I had a very bad day in the shop yesterday.

Everything I touched went to ****.
I was doevtailing a drawer a few nights before.
Never finished the last side as I started at 10pm.
Went down this morning...
The last side was twisted... I don't know how I cut them a week ago and
everything was fine, when I startted dovetailing. The wood had plenty of
time to do it's thing earlier.

Ok, so I cut a new piece, and rather than wait for it to stabilize (I am
resawing these). I start to work. Pins complete on one side.
Start marking the pins on the other... make sure they are going in the
right direction... Yep everythings fine. Start cutting the pins... nice
all done.. You know where this is going don't you. Ok, now I have a set
of pins going in one direction and a set going in the other... ****!!!!

Ok, you know what I always start with pins, lets do this again and start
with the tails first.... layout... looks good... Cut them out...
Damn those are the smallest tails I have ever seen... There's a reason
you keep doing what works... my eyes are so used to spacing and layout
for pins, that I made the tails the pin sizes... Scrap that drawer....

I'm done for the day as I'm too depressed to mess up some more...

My last days of work are approaching and I'll get some shop time
shortly, unless I find a new contract. Yep, layoffs are coming where I
work, so contractors are not being renewed. I'll be out of work again..

I miss the old days... I miss having a brain too.. I can't believe I
just kept ****ing up.

--
Jeff

woodchucker wrote:


My last days of work are approaching and I'll get some shop time
shortly, unless I find a new contract. Yep, layoffs are coming where I
work, so contractors are not being renewed. I'll be out of work
again..

Feeling for ya brotha. I went through that for 2 years - or a little more.
Looking at a new position as a VP with a startup company right now, but you
know how it goes - it ain't over 'till the fat lady sings...

I miss the old days... I miss having a brain too.. I can't believe I
just kept ****ing up.

Get used to that. It only gets worse!

--

-Mike-

On Sun, 15 Dec 2013 11:29:10 -0500, woodchucker
wrote:

I had a very bad day in the shop yesterday.

Everything I touched went to ****.
I was doevtailing a drawer a few nights before.
Never finished the last side as I started at 10pm.
Went down this morning...
The last side was twisted... I don't know how I cut them a week ago and
everything was fine, when I startted dovetailing. The wood had plenty of
time to do it's thing earlier.

Ok, so I cut a new piece, and rather than wait for it to stabilize (I am
resawing these). I start to work. Pins complete on one side.
Start marking the pins on the other... make sure they are going in the
right direction... Yep everythings fine. Start cutting the pins... nice
all done.. You know where this is going don't you. Ok, now I have a set
of pins going in one direction and a set going in the other... ****!!!!

What a dip****! You have to be one of the few in this group that
would do something that stupid. I know I certainly never, never,
never have. (Now uncrossing fingers)

Take a break and tomorrow will be better... probably.

Ok, you know what I always start with pins, lets do this again and start
with the tails first.... layout... looks good... Cut them out...
Damn those are the smallest tails I have ever seen... There's a reason
you keep doing what works... my eyes are so used to spacing and layout
for pins, that I made the tails the pin sizes... Scrap that drawer....

I'm done for the day as I'm too depressed to mess up some more...

My last days of work are approaching and I'll get some shop time
shortly, unless I find a new contract. Yep, layoffs are coming where I
work, so contractors are not being renewed. I'll be out of work again..

I miss the old days... I miss having a brain too.. I can't believe I
just kept ****ing up.

On Sunday, December 15, 2013 10:29:10 AM UTC-6, woodchucker wrote:
I had a very bad day in the shop yesterday. Everything I touched went to ****.

I think I went through a similar ordeal when learning (self taught) how to cut crown molding properly. I'll bet I spent 2 weeks figuring out stuff. I still need to stop and think, etc., etc., before making cuts. I'm still not fully confident when making them.

Sonny

On 12/15/2013 1:03 PM, Sonny wrote:
I think I went through a similar ordeal when learning (self taught) how to cut crown molding properly. I'll bet I spent 2 weeks figuring out stuff. I still need to stop and think, etc., etc., before making cuts. I'm still not fully confident when making them.

