I'm sure I'm the only one who's ever done this

[John TenEyck]

I built two cabinets for a built in project in an alcove. Take everything to the site today, get the site prepped and go to lay the base in place and it doesn't quite fit. Hmm, that's strange. OK, I'll take off the 1/2" spacer I had on one end, still wondering why that was necessary. I leveled the base and set the first cabinet in place then measured the remaining gap, then compared that to the second cabinet. Huh? The cabinet was 1" too wide. How the heck? Later, checking my drawings, I found one instance where the total length was 82-3/4" and all the others, including the ones I used to build off of, were 83-3/4". No clue how that happened other than I goofed.

There wasn't much to be done other than bring one cabinet back to the shop. So I choose the one that's pretty much a simple box with face frame. No way to cut down the other one; that would be a complete rebuild and I didn't want to do that. With some careful work, I was able to cut an inch out of the face frame rails, then the bottom. The top stretchers I did by hand and that freed that side. I removed the cut off stubs of the rails and stretchers from the sides with a handsaw and pared them flush with a chisel. To reattach the face frame rails to the stile I drilled dowels holes then glued and screwed it back together. Nearly perfect.

I think it will fit OK now.

John

[Van Huskey]

More likely you are just the only one to ever admit it... ;)

When I come up short it is usually because I cut the "signature" board or veneer 1" short which causes me to have to redesign the whole piece. The last "smart" move I made was cutting 4 panels for an entertainment center with the grain running the opposite way of the matching piece that was already finished. I just finished it as I had cut it, nobody will notice right... first thing my wife said when she saw it finished was why is the grain running the opposite direction. :mad:

[Jerome Sidley]

Built an 8' X 20' for over an entry walkway in the shop loaded it onto the truck took it to the site and lifted it into place, unfortunately, the measurement was the inside of the posts not the outside for some reason the air turned blue.

[Bruce Page]

As a one time machinist I've transposed numbers more than once. In my case it was usually to the negative.. :rolleyes:
Glad you could save it.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Were you talking about today? Today? No I haven't done it today.:confused::rolleyes::D

[Mike Cutler]

John

Yep, you're right, I've never done that in my life.:D
( So uhhh, what's the penalty for ah, lying'. ;)

[Kyle Iwamoto]

John

Yep, you're right, I've never done that in my life.:D


Yep me neither........
I'm thinking EXACTLY that. So I'm technically not lying.........

[Nick Decker]

Actually, when all of my measurements prove to be correct, I feel like, "Whoa. How did that happen?"

[Jim Becker]

Actually, when all of my measurements prove to be correct, I feel like, "Whoa. How did that happen?"

True dat!

-----

I'm guessing that "luck" also makes it that a measurement mistake for a built-in tends to be "too big" just because it makes it harder to, um...adjust...things. :) :D Too small would be too easy!

[Andrew Hughes]

I’ve done that and made the mistake of measuring a space shaped like a parallelogram as if it were square.
I also have another confession I bought sandpaper on Saturday :o

[Jeff Duncan]

I built an L-shaped desk out of SA Mahogany many years ago. It had 3 drawer boxes and a top recessed for granite to be inlaid plus a fair amount of decorative molding. Was a real nice piece from an Interior Designer. He happened to come by to see the desk "in progress" and looked at it in a funny way. Then after a minute he asked why was it so high? I pulled the tape out and it was something like 4" taller than it was supposed to be:eek: I almost cried right then and there. I told him I'd fix it and have it ready in such and such time and then just walked away for the time being. Next day I looked at it fresh, found my mistake, and set about fixing it. Don't remember exactly what it was but it wasn't nearly as bad as I first thought, only took about an extra day to re-work the parts. Stuff happens, nobody perfect, just got to try and learn from it so you don't make the same mistake twice. Doing that is frustrating.... much more fun making different mistakes:D

good luck,
JeffD

[Dan Henry]

I made a cabinet to fit over the tolit in our mud room bath and made the cabinet to the correct size but could not get into the hole, had to made in pieces and assemble it a piece at a time ,got it done but a lot of trips to the shop. The garage has nice cabinet now
Dan

[Kevin Jenness]

I heard about a guy that did that.

At least we can burn our worst mistakes. Doctors have to bury theirs.

Many of my errors have been due to marking twice then cutting to the one that should have been thoroughly erased. "Measure twice, cut once, but for god's sake obliterate that first mark!"

[Rick Potter]

I am with Andrew. I built a buffet to fit in an alcove perfectly, only to find the front opening was almost an inch wider than the back wall.

