What a dufus...schoolboy error

[DangerousDave]

Was ripping some MDF today, the cutting list called for 4 lengths each 254mm wide. So I measure from a good edge and make a mark at 254mm, 508mm, 762mm... congratulating myself on the good practice of taking a running measurement...You can see where this is going...I set the guide rail to the mark and made each rip cut. Decide to double check the width and was baffled at how I had lost a couple of mil in the width...It took a while for the penny to drop ...The Festool might be good, but I don't think they've invented one with a zero kerf blade yet I have no idea what I was thinking... :roll:

Things then went even more Pete Tong. Made the crosscuts on my (now too narrow) lengths and was equally as baffled as to why they weren't square (I double checked the crosscuts with my combination square). So I measured the sides with a tape measure; both pairs of sides were parallel their entire length. Had I inadvertently hit the 'create rhombus' button on my new Festool :shock: I was now resigning myself to the horrendous task of nibbling away a wee bit from the sides on the TS to make them 'square'. Then, once again, the penny slowly dropped Out came my trusty Stanley 6" square and right 'nuff the pieces were perfectly square. The feckin combination square wasn't tho :roll: Glad I found that out now though, I use that combination for everything and trust it implicitly. There's a lesson to be learnt there all right...

Needless to say the language was choice :evil: But I've calmed down now...

 

[Night Train]

I'm in the habit of watching for students who measure and mark more then one cut at a time along a length for just this reason.

I also encourage them to check their squares if they find an edge or corner isn't square just in case the square was dropped by a previous class.

Simple things to do, it is just getting into a habit.

Hope your cutting is recoverable.

 

[p111dom]

Don't worry Dave I've made countless errors like this with the Domino. Usually I forget to reduce the depth of plunge when changing from a larger to a smaller sized Domino. The result, the mortice goes all the way through. (homer)-Doh!

When I've ran low on stock, I've even had to encorporate a visible sanded Domino as a "design feature"

 

[Night Train]

There is no such thing as a mistake, it is just design adaptation. :wink:

Being a cabinet maker means that you get very good at adapting designs to incorporate such events and changes of plan.

 

[p111dom]

Thats why I never work to a plan and just make it up as I go alone. Loose measurements are as close to a plan as I get. :lol:

 

[Petiegolfer]

I screwed up a festool blade...cutting up an 18mmm sheet spaced up off the concrete garage floor by some 18mm off cuts.

You guessed the last thing I had cut was 50mm thick...I merrily plunge away and screech into the garage floor...BOWLACKS!;-(

I now when Im putting the saw away flipp the plunge stop to zero...a zero plunge cant mess up blades!

Piers

 

[DangerousDave]

...Simple things to do, it is just getting into a habit...

You're right. Thats what makes it such a monumental c*ck up, it's such an obvious and simple thing. I must have taken the headstaggers :?

The good news is that they are shelves for a fitted unit that are recessed from the face frame, so a couple of mil in the width won't matter.

I really should know better and check my combination from time to time...

:sign3:

 

[wizer]

oops, I think there's a curse going about. Few c*ck ups on here of late. Probably best I don't enter the workshop til it's dies down

 

[Rich]

Design and build, you can't beat it, no excuses needed then. :lol:

Rich.

 

[Night Train]

Design and build, you can't beat it, no excuses needed then. :lol:

Rich.

Surely it is build and then design. It will be spot on then! :lol:

 

[p111dom]

I agree. Woodworking with me is like painting with Bob Ross. There's no mistakes, just happy accidents. :lol:

 

[woodbloke]

Mistakes will always happen as we're human beans...it's how you get round them that's important - Rob