Bad day in the shop!

[Tom Pritchard]

What a day! I can't ever remember a day this bad in my shop! It started out nice, plenty of time for a couple small jobs for my Dad, fix a fireplace cover and build a quick birdhouse. Sounds innocent enough, right? WRONG! First thing I decided to do was to clean out the dust collector before I started the birdhouse. Might as well empty the Shop Vac too. I proceeded to rip the plastic bag from the DC on the bandsaw while removing it, sawdust all over. Then I carried out the Shop Vac, removed the HEPA filter and proceeded to poke a hole in it while brushing it off. Up to Sears to buy a new one ($32.00) so that I could clean up the sawdust from my DC that was still all over.
-I screwed up gluing the magnets on my Dad's fireplace cover
-found out after cutting all the pieces for the birdhouse on the TS that the plans were wrong (free on the internet-go figure!)
-modified the plans
-broke off 7 square drive screws while building the birdhouse, found out the screws were brass plated white metal of some type that I had forgotten to throw out the last time I used them
-broke a drillbit when I dropped my drill
-found out that I forgot to leave one side of the birdhouse to swing open for cleaning-threw the birdhouse in the burn bin
-vacuumed the floor, turned out the lights, and came up stairs to sulk a bit

It was like I had never been in a shop before! I know they say that a bad day in the shop is better than a good day at work, but man, today was a close tie! Hopefully tomorrow will be better.......

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

We all have BAD days and have to rant. I understand.


The GOOD news, Tom, is that you still have ALL the fingers you went in with and can go back the the shop later and have things go better.

Bruce

[Jim Becker]

I hear you. I had to disassemble the chipper/shredder drive system to re-seat the drive belts...blew both of them off the when I was working some particularly bigger pieces. (Ah...the smell of burn rubber...) That took away the two hours I had planned to spend in the shop since it was such an involved process to access them....had to remove the PTO shaft to get the housing off, etc. Next time it will take less time, but...:rolleyes:

At any rate, sorry your day was, umm...less than satisfying in the woodworking department. Look at the bright side, your next birdhouse will go together faster since you had some practice today as I did with the machine! :)

[Lee DeRaud]

Day like that, it helps to keep reciting "Tyler's Rule":
"There were no pictures, therefore it didn't happen."

[Tyler Howell]

Bad day in the shop is better than a good day working.:cool:

[Tom Pritchard]

Lee, thanks for the laugh! You're right, I'll keep repeating "Today never happened...Today never happened..."

Jim, glad to hear I'm not alone! I got my DR mower stuck on a tree root last fall and I have a couple belts to replace myself when the weather warms!

Bruce, you're right, I didn't get hurt and there was no permanent damage done (except for the drillbit). Thanks for keeping me straight.

[Ron Jones near Indy]

It's days like this that help us really appreciate the good days in the shop...remember, a bad day in the shop is better than a good day almost anyplace else.:cool:

[Matt Meiser]

When I'm having a day like that, I just get out of the shop before I get hurt or screw something up worse than I already have. Usually when I get a chance to calm down, I figure out a way to solve my problem in a way that can be a "feature."

[Jim Hager]

I just hate it when everything I touch turns into mush!!!! You'll have a better day next time I'll bet. At least you have a shop to have a bad day in. Sometimes we forget there are those poor souls who don't even know how to hold a hammer much less have a shop to keep it in. Poor rich devils.;)

[scott spencer]

Sounds like you need a few minutes to "unwind" after relaxing in the shop! ;) I've had more than one of those days in the shop! If you're on the right side of the dirt and can count to 10....you're doing ok my friend! Compare it to a bad day at work and I'll bet you're bad day in the shop will have some appeal!

[Bart Leetch]

Well I didn't make anything in the shop today but I did put my Ridgid Miter Saw Utility Vehicle together & clear off a shelf to put it on. This will come in handy to use with my planer. I will be going back out to do some vacuuming & general shop cleaning.