Twice.

Slow learner.

[Ron Hampe]

Sure glad I'm not the only one. Built a cabinet today that was off an inch each way and considering how many times I measured it, I have no clue how I did it.

[Aaron Rosenthal]

My mistake is that I measure it and don't make up a story stick on the spot.
Had to rebuild my show rack for my closet last night because I made it the correct size but couldn't get it to pass through the doorway that was 4" smaller.
Doh!

[Mike Kees]

Ok so they say confession is good for the soul.. A carpenter I know well was building a set of stairs for a deck. We were using trex for the treads and deck . This requires risers every 12'' so for this set of stairs that was seven. First one cut,good copy it six more times,good. All of them wrong. Who says 30 years of experience is foolproof. Mike.

[Todd Bender]

Those awful sneaky skinny doors are the worst. Once had to tear a door out in a finished house to get a table into a kitchen - needed that extra 1-1/2," whoops!!

[Rod Sheridan]

I once made a 4 foot eight inch wide bookcase to fit in an alcove.

Problem was it needed to be 48 inches wide.....I'm going to chalk that one up to Imperial confusion :D.Welcome to the club.............Rod.

[John K Jordan]

Just an inch, and too big? Fortunate, and a good save!

I once cut a 4x6 PT post exactly 1' too short on a 2-story deck. Brain malfunction. Fortunately I could splice a short piece on the bottom and hide the joint in a railing. Fortunately the post was there for the look and railing, not essential for support. Fortunately it was my own deck and so I didn't feel like i was trying to deceive someone!

JKJ

[Joe Adams]

When I first started working as a trim carpenter, I quickly realized that a lot of mistakes were due to "adding an inch" when you can't hook the end of a tape on a piece to be cut (like an inside miter on door casing). In other words, if the cut calls for 81" you start at 1" and mark at 82". If you forget to add the inch, your trim ends up being embarrassingly short. I switched to starting at 10" which is far enough off that I tend to remember to make the addition.

[Brian Holcombe]

I left a part 1/8” (.125”) too long in an assembly. Once I found the problem it took 6 hours to repair. Now when I realize something is wrong, I take it apart and trim it down rather than leave a little mark on it that I forget about.

[glenn bradley]

Mis-measured or altered a number in my mind betwixt rule and paper!?! Never . . .

When the shop-gods are smiling, I err on the side of too big.

[Robert Engel]

Story poles.......using 'em a lot more the closer I get to Medicare.......;)

[Jim Becker]

This is a great "asking for a friend" topic... LOL :D

[John TenEyck]

Story poles.......using 'em a lot more the closer I get to Medicare.......;)


Yep, I really do need to use one - with every project. Measuring, writing down the measurement, transfering sketches to SketchUp, etc. presents too many opportunities for mistakes. I use one religiously when making a man door or a run of cabinets, but didn't think to use one on this project. Lesson learned.

Now let's hope the same cabinet, that also has to fit under a window, isn't an inch too tall!

John

[michael langman]

I made a nice 5 shelf wall cabinet for loml's tissue salts, in which she has about 100 plastic bottles of.
It came out really nice. Now if the bottles fit onto the enclosed shelves it would have been nicer! :confused:
Luckily it was just some pine and left over plywood.

[David Helm]

In many years as a carpenter I have done it many times. Typically it comes from looking at the wrong side of the number on the tape measure. Always ends up one inch off.

[Patrick Walsh]

This is a great thread.

Sadly for me it’s a celebration when I complete a project without a mishap of some sort.

I wish I was that good but I’m not and PT ashamed to admit it.

[phil harold]

That inch gets me too often!!!

[Charles Taylor]

If that inch thing gets me one more time, I'm switching to metric.

[Jim Dwight]

I almost totally make cabinets for myself. I take them to the space to fit as soon as I have something to try in the space. Best to start the remake as early as possible.

I've done a lot more trim than anything else recently. I do the longest piece in the room first. That way, if I cut it wrong I can use it for one of the other locations.

I also like story sticks. I need multiple ways to avoid errors. Occasionally I need to go get more wood, but I get stuff done.

[Phillip Mitchell]

I learned pretty early on working as a carpenter to never burn an inch. Too hard to remember to add it back and too close to your actual number.

If I'm working in feet (10' 9") then I'll burn 1 foot and say "burning a foot!" out loud when I take the measurement just to drive it home. If I'm working just in inches (129") then I'll burn 10".

Or just use story sticks if appropriate.