Same for me when making angled cuts, particularly compound angles.

Self doubt and indecision run rampant no matter how many thousands of
times I've done it down through the years.

If I'm going to screw up, it is almost slam dunk that it will be
something to do with angles first; or on the wrong side of something,
second.

Damned thing is that with these personal bugaboos, you can check, double
check, and triple check, and still do it wrong.

--
eWoodShop: www.eWoodShop.com
Wood Shop: www.e-WoodShop.net
google.com/+KarlCaillouet
http://www.custommade.com/by/ewoodshop/
KarlCaillouet@ (the obvious)

woodchucker wrote:

I had a very bad day in the shop yesterday.

Everything I touched went to ****.
I was doevtailing a drawer a few nights before.
Never finished the last side as I started at 10pm.
Went down this morning...
The last side was twisted... I don't know how I cut them a week ago and
everything was fine, when I startted dovetailing. The wood had plenty of
time to do it's thing earlier.

Ok, so I cut a new piece, and rather than wait for it to stabilize (I am
resawing these). I start to work. Pins complete on one side.
Start marking the pins on the other... make sure they are going in the
right direction... Yep everythings fine. Start cutting the pins... nice
all done.. You know where this is going don't you. Ok, now I have a set
of pins going in one direction and a set going in the other... ****!!!!

Ok, you know what I always start with pins, lets do this again and start
with the tails first.... layout... looks good... Cut them out...
Damn those are the smallest tails I have ever seen... There's a reason
you keep doing what works... my eyes are so used to spacing and layout
for pins, that I made the tails the pin sizes... Scrap that drawer....

I'm done for the day as I'm too depressed to mess up some more...

My last days of work are approaching and I'll get some shop time
shortly, unless I find a new contract. Yep, layoffs are coming where I
work, so contractors are not being renewed. I'll be out of work again..

I miss the old days... I miss having a brain too.. I can't believe I
just kept ****ing up.



Welllllllll, you could have had my "almost" day. A couple of days ago I
went out to the shop after the temp made its way in the the mid 40's (10:30
or so) and got the stove ready to light a fire. While cleaning out the ash,
I noticed I had some live coals, so (being the great frontier's man that I
am) I used the coals to get the fire lit. Everything was going like it
oughta, the fire was coming up, the shop was warming up (the stove is on
one side of a partition and the shop is on the other side). So I am working
away and notice it is just about Noon, but I have some round overs to run
and then I will break for lunch. Just then I noticed billows of smoke
coming through the door. I ran to the door and saw flames beside the stove
(they were supposed to be INSIDE it). I ran out side, grabbed the hose and
doused the flames. It seems that I had not used ALL the live coals and my
ash bucked it a plastic 5gal bucket, that I have been using for years.

All I lost was a few brown paper bags and the 5gal bucket. But had I not
delayed going to lunch those few minutes, I would have come back to a
smoking ruin. I would not have minded losing the tools so much as several
hundred board feet of mahogany, over 150bft each of ash, and walnut and a
couple hundred bft of jarrah - plus the stash of bits and pieces.

As it was, all I lost was the paper bags and the painted table the bags were
under was not even scorched.

It could have been a totally different story - God is soooooooo good.

Dr. Deb wrote:

Welllllllll, you could have had my "almost" day. A couple of days
ago I went out to the shop after the temp made its way in the the mid
40's (10:30 or so) and got the stove ready to light a fire. While
cleaning out the ash, I noticed I had some live coals, so (being the
great frontier's man that I am) I used the coals to get the fire lit.
Everything was going like it oughta, the fire was coming up, the shop
was warming up (the stove is on one side of a partition and the shop
is on the other side). So I am working away and notice it is just
about Noon, but I have some round overs to run and then I will break
for lunch. Just then I noticed billows of smoke coming through the
door. I ran to the door and saw flames beside the stove (they were
supposed to be INSIDE it). I ran out side, grabbed the hose and
doused the flames. It seems that I had not used ALL the live coals
and my ash bucked it a plastic 5gal bucket, that I have been using
for years.


