It hurst to eb htis dubm!

[Mike Waddell]

I've been working on a hand tool cabinet (see recent post with pics), and decided to complete the dovetails on some drawers for the unit last night. Fronts of the drawers have half-blind dovetails cut on the trusty jig, the backs are through dovetails cut by hand... well, almost.

I neatly marked out the dovetails for the backs of five drawers, taking the time to pay attention to detail, holding each joint together individually and taking care to make the markings clear and tight. Once marked out, I enjoyed the voo-ba of the handsaw and the feel of a good chisel and mallet. As I was doing this, I thought to myself how terribly fun it is to work with handtools. "So relaxing..."

I whistled as I cut the tails on the drawer sides and pins on the drawer backs, cleaned up all the joints, and then individually fit each joint one at a time (does the reader note that I am INDIVIDUALLY marking and fitting the joints? Have I given away my error?). Only then did I come to a horrible conclusion: I had cut the pins on one side to accept the tails of one drawer side in one direction, and the pins on the other side of the drawer back to accept the tails of the other drawer side in the opposite direction!!!!!!

Can you see it in your mind? My drawer backs and sides, when put together with my painstakingly created dovetails, now look like this:

----------------------------------|
|
|
|
| <----- Drawer Back
|
|
|
|------------------------------------

I had spent two hours marking, cutting, chiseling and fitting 10 joints on the back of five drawers, only to throw away the drawer backs and have to start them over again. I made the same mistake on ALL FIVE DRAWER BACKS!

It hurts. Thanks for listening to me vent, and I hope you don't make the same mistake!!

Mike

[John D Watson]

just think of all the practice your getting though.

[Mike Zozakiewicz]

I got I very déjà vu feeling while reading you post, I know I have done something like that before. I think I blamed it on Dyslexia:D .

Mike

[Frank Chaffee]

I made the same mistake on ALL FIVE DRAWER BACKS!Mike
Mike,
Consistency is a laudable quality you possess which will serve you well, and soon I’m sure!
Don’t worry about the mistake; most, if not all of us have a similar story, and I feel better about my own on account of you having shared yours.
Thanks,
Frank

[Mark Rios]

Yesterday while getting out and setting up my Kreg kit I remembered that my spare drill bit was on my desk. While returnning outside I took the bit out of the package, threw the packaging in the outside trash and, totally engrossed in the talk show host on the radio, I chucked up the bit. I clamped up the first piece to drill and drilled until it stopped; all the way through the wood and through the bottom of the jig. I said a big "OH NO!!!" when I saw the blue plastic drill shavings. I'd chucked up the new bit instead of the bit that already had the stop collar set on it. Now I have a "speed hole" in the bottom of my brand new K3 kit.

Not quite as devastating as your drawers but made me feel like a real bonehead nonetheless.