Uh Oh...

[Greg Cuetara]

Have you ever thought...Jeez I should have quit earlier tonight?

I am working on a project for a friend and getting to the final glue-ups. It is a crib with a whole bunch of slats into the top and bottom rails and then some legs. I have been finish sanding pieces today and did 3 glue-ups...then onto the 4th glue-up. I got all the slats glued in and everything squared up. I thought what the heck I can slap on the legs...all I have to do is line up a few dowels and squeeze them together and it will save me time tomorrow.

I got the legs glued on and everything squared up then...Uh Oh...the top rail was on the bottom and the bottom rail was on the top. I started to freak out not sure what to do. The glue had already been in the open about 15 min. I tried a whole bunch of clamps to push the legs off the dowels but nothing seemed to work. Finally I was able to use my hammer and a block of wood to knock the whole thing apart. I figure that I can come back tomorrow and cut off the dowels then redrill the holes and re-assemble the piece.

And all this after my wife said she was going to buy a TS for me for my birthday but didn't know which one I wanted...although that may be on hold right considering yet another one of my cars needs work to pass an inspection.

Not a total loss but have you ever thought jeez I should have stopped when everything was going good?

Hope all your projects went well today...

Greg

[Bill Keehn]

First hardest thing about a woodworking project : getting started.
Second hardest thing : knowing when to quit.

The key words that should have set off your alarm here were "All I have to do is... " and "save me time". :) This is a big lie we tell ourselves when tricking ourselves into working longer.

Glad you were able to save it.

[Brian Peters]

I've had a lot of frustrating days and nights early on. You will make many mistakes, I have, many here have any good woodworker has. It's how you learn. If any good woodworker tells you he has never made mistakes he is full of it. Be patient it will get better. Every now and then I make a hell of a mistake because I was tired or having one of those days. As long as it was to the wood and not your hands you can laugh it off and the next time it will make you think twice.

[Leigh Betsch]

Knowing when to quit for the night is a tough thing for me I like to eat late, 9:30 is about right, so I work in the shop almost every night until the wife drags me into the house. But I find that when I get fatigued I start to drop things. I don't know why. So when I start to drop things I quit. If I don't quit I start to get frustrated and then I make mistakes.

[Kevin Godshall]

Perfection is the enemy of good enough.

[Craig T. Smith]

Greg, Anyone that works hard at any job has had this happen. Just thank goodness you just had a bad glue up and didn't cut anything off! Just learn the signs and be ready because it will happen again. Happy Woodworking, Craig

[Mike Lipke]

Perfection is the enemy of good enough.

Do you know that this phrase is used often in the operating room?
If it is good enough to guide surgeons, it is good enough for me in the shop.

[Greg Cuetara]

Thanks for the encouragement and words of wisdom. I have already limited myself in the shop to not work after 10pm. I would not have been running any power tools last night because it was late but I thought that I could at least glue something up.

I have only been at it a few years so this is definately a learning experience.

[Walt Kenny]

I'm really glad to hear I'm not the only one that happens to.