Ignoramus689 wrote:
What was the most ill-conceived, unsuccessful, and worthless/expensive
DIY style project that you undertook (I would say without counting any
injuries as they could outweigh everything else)?

I guess my 'worst' one for running out of control was when I saw the
'Jamie should use safety glasses because hammers can chip' episode of
mythbusters. They said they couldn't chip, and did just about everything
wrong with that episode. So I spent the next couple of months getting a
hammer hitting rig set up, had to buy a 1/3rd motor, found out it was too
weak to run with a router speed control. Then I got an inverter rated 1
hp motor, and a VFD. Found out that was too weak too. Got a 3 HP rated
VFD and a 2 HP motor (in case the 2 HP motor was too weak, I could get a 3
HP motor without having to get a new VFD), and finally got the rig
working. Had to redesign and rebuild the rig about 3-4 times as well.
Finally got some good video of chips flying off the hammer faces and got
the video ready to send in. Then, I got invited by somebody who knew
about my project to be on a panel with 2 of the build team at a nearby
convention. And 3 days before the convention, they had the revisit of
this 'myth' broadcast. Well, they fixed about 90% of their mistakes.
However appearntly they had shifted the goalposts from chip/crack/break to
shatter/explode.

Oh well, I was still invited to be on the panel, so I went anyway. Turns
out that my guest pass for the convention was not one that would let me
into the green room, as was implied by the staff member who invited me.
Nice and embarassing there. And when the panel rolled around, apparently
they changed the format, so that I and the other non-mythbuster guest just
got to stand around and say nothing for the entire 2 hours.

So...pretty much a complete waste. I was able to use the VFD/motor to
power my KMG grinder when I got it, so I guess it wasn't a 'complete'
waste. Oh, and I still have the video, but I'm wondering if I should even
bother putting it on Youtube.