Larry Fox
07-24-2006, 11:58 AM
One lesson that I have DEFINITELY extracted from my current project is that I am not as smart as I thought I was when I first started it. Here is just one example of how I arrived at that conclusion.
I am building an "end panel" for a run of cabinets for my kitchen. It is about 70" wide and made up of 6 raised panels and is, perhaps, THE showiest piece in the whole project. As such I used the best stock from my pile. Milled it perfectly, every detail attended to etc - you get the picture here. Going to look georgeous.
I had been thinking of the glue-up for days as it is a bit complicated (for me anyway). Glue-up plan completed and I fabricated a flat surface with reference boards, cauls, etc fastened to it to keep it square and give me something non-maring to clamp against etc. Everything labeled clearly, etc. Looking great. I determined the proper spacing for the vertical elements and stepped it off 3 times to make sure that it was perfect.
I glued on the side element - flawless. Man, am I smart and this clamping station is cool - great idea and making life easy. Take a break to pat myself on the back. Put in the first panel, and glue in the second vertical element. Panel a little loose but I allowed a bit of room - recall that I am really smart. Put in the second panel and slide in the third vertical. This one is a LOT tight and I am not going to be able to pull this in. Humm - how can this be I measured three times AND I am really smart. It CAN'T be a mistake.
Well, I forgot to take into consideration the width of the internal verticals being wider than the outside verticals. Forgetting to take it into consideration was not the mistake. NOT laying it out before applying glue was the mistake. Had I done this, the error would have shown up immediately and I would have been able to correct it right away with no harm done.
Instead, I trusted my reasoning skills without auditing my decision-making process and wasted a $50.00+ piece of cherry. I can use it elsewhere but now I have to buy another one and re-mill all the elements.
Lessons learned;
1) I am not really all that smart afterall. A smart person verifies decisions and audits the decision-making process.
2) Not laying the pieces out and doing a dry-fit.
3) Rushing. My son and I were going to a ball-game and time was getting short so I had a time constraint. I should have let it lay and returned to it and re-verified assumptions after.
Tried to convey my frustration with the wife but she does not understand so I thought I would share with people who I know do.
Thanks for looking and lettime me rant.
L :(
I am building an "end panel" for a run of cabinets for my kitchen. It is about 70" wide and made up of 6 raised panels and is, perhaps, THE showiest piece in the whole project. As such I used the best stock from my pile. Milled it perfectly, every detail attended to etc - you get the picture here. Going to look georgeous.
I had been thinking of the glue-up for days as it is a bit complicated (for me anyway). Glue-up plan completed and I fabricated a flat surface with reference boards, cauls, etc fastened to it to keep it square and give me something non-maring to clamp against etc. Everything labeled clearly, etc. Looking great. I determined the proper spacing for the vertical elements and stepped it off 3 times to make sure that it was perfect.
I glued on the side element - flawless. Man, am I smart and this clamping station is cool - great idea and making life easy. Take a break to pat myself on the back. Put in the first panel, and glue in the second vertical element. Panel a little loose but I allowed a bit of room - recall that I am really smart. Put in the second panel and slide in the third vertical. This one is a LOT tight and I am not going to be able to pull this in. Humm - how can this be I measured three times AND I am really smart. It CAN'T be a mistake.
Well, I forgot to take into consideration the width of the internal verticals being wider than the outside verticals. Forgetting to take it into consideration was not the mistake. NOT laying it out before applying glue was the mistake. Had I done this, the error would have shown up immediately and I would have been able to correct it right away with no harm done.
Instead, I trusted my reasoning skills without auditing my decision-making process and wasted a $50.00+ piece of cherry. I can use it elsewhere but now I have to buy another one and re-mill all the elements.
Lessons learned;
1) I am not really all that smart afterall. A smart person verifies decisions and audits the decision-making process.
2) Not laying the pieces out and doing a dry-fit.
3) Rushing. My son and I were going to a ball-game and time was getting short so I had a time constraint. I should have let it lay and returned to it and re-verified assumptions after.
Tried to convey my frustration with the wife but she does not understand so I thought I would share with people who I know do.
Thanks for looking and lettime me rant.
L :(