MikeW
Established Member
Past Mistakes? How about current ones--otherwise known as: Boneheaded Moments
Ever had those times when you are about to do a task that ya just got a feeling something could go wrong? Most often it is the impetus required to cause extra caution doing the task.
But some times, it just goes from bad to worse...why? I blame it on being so boneheaded at the time I don't even know to be cautious. You know, the hands are working but the brain hasn't quite caught up.
That was my today. Yesterday I had made the box in the picture below. Originally it was going to be for storing the new pattern maker's plane. The wood is Makore, of which I have a couple hundred board feet left that I purchased for $1 per bdft. Once in a while I find a board that has nice figure as this board did.
Here's what the board looked like when I pulled it off the pile and after I rough cut the lengths.
Here's the box when I stopped working on it last night.
The picture shows the difference between the unfinished wood and the wood after clear Danish oil has been applied on the raised panels. Quite a change.
Also last night when I stopped working on the box to take my wife out, I had decided to go ahead and make a keepsake box out of this one and just make another for the tool.
So after having plenty of coffee this morning, I strolled out to the shop and decided I would make some cutouts on each side to aid in lifting the lid.
After a couple minutes deciding on what to do I decided to do what I've done once in the past, which is to use a large forstner bit and make an angled cut into the bottom of the lid towards the front and then using carving chisels to make this flow a little softer. The drill bit is set to cut just less than half the circumference so as not to hit the drill bit's center point.
Here's where the brain needed to be engaged. Looking at the picture you may be able to see the lid clamped to some bracing to hold the lid to the correct relation to the bit.
What you may also notice from the picture that while I had clamps at the back of this bracing, there is not one at the front. This caused the bit to grab the wood and cause the damage as seen below.
What you may not notice until I turn the top, is that I was going to drill the cutouts at the wrong end of the box anyway. If you look close enough you'll see the round mortises for the hinges.
I was so mad at myself for making such a mistake--no, make that two mistakes--that I took the whole box out to the burn pile. And I walked away. Since then I have retrieved it and have a plan to turn this, this, this stupid, boneheaded moment around.
I'll post a picture of the completed box or the pile of ashes, whichever really occurs.
Ever had those times when you are about to do a task that ya just got a feeling something could go wrong? Most often it is the impetus required to cause extra caution doing the task.
But some times, it just goes from bad to worse...why? I blame it on being so boneheaded at the time I don't even know to be cautious. You know, the hands are working but the brain hasn't quite caught up.
That was my today. Yesterday I had made the box in the picture below. Originally it was going to be for storing the new pattern maker's plane. The wood is Makore, of which I have a couple hundred board feet left that I purchased for $1 per bdft. Once in a while I find a board that has nice figure as this board did.
Here's what the board looked like when I pulled it off the pile and after I rough cut the lengths.
Here's the box when I stopped working on it last night.
The picture shows the difference between the unfinished wood and the wood after clear Danish oil has been applied on the raised panels. Quite a change.
Also last night when I stopped working on the box to take my wife out, I had decided to go ahead and make a keepsake box out of this one and just make another for the tool.
So after having plenty of coffee this morning, I strolled out to the shop and decided I would make some cutouts on each side to aid in lifting the lid.
After a couple minutes deciding on what to do I decided to do what I've done once in the past, which is to use a large forstner bit and make an angled cut into the bottom of the lid towards the front and then using carving chisels to make this flow a little softer. The drill bit is set to cut just less than half the circumference so as not to hit the drill bit's center point.
Here's where the brain needed to be engaged. Looking at the picture you may be able to see the lid clamped to some bracing to hold the lid to the correct relation to the bit.
What you may also notice from the picture that while I had clamps at the back of this bracing, there is not one at the front. This caused the bit to grab the wood and cause the damage as seen below.
What you may not notice until I turn the top, is that I was going to drill the cutouts at the wrong end of the box anyway. If you look close enough you'll see the round mortises for the hinges.
I was so mad at myself for making such a mistake--no, make that two mistakes--that I took the whole box out to the burn pile. And I walked away. Since then I have retrieved it and have a plan to turn this, this, this stupid, boneheaded moment around.
I'll post a picture of the completed box or the pile of ashes, whichever really occurs.
