What annoying mistake(s) do you continue to make?

[William Shelley]

I've been known to measure backwards if I'm looking at the tape measure upside down. E.g. I want 33-1/2" but i put a mark at 32-1/2" instead because I'm an idiot.

I also frequently don't properly account for the thickness of something, like making a drawer box as wide as the cabinet interior without subtracting for the slides.

Another thing that bites me is if I've got one thing "off" from a set. For example making a set of cabinets that are all 24" wide but the last one is 25" wide for some reason, I'll end up with only drawer parts for making drawers to fit 24" wide cabinets.

Usually I discover this after I've cleaned up and my machines aren't at the same settings they were for the other stock.

[Ted Reischl]

Usually I discover this after I've cleaned up and my machines aren't at the same settings they were for the other stock.

See, that is why us old guys are soooo smart. We go out and buy things like Wixey gage's for our TS's. I use one to set the blade angle and the other is the Wixey fence system. That way, we can always reset the fence to exactly where it was. I am trying to figure out how to do it on the RAS as we bloviate.

If you live in the analog world of normal TS fences, expect things to be, well, analog.

Oh, the other way to get repeatable parts is to build yourself a cnc machine. One great thing about it is you can also build lots of incorrect parts that are nice and identical to each other! That is awesome!

[Prashun Patel]

I keep making things without learning Sketchup.

I keep trying to make silk purse furniture out of sows' ears wood.

[Patrick McCarthy]

well, to be candid, my ongoing failure is trying to amuse my wife. After 38 years of marriage, I'm at the point where I need to accept the fact that my sense of humor is so "unique" that only I am amused by it . . . . . only so much eye-rolling a guy can take . . .

OTOH, out in the shop the biggest problem I have is running of time . . . and that seems to happen almost daily . . .

[Mike Manning]

When I measure with a tape measure and I'm trying to be pretty accurate I don't trust that little bit of wiggle in the "catch" at the end of the tape so I'll often start from the 1" mark. However, far far too often I then forget that I started at an 1" rather than at the end of the tape and my cut ends up an inch too long. Doh!

[Sam Murdoch]

When I measure with a tape measure and I'm trying to be pretty accurate I don't trust that little bit of wiggle in the "catch" at the end of the tape so I'll often start from the 1" mark. However, far far too often I then forget that I started at an 1" rather than at the end of the tape and my cut ends up an inch too long. Doh!

Start at the 10" mark for some excitement

[Edwin Santos]

Neglecting to use sacrificial material and proceeding to route into the surface of my worktop. Done three times now.

Silver lining, improving my inlay skills.

[Ralph Okonieski]

I prefer to think of myself as a pioneer (forging ahead to make new mistakes). I try hard to not repeat mistakes; does not mean I do not repeat them, just not consistently.

[Paul K. Johnson]

99% of all my errors are measurement errors. I don't make too many of those though.

Two projects ago I ruined a lot of very good plywood. That was my first project after putting my Incra fence on the table saw. I had it calibrated within a couple thou but then did some routing. I forgot to take off the router fence which made everything that thickness too small. And I didn't realize it until I'd cut all the walls of my project. I'll use the wood for something else but it was super annoying.

I thought I'd never do that again and then in the next day or two I almost did it again. The saw was fired up and the wood about to be fed through it when I caught myself.

I've had an incra on my router table forever and love it. But it's a lot more complex to use on the table saw when it's doing dual functions. Makes it easy to make mistakes really. I'm hoping that after I've used it for a while it will become more automatic for me.

[Jim Becker]

For me, the mistaken I make the most is cutting things too short. Not because I didn't measure correctly, but because I didn't read my scale on the table saw or miter saw station correctly.

Yea, that's a major corollary to what I mentioned previously...D'oh!!

[Leo Graywacz]

When I measure with a tape measure and I'm trying to be pretty accurate I don't trust that little bit of wiggle in the "catch" at the end of the tape so I'll often start from the 1" mark. However, far far too often I then forget that I started at an 1" rather than at the end of the tape and my cut ends up an inch too long. Doh!

I use to do that too. Now I go to the 10" mark. If you can't notice you're off by 10" then you deserve it.

My most common error is the error between 13/16" and 11/16" It measures 13 and I cut it at 11/16" Grrrr

[Art Moore]

Lack of patience when finishing. It bites me more than I like to admit.

[stevo wis]

In addition to all mistakes mentioned, the one that i do is to leave an almost finished project in the shop and then ding it up starting other things. The easiest thing to prevent but does that stop me? nah.

[Steve Demuth]

When I measure with a tape measure and I'm trying to be pretty accurate I don't trust that little bit of wiggle in the "catch" at the end of the tape so I'll often start from the 1" mark. However, far far too often I then forget that I started at an 1" rather than at the end of the tape and my cut ends up an inch too long. Doh!

Doesn't the cut end up too short by an inch? Need 20", measure to 20" from the 1" mark, get 19"?

At least that's how I make that particular mistake.

[Steve Demuth]

I've dug more tearout in boards with a plane that was a bit dull or poorly adjusted, and which I didn't bother to check on an offcut before taking a swipe at a piece I care about that I care to remember. Likewise, I always remember to have a tight backer board for planing end grain AFTER I chip out a sliver from a piece.