[Dale Thompson]

Tom,
Quit complaining!! :( For me, those minor "details" would be a GOOD day in the shop! :o :eek: :) I guess that everything is relative. :D

Dale T.

[John Bailey]

The question is, Can you still count to ten??

John

[Jim O'Dell]

What a day! I can't ever remember a day this bad in my shop! It started out nice, plenty of time for a couple small jobs for my Dad, fix a fireplace cover and build a quick birdhouse. Sounds innocent enough, right? WRONG! First thing I decided to do was to clean out the dust collector before I started the birdhouse. Might as well empty the Shop Vac too. I proceeded to rip the plastic bag from the DC on the bandsaw while removing it, sawdust all over. Then I carried out the Shop Vac, removed the HEPA filter and proceeded to poke a hole in it while brushing it off. Up to Sears to buy a new one ($32.00) so that I could clean up the sawdust from my DC that was still all over.
-I screwed up gluing the magnets on my Dad's fireplace cover
-found out after cutting all the pieces for the birdhouse on the TS that the plans were wrong (free on the internet-go figure!)
-modified the plans
-broke off 7 square drive screws while building the birdhouse, found out the screws were brass plated white metal of some type that I had forgotten to throw out the last time I used them
-broke a drillbit when I dropped my drill
-found out that I forgot to leave one side of the birdhouse to swing open for cleaning-threw the birdhouse in the burn bin
-vacuumed the floor, turned out the lights, and came up stairs to sulk a bit

It was like I had never been in a shop before! I know they say that a bad day in the shop is better than a good day at work, but man, today was a close tie! Hopefully tomorrow will be better.......

Well, now I know where Brad's good luck on his 5hp PM66 came from!!!! Sorry you had a bad day in the shop, but think of it this way...you did get in the shop. Me, I've had 5 days off (3 days vacation) and all I've gotten to do is spend 4 days texturing and painting the guest bedroom (not finished yet!) and a one day trip to Houston and back for a dog show (didn't do as well as we had hoped we would do). So I guess we both lost!:eek: Jim.:D

[andy Needles]

My $.02,

Its good to get all of those mistakes out of the way all at once though. I count on one in every ten days in the shop being a waste of time. Its like fishing, There are days it is best to show up at the ocean or the lake and just empty your tackle box in the water, and go home. At least then you still have the time to spend. You were going to lose the tackle anyway, and you would have had no fish to show for it!

[Dave Malen]

Tom,
That's what I do when things don't go as planned. I usually think I something that solves the problem then get it done!
Dave

[Julio Navarro]

All of a sudden I dont feel so bad.

[Norman Hitt]

Thursday was "MY" bad day. I first discovered the hand picked Red Oak material my friend bought was not wide enough for the plans, and not wanting to glue up dissimilar pieces for the wide rails and end stiles of the FF, which, (will also be a major loadbearing part on the project), I had to redo all the plans.:rolleyes: Next, I discovered that when ripping wide panels to size on my friend's Rigid saw, the fence was actually bending the back fence rail when tightened down at a setting that was out past the extension wing of the saw, and therefore the fence was pulling out of alignment with the blade, (remedy fence problem, retrim square and revise plans once more).:mad: Then after finally getting all the panels trued up I realized the panels for the doors had previously been cut to the dimensions on the cutlist from the original plans, (make note to self to take "Artistic License" and redesign door panel edging).

With things finally going my way, I had moved outside, for routing rabbets and dados in the panels and was making really good progress when the Router Stopped Cold.:eek: :confused: My first thoughts were that the extension cord was too long and the router had overheated and shut down, but I checked the ckt brkrs and the voltage at the outlet but no problems. I decided that while I was waiting to see if the router would reset, I would make up another heavy but shorter extension cord, just in case.........., even if I had to change routers. OooooooooK......all done, now to plug it in and see if it would work, buuuuut...... when I pulled the cord from under the sawhorses to unplug the old cord and plug in the new one.......the dern router wasn't even plugged in.:mad: :o :mad: 45 min down the drain, and THEN it was getting late, and the mosquitos started feeding on me, so I QUIT.

