I wish I had a dollar for every time I "one inched" myself. So Dennis, don't beat yourself up, we all do it.

I have noticed that it does not get better with age.......

Larry

[Paul Sikorski]

The classic OBOID error. If I had a nickel...

[Mel Fulks]

I once made a fourteen riser close string stair an inch too wide.Got kidded about it,but they told me I was not the first.Everyone good naturedly picked it up and cut it down on the bandsaw and I stuck on another string board .

[Don Jarvie]

Don't be afraid of writing all over the wood since pencil sands off well. I've done this plenty of times just recently cutting do etas backwards twice. I try to remember to layout everything and check the marks before I cut each time. Unfortunatly you are not alone.

[Paul Sikorski]

Don't be afraid of writing all over the wood since pencil sands off well. I've done this plenty of times just recently cutting do etas backwards twice. I try to remember to layout everything and check the marks before I cut each time. Unfortunatly you are not alone.

I have to agree with Don. I draw everything out on my wood before cutting and one pleasent side effect is it increased my accuracy as well. All of a sudden things started to fit alittle tighter.....

If only it improved my spelling.

[Bill Huber]

I don`t think I have ever made a mistake like that, now I have made a lot of design changes in the middle of a project.

[John McClanahan]

I wish I had a dollar for every time I "one inched" myself. So Dennis, don't beat yourself up, we all do it.

I have noticed that it does not get better with age.......

Larry

I hear that! Seems to never fail when I'm using the tape measure upside down and using fractions. And I never cut an inch too long.

John

[Steve Griffin]

I've often thought that how a woodworker deals with mistakes shows how good a woodworker he is.

A novice will get flustered and frustrated and often make poor decisions about how to fix the problem. Some even give up the hobby all together if they have a series of setbacks.

The more experienced realize mistakes are part of the game. As soon as one happens, they don't waste much time kicking themselves, and either make a design change or remake parts. Almost always, fixing the problem goes faster than expected and is soon forgotten. No matter how good you are as woodworker, no one escapes the occasional mistake.

I'm somewhere in between master and novice, but as the years go by I find I deal with mistakes better and better. If at all possible I try to make some sort of small improvement from the original design which really helps moral while fixing the issue.

So take a deep breath, do the right thing and remember: Its just wood.

[Mike Cutler]

Don't sweat it.
As you found out everyone makes this mistake. Sometimes you get in the auto zone in the shop, and forgetting to compensate for the thickness of the dado stack is common.
Change the door size and it will become "your" cabinet.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I guess the the solution is to remake the sides of the cabinet or make the doors a little longer, I'm think I'm going to make the doors an inch longer & hope it looks OK.I guess the the solution is to remake the sides of the cabinet or make the doors a little longer, I'm think I'm going to make the doors an inch longer & hope it looks OK.

The correct way to put this is this way:

"After checking my prototype, I discovered that the doors were an inch too short. Thankfully, I'd allowed for this possibilty and was able to avoid having to remake the sides"....

.