Well - shame on you in a big way! No one in their right mind EVER uses a
plastic bucket for their coals or ash! Fortunately - an lesson learned the
easy way, but... shame on you!


--

-Mike-

Mike Marlow wrote:

Dr. Deb wrote:

Welllllllll, you could have had my "almost" day. A couple of days
ago I went out to the shop after the temp made its way in the the mid
40's (10:30 or so) and got the stove ready to light a fire. While
cleaning out the ash, I noticed I had some live coals, so (being the
great frontier's man that I am) I used the coals to get the fire lit.
Everything was going like it oughta, the fire was coming up, the shop
was warming up (the stove is on one side of a partition and the shop
is on the other side). So I am working away and notice it is just
about Noon, but I have some round overs to run and then I will break
for lunch. Just then I noticed billows of smoke coming through the
door. I ran to the door and saw flames beside the stove (they were
supposed to be INSIDE it). I ran out side, grabbed the hose and
doused the flames. It seems that I had not used ALL the live coals
and my ash bucked it a plastic 5gal bucket, that I have been using
for years.


Well - shame on you in a big way! No one in their right mind EVER uses
a
plastic bucket for their coals or ash! Fortunately - an lesson learned
the easy way, but... shame on you!



Oh, I know and "shame" accepted.

Dr. Deb wrote:
Mike Marlow wrote:

Dr. Deb wrote:

Welllllllll, you could have had my "almost" day. A couple of days
ago I went out to the shop after the temp made its way in the the
mid 40's (10:30 or so) and got the stove ready to light a fire.
While cleaning out the ash, I noticed I had some live coals, so
(being the great frontier's man that I am) I used the coals to get
the fire lit. Everything was going like it oughta, the fire was
coming up, the shop was warming up (the stove is on one side of a
partition and the shop is on the other side). So I am working away
and notice it is just about Noon, but I have some round overs to
run and then I will break for lunch. Just then I noticed billows
of smoke coming through the door. I ran to the door and saw flames
beside the stove (they were supposed to be INSIDE it). I ran out
side, grabbed the hose and doused the flames. It seems that I had
not used ALL the live coals and my ash bucked it a plastic 5gal
bucket, that I have been using for years.


Well - shame on you in a big way! No one in their right mind EVER
uses a plastic bucket for their coals or ash! Fortunately - an
lesson learned the easy way, but... shame on you!



Oh, I know and "shame" accepted.

Although (I cleverly did not admit this in my earlier post...) some have
been known to use a plastic shop vac to clean out ash that they thought
contained no hot coals, only to discover...

--

-Mike-

On 12/15/2013 5:00 PM, Dr. Deb wrote:
woodchucker wrote:

I had a very bad day in the shop yesterday.

Everything I touched went to ****.
I was doevtailing a drawer a few nights before.
Never finished the last side as I started at 10pm.
Went down this morning...
The last side was twisted... I don't know how I cut them a week ago and
everything was fine, when I startted dovetailing. The wood had plenty of
time to do it's thing earlier.

Ok, so I cut a new piece, and rather than wait for it to stabilize (I am
resawing these). I start to work. Pins complete on one side.
Start marking the pins on the other... make sure they are going in the
right direction... Yep everythings fine. Start cutting the pins... nice
all done.. You know where this is going don't you. Ok, now I have a set
of pins going in one direction and a set going in the other... ****!!!!

Ok, you know what I always start with pins, lets do this again and start
with the tails first.... layout... looks good... Cut them out...
Damn those are the smallest tails I have ever seen... There's a reason
you keep doing what works... my eyes are so used to spacing and layout
for pins, that I made the tails the pin sizes... Scrap that drawer....

I'm done for the day as I'm too depressed to mess up some more...

My last days of work are approaching and I'll get some shop time
shortly, unless I find a new contract. Yep, layoffs are coming where I
work, so contractors are not being renewed. I'll be out of work again..

I miss the old days... I miss having a brain too.. I can't believe I
just kept ****ing up.