I can't remember ever making as many screwups as I did all in that one day, 'Course, I can't remember much of anything anymore, sooooooo....Ain't Woodworking FUN?:;)

I hereby defer to my Signature line.:D :D

[Steve Clardy]

Really wish I hadn't read your post this morning.:o :rolleyes: :)

Working on a tv stand for a customer. Had part of it sealed, sanded ready for last lacquer coat.
Took another into the finish room to stain.
Started to spray the one with lacquer and decided to remove the tip from the gun and clean it as the last pass the lacquer was going everywhere but where it was supposed too. Dropped it in some lacquer thinner to soak.
Went ahead and stained the other section, put it aside to dry.
Then turned around and grabbed my lacquer gun and squirted lacquer, er, blowed it, dribbled it everywhere.:mad:
Forgot I had put the tip in the lacquer thinner for cleaning.:mad:
What a mess:eek: :mad: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[Barry O'Mahony]

Me yesterday: Go to use a new router bit for the first time. Can't get the package open. Finally give it one more pull and it pops open, and the router bit goes flying. Lands on the concrete floor. Well, it's still covered with that rubber goop, which I hoped had cushioned the fall. No such luck; a piece of carbide comes off with the goop. Of course, it's 4:45 pm on a Sunday, and the nearesr place with a decent selection of router bits is 30 minutes away and closes at 5.

[Kevin Herber]

I didn't read your post about yesterday till today. Hope today's a good won (pun intended).

-- Kevin

[Bruce Volden]

Tom /(others) The real measure of the craftsman is 1) how long does it take to recover, 2) could all the "bad" parts be hidden adequately?? The drill bit thing~~I haven't figured that one out yet ;)Bruce

[Jerry Olexa]

You better go have a beer or two...Thats happens to me all the time: I go to the shop to do something and realize in order to do it right I need to perform some kind of maintenance or clean up, etc. It all gets done. Also when I rush I do as u did: make a mistake that could easily have been corrected if I thought it out. Anyway...Cheers!! You're normal!:D :D

[Tom Pritchard]

Thanks everyone, I have really enjoyed the replies to this post! I feel much better about things today, and have decided that most the trouble yesterday came from 2 things: 1) under-estimating even a simple project like a birdhouse (I thought about how you must have all rolled your eyes and wondered how a birdhouse could be considered "woodworking":rolleyes: ), and 2) rushing because I thought they were simple.

Many of you mentioned that I was fortunate not to get hurt. You're right. Safety is always #1 with me, and I never compromised that rule even though I was in a hurry.

I laughed out loud at several of your replies, and I REALLY felt your pain when you described recent similar bad days! Norman Hitt, I read your story over several times, I'm sure you didn't think it was funny, but it tickled me!:D

Jerry Olexa, I like the way you think! I did exactly as you suggested and took my 2 beers to help me gain "perspective"!

Barry O'Mahony, I feel your pain man! Not only did you loose the bit, but I'm sure you were done for the night because you couldn't replace it. I hate when I overexert (nice way of saying get mad) and try to rip something open instead of getting a knife or scissors to do the job right! Sorry to hear you lost the router bit.

Again, thanks to each of you for helping me feel like I'm not out in the woods by myself! SMC is the best!!

OK, I'm happy again!!!:) :) :)

[Barry O'Mahony]

Barry O'Mahony, I feel your pain man! Not only did you loose the bit, but I'm sure you were done for the night because you couldn't replace it.Yup. Getting a new bit was today's lunchtime errand. Hopefully things will go better this evening.

[Mike Cutler]

BTDT. I'm glad it was finally someone else's turn:D ;)

Some days just go that way Tom. Ya' just gotta laugh, and start over the next day.