Dimes by the dozens
I could be the richest woodworker around (and you could, too) if only I had a dime for every time … • I measured twice, but wrote the measurement down…
I could be the richest woodworker around (and you could, too) if only I had a dime for every time …
• I measured twice, but wrote the measurement down wrong just before cutting the proverbial once.
• The one, single, solitary unfound nail in a piece of reclaimed lumber ended up being exactly in the kerf of the first cut you make.
• I needed just one more clamp of the right size for a tricky glueup.
• The very last complicated step of a very complex project was the one that causes a split.
• Broke off a brass screw.
• Got a smear of blood from a minor cut (I didn’t even know I had) on figured maple.
• Finally tossed out a 10-year-old piece of scrap, and then needed it the next day.
• Looked at a tool and realized I couldn’t remember who I borrowed it from.
• Looked for a tool and realized I couldn’t remember who I loaned it to.
• Gluing, mounting, screwing or nailing a component backward. Especially gluing. Especially when you don’t notice till the next day. Especially when you have no more of that stock to make a replacement component.
• Sanded through veneer.
• Dropped a chisel/knife/plane iron immediately after sharpening it.
• Cut on the wrong side of the cut line.
• Dropping the arbor nut down into the table saw.
• Dropping the arbor nut down into the table saw because you had to remove a blade that you just put in backward.
Now, if only I could find out who or where to turn to collect all my dimes. When I do, beer’s on me.
A.J.
A.J. Hamler is the former editor of Woodshop News and Woodcraft Magazine. He's currently a freelance woodworking writer/editor, which is another way of stating self-employed. When he's not writing or in the shop, he enjoys science fiction, gourmet cooking and Civil War reenacting, but not at the same time.