Welllllllll, you could have had my "almost" day. A couple of days ago I
went out to the shop after the temp made its way in the the mid 40's (10:30
or so) and got the stove ready to light a fire. While cleaning out the ash,
I noticed I had some live coals, so (being the great frontier's man that I
am) I used the coals to get the fire lit. Everything was going like it
oughta, the fire was coming up, the shop was warming up (the stove is on
one side of a partition and the shop is on the other side). So I am working
away and notice it is just about Noon, but I have some round overs to run
and then I will break for lunch. Just then I noticed billows of smoke
coming through the door. I ran to the door and saw flames beside the stove
(they were supposed to be INSIDE it). I ran out side, grabbed the hose and
doused the flames. It seems that I had not used ALL the live coals and my
ash bucked it a plastic 5gal bucket, that I have been using for years.

All I lost was a few brown paper bags and the 5gal bucket. But had I not
delayed going to lunch those few minutes, I would have come back to a
smoking ruin. I would not have minded losing the tools so much as several
hundred board feet of mahogany, over 150bft each of ash, and walnut and a
couple hundred bft of jarrah - plus the stash of bits and pieces.

As it was, all I lost was the paper bags and the painted table the bags were
under was not even scorched.

It could have been a totally different story - God is soooooooo good.


Damn, I'm feeling much better now. That's very good luck to have caught
it in time. Go pick up a steel 5gal Behlen's can... much better than
plastic. I use one for my oil rags since it has a cover.. it's good for
ash too.

--
Jeff

"Dr. Deb" wrote

Welllllllll, you could have had my "almost" day. A couple of days ago I
went out to the shop after the temp made its way in the the mid 40's
(10:30
or so) and got the stove ready to light a fire. While cleaning out the
ash,
I noticed I had some live coals, so (being the great frontier's man that I
am) I used the coals to get the fire lit. Everything was going like it
oughta, the fire was coming up, the shop was warming up (the stove is on
one side of a partition and the shop is on the other side). So I am
working
away and notice it is just about Noon, but I have some round overs to run
and then I will break for lunch. Just then I noticed billows of smoke
coming through the door. I ran to the door and saw flames beside the
stove
(they were supposed to be INSIDE it). I ran out side, grabbed the hose and
doused the flames. It seems that I had not used ALL the live coals and my
ash bucked it a plastic 5gal bucket, that I have been using for years.

All I lost was a few brown paper bags and the 5gal bucket. But had I not
delayed going to lunch those few minutes, I would have come back to a
smoking ruin. I would not have minded losing the tools so much as several
hundred board feet of mahogany, over 150bft each of ash, and walnut and a
couple hundred bft of jarrah - plus the stash of bits and pieces.

As it was, all I lost was the paper bags and the painted table the bags
were
under was not even scorched.

It could have been a totally different story - God is soooooooo good.

I have two metal cans with handles and lids. Very heavy duty and solid.
Good for anything hot or oily. If it can catch fire, it goes in the can and
then goes outside onto concrete away from any structures.

The two salient points are METAL container and OUTSIDE. You can't get into
too much trouble that way. To quote an old computer security specialist I
knew, "It is not a matter of being paranoid. It is a matter of being
paranoid ENOUGH."

If you are paranoid enough, safety conscious enough and redundant, you won't
have close calls like the one you described above.

On 12/15/2013 05:34 PM, woodchucker wrote:
On 12/15/2013 5:00 PM, Dr. Deb wrote:
woodchucker wrote:

I had a very bad day in the shop yesterday.

Everything I touched went to ****.
I was doevtailing a drawer a few nights before.
Never finished the last side as I started at 10pm.
Went down this morning...
The last side was twisted... I don't know how I cut them a week ago and
everything was fine, when I startted dovetailing. The wood had plenty of
time to do it's thing earlier.

Ok, so I cut a new piece, and rather than wait for it to stabilize (I am
resawing these). I start to work. Pins complete on one side.
Start marking the pins on the other... make sure they are going in the
right direction... Yep everythings fine. Start cutting the pins... nice
all done.. You know where this is going don't you. Ok, now I have a set
of pins going in one direction and a set going in the other... ****!!!!

Ok, you know what I always start with pins, lets do this again and start
with the tails first.... layout... looks good... Cut them out...
Damn those are the smallest tails I have ever seen... There's a reason
you keep doing what works... my eyes are so used to spacing and layout
for pins, that I made the tails the pin sizes... Scrap that drawer....

