Cock ups

[Derek Cohen]

I recently wrote that I aim to build as best as I can. Sometimes it does not go well at all :(


I make two repairs today. Usually, the mistakes I make are as I get spatially challenged, and cut the wrong side of the board. The first one here was being a little over-enthusiastic with a block plane when trimming a drawer front (a few days ago). The problem is difficult to detect from a distance ...


https://i.postimg.cc/NMyGGbTW/R1.jpg


... but close up .... !


https://i.postimg.cc/yYC6BmNb/R2.jpg


Damn. The drawer front is part of a set of three. It cannot simply be replaced. One also cannot glue a filler to the side of the board.


But one can add a filler to the drawer divider ...


https://i.postimg.cc/W4YbPxDG/R3.jpg


Here it is glued proud ...


https://i.postimg.cc/NGHGWJQX/R4.jpg


When trimmed flush, it is nearly invisible. With a coat of finish, it will be ...


https://i.postimg.cc/FsbrKYds/R5.jpg


https://i.postimg.cc/156xHXph/R8.jpg


The second fix was this ... after all the mention I made about the importance of a combination square to ensure the side was square to the drawer front ... well, one got away from me. When I placed the three sides on a flat surface, the far end of one side was 2mm high.


This was the fix. Can you spot the repair?


https://i.postimg.cc/j2PsP5Mc/R6.jpg


Eagle eyes will note that there is a light line. This is where a triangular fillet was glued in, and planed flush (The corresponding top side needed to be planed down to fit inside the drawer case).


https://i.postimg.cc/mD0LPMyh/R7.jpg


Regards from Perth


Derek

[Jim Koepke]

Old saying, "the difference between an amateur and a professional is how they handle their mistakes."

jtk

[David Publicover]

Thanks for posting this Derek. As someone who makes errors regularly, it is nice to see that even the highly talented have their moments. Not because I take any joy in others mistakes but rather, it encourages me to cut myself some slack when I mess up.
The repairs look good!

[Curt Putnam]

Would that all my misteaks :D be so minor and correctable. Well done Sir!

[William Fretwell]

Yes I could spot that mistake from the other side of the world! My day was not much better, 6 visits to the splinter station, cuts, burns and scrapping a huge piece of polycarbonate with an 8 inch crack to make it again. Hope to get my hand tools out later this week for some light relief!

[Bob Jones 5443]

Derek, the only message the eye will read across those three drawer fronts is the story in the matched grain across the width. The fix is inspired.

Your anecdote makes me think of David Charlesworth's goal of a piston fit for drawers. For me it is nothing more than the label of an aspiration, one that I am many steps away from taking on. But whatever his method entails, it seems it would prevent running into the problem you had.

[Derek Cohen]

Derek, the only message the eye will read across those three drawer fronts is the story in the matched grain across the width. The fix is inspired.

Your anecdote makes me think of David Charlesworth's goal of a piston fit for drawers. For me it is nothing more than the label of an aspiration, one that I am many steps away from taking on. But whatever his method entails, it seems it would prevent running into the problem you had.

Bob, the most important key to making a fix is matching the wood - grain, texture and colour. Get this right, and it will be difficult to spot.

My aim is a piston fit for drawers. It always starts this way, but rarely finishes as good as one dreams about. I do have a cabinet at home where opening or closing one drawer will cause others to move due to the air inside the cabinet. But I am happy to have drawers that move smoothly, do not rattle side-to-side, and are not subject to the whims of the weather.

Changes of weather, and how this is managed in a home, will determine the viability of "piston fit". I think of this as a concept, another way of describing a well-fitted drawer, not literally as in sucking- or blowing air. Anything that is truly that close fitting is not going to stay that way for long in most homes.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[steven c newman]

Yet...now the other dividers stand out as narrower than the "repaired" one....

[Tom Stenzel]

Yet...now the other dividers stand out as narrower than the "repaired" one....

"Stand out" is relative. With my trifocals I had a hard time figuring out what the mistake was in the first place. If the repair hadn't been pointed out would you have noticed it?

Derek, your mistake riddled work looks better BEFORE patching than mine ever does AFTER patching. Good show!

-Tom S.

[Andrew Seemann]

My aim is a piston fit for drawers. It always starts this way, but rarely finishes as good as one dreams about. I do have a cabinet at home where opening or closing one drawer will cause others to move due to the air inside the cabinet. But I am happy to have drawers that move smoothly, do not rattle side-to-side, and are not subject to the whims of the weather.

Changes of weather, and how this is managed in a home, will determine the viability of "piston fit". I think of this as a concept, another way of describing a well-fitted drawer, not literally as in sucking- or blowing air. Anything that is truly that close fitting is not going to stay that way for long in most homes.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Piston fit drawers? Around here with our seasonal humidity changes, if it don't rattle in the winter, it ain't opening in the summer:)

Although I must say, having to put 1/8" clearance minimum on drawer faces and cabinet doors does take the pressure off. Your "error" here would maybe get you into the seasonal safety zone:)

[Dave Anderson NH]

I have always strived for piston fit drawers unless they are lipped, and I mostly succeed. The price is high however when humidity and the seasons change. I always end up with one or two drawers that stick in the summer or after a few days of rain. To prevent the other drawers moving when one is being closed I usually drill a hole in the back of the case for pressure relief.

[Tom Vanzant]

I mortised the inside of the front legs of a desk for a stringer, but there was no stringer. I made shouldered plugs, 1/8” tall, with beveled edges...just like a thru tenon. Problem solved. I know it’s there, but no one else has noticed.

[Bob Jones 5443]

The Annals of Oops continues.

[Dave Seng]

These two threads about this cabinet are a bit like a Master class in fine woodworking - and I'm thoroughly enjoying them and learning along the way.

[Mike Allen1010]

Very elegant solutions – well done sir! I find superglue invaluable for quick repairs like this – takes almost no time to dry and the mistake can be erased so quickly it's almost like it never happened! That's what I call "alternative facts".:)

Cheers, Mike.

[James Pallas]

Great recoveries Derek. I never make “mistakes”. I do however have to do some “design enhancements “ on a regular basis. Sometimes these enhancements are rather drastic and involve things like fires in the pit.

[Jim Koepke]

My biggest mistake in the last few years was trying to remove dovetail waste with a forstner bit:

449972

The beauty of dovetails is they still hold even with a blatant error. Since that side goes against a wall it seemed like a good way to remind me to not let my mind wander while working.

That mistake now comes to mind when ever dovetails are being cut.

jtk