I'm done for the day as I'm too depressed to mess up some more...

My last days of work are approaching and I'll get some shop time
shortly, unless I find a new contract. Yep, layoffs are coming where I
work, so contractors are not being renewed. I'll be out of work again..

I miss the old days... I miss having a brain too.. I can't believe I
just kept ****ing up.



Welllllllll, you could have had my "almost" day. A couple of days ago I
went out to the shop after the temp made its way in the the mid 40's
(10:30
or so) and got the stove ready to light a fire. While cleaning out
the ash,
I noticed I had some live coals, so (being the great frontier's man
that I
am) I used the coals to get the fire lit. Everything was going like it
oughta, the fire was coming up, the shop was warming up (the stove is on
one side of a partition and the shop is on the other side). So I am
working
away and notice it is just about Noon, but I have some round overs to run
and then I will break for lunch. Just then I noticed billows of smoke
coming through the door. I ran to the door and saw flames beside the
stove
(they were supposed to be INSIDE it). I ran out side, grabbed the hose
and
doused the flames. It seems that I had not used ALL the live coals
and my
ash bucked it a plastic 5gal bucket, that I have been using for years.

All I lost was a few brown paper bags and the 5gal bucket. But had I not
delayed going to lunch those few minutes, I would have come back to a
smoking ruin. I would not have minded losing the tools so much as
several
hundred board feet of mahogany, over 150bft each of ash, and walnut and a
couple hundred bft of jarrah - plus the stash of bits and pieces.

As it was, all I lost was the paper bags and the painted table the
bags were
under was not even scorched.

It could have been a totally different story - God is soooooooo good.


Damn, I'm feeling much better now. That's very good luck to have caught
it in time. Go pick up a steel 5gal Behlen's can... much better than
plastic. I use one for my oil rags since it has a cover.. it's good for
ash too.

....or, you can get a 10 gal trashcan and use it for trash can turkey -
multi tasker :-)


--
"Socialism is a philosophy of failure,the creed of ignorance, and the
gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery"
-Winston Churchill

"Lee Michaels" wrote:

The two salient points are METAL container and OUTSIDE. You can't
get into too much trouble that way. To quote an old computer
security specialist I knew, "It is not a matter of being paranoid.
It is a matter of being paranoid ENOUGH."

If you are paranoid enough, safety conscious enough and redundant,
you won't have close calls like the one you described above.
----------------------------------------------------
Here in SoCal, open fires are limited to the beach and BBQs.

It was 81F outside my window today.

Now I remember why I left Cleveland.

Lew

On 12/15/2013 10:35 AM, Gordon Shumway wrote:
On Sun, 15 Dec 2013 11:29:10 -0500, woodchucker
wrote:

I had a very bad day in the shop yesterday.

Everything I touched went to ****.
Ah. The fecal touch.


Take a break and tomorrow will be better... probably.

Yes Scarlett, after all, tomorrow is another day.

On 12/15/2013 5:05 PM, Lew Hodgett wrote:
"Lee Michaels" wrote:

The two salient points are METAL container and OUTSIDE. You can't
get into too much trouble that way. To quote an old computer
security specialist I knew, "It is not a matter of being paranoid.
It is a matter of being paranoid ENOUGH."

If you are paranoid enough, safety conscious enough and redundant,
you won't have close calls like the one you described above.
----------------------------------------------------
Here in SoCal, open fires are limited to the beach and BBQs.

It was 81F outside my window today.

Now I remember why I left Cleveland.

Lew


Or why we left the mountains for Carlsbad and the beach.

On 12/15/2013 10:29 AM, woodchucker wrote:
I had a very bad day in the shop yesterday.

Everything I touched went to ****.
I was doevtailing a drawer a few nights before.
Never finished the last side as I started at 10pm.
Went down this morning...
The last side was twisted... I don't know how I cut them a week ago and
everything was fine, when I startted dovetailing.



The wood had plenty of
time to do it's thing earlier.

Try and explain that to the wood. ;~)

I have learned the hard way that when milling to precise fit it is
always better to try and fit it together the same day.


Ok, so I cut a new piece, and rather than wait for it to stabilize (I am
resawing these). I start to work. Pins complete on one side.
Start marking the pins on the other... make sure they are going in the
right direction... Yep everythings fine. Start cutting the pins... nice
all done.. You know where this is going don't you. Ok, now I have a set
of pins going in one direction and a set going in the other... ****!!!!

I think you only do this one time, it is a lesson to double check. LOL



Ok, you know what I always start with pins, lets do this again and start
with the tails first.... layout... looks good... Cut them out...
Damn those are the smallest tails I have ever seen... There's a reason
you keep doing what works... my eyes are so used to spacing and layout
for pins, that I made the tails the pin sizes... Scrap that drawer....

I'm done for the day as I'm too depressed to mess up some more...

My last days of work are approaching and I'll get some shop time
shortly, unless I find a new contract. Yep, layoffs are coming where I
work, so contractors are not being renewed. I'll be out of work again..

I miss the old days... I miss having a brain too.. I can't believe I
just kept ****ing up.


Last week I made 11 wine bottle stoppers. It took me 2 full days!!!!!!
First off I could not get the live center out of the tail stock, so that
was a distraction. Then the tail stock would not adjust at all, could
not turn the adjustment crank, froze up, so that was a distraction.
Then every one of the chunks of wood that I drilled and tapped for the
mandrel on the live end stripped out, so that was a distraction. I
finally simply drilled and held the holes of the chunks of wood up to
the spinning mandrel and let go at just the right moment.

And of course the requirements to have every tool you own out for
turning the simplest of things.

On 12/16/2013 10:06 AM, Leon wrote:
On 12/15/2013 10:29 AM, woodchucker wrote:
I had a very bad day in the shop yesterday.

Everything I touched went to ****.
I was doevtailing a drawer a few nights before.
Never finished the last side as I started at 10pm.
Went down this morning...
The last side was twisted... I don't know how I cut them a week ago and
everything was fine, when I startted dovetailing.



The wood had plenty of
time to do it's thing earlier.

Try and explain that to the wood. ;~)

I have learned the hard way that when milling to precise fit it is
always better to try and fit it together the same day.

I usually let wood that I am re-sawing sit before final machining.
This one went so far it was not recoverable. Better now than once it was
a drawer... That would have torqued the drawer and made it nasty.

Ok, so I cut a new piece, and rather than wait for it to stabilize (I am
resawing these). I start to work. Pins complete on one side.
Start marking the pins on the other... make sure they are going in the
right direction... Yep everythings fine. Start cutting the pins... nice
all done.. You know where this is going don't you. Ok, now I have a set
of pins going in one direction and a set going in the other... ****!!!!

I think you only do this one time, it is a lesson to double check. LOL


I double checked and triple checked... So no... it didn't work.
I have done this more than one time... Stupid I know.


Ok, you know what I always start with pins, lets do this again and start
with the tails first.... layout... looks good... Cut them out...
Damn those are the smallest tails I have ever seen... There's a reason
you keep doing what works... my eyes are so used to spacing and layout
for pins, that I made the tails the pin sizes... Scrap that drawer....

I'm done for the day as I'm too depressed to mess up some more...

My last days of work are approaching and I'll get some shop time
shortly, unless I find a new contract. Yep, layoffs are coming where I
work, so contractors are not being renewed. I'll be out of work again..

I miss the old days... I miss having a brain too.. I can't believe I
just kept ****ing up.


Last week I made 11 wine bottle stoppers. It took me 2 full days!!!!!!
First off I could not get the live center out of the tail stock, so that
was a distraction. Then the tail stock would not adjust at all, could
not turn the adjustment crank, froze up, so that was a distraction. Then
every one of the chunks of wood that I drilled and tapped for the
mandrel on the live end stripped out, so that was a distraction. I
finally simply drilled and held the holes of the chunks of wood up to
the spinning mandrel and let go at just the right moment.

And of course the requirements to have every tool you own out for
turning the simplest of things.





--
Jeff