Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
New stupid router trick....How to start a fire
Barry Irby
I was routing using a guide bushing. Needed to cut a tiny amount deeper. Pressed the router down firmly. Routed the slot. Somehow there were scorched lines on both sides of the guide slot and the bushing was loose and HOT. No REALLY HOT!
Turns out if you press the collet firmly into the guide bushing it will spin the bushing and loosen it at about 4 million RPM.
Yet another mistake I have made so that you don't have to.....
Re: New stupid router trick....How to start a fire
Lee Schierer in McKean, PA
I assume there was some loud noise, some smoke and a few well chosen words involved.
Thanks for learning this for us.
Lee
I was baffled and burned my finger
Barry Irby
I couldn't figure out what the smell was, why the jig was brown, why is the bushing loose, and ouch, I burned my finger.
What made it even more stupid was the first time I thought I had failed to tighten the bushing so I tightened it and did it again. Slow learner. If you are going to insist on being stupid, it's going to be painful.
What makes you think
Bruce, a MN Galoot
That we are able to learn from someone else’s mistakes? 
I used to tell my kids that same thing. Didn’t work.
Re: I was baffled and burned my finger
Lee Schierer in McKean, PA
Its a good thing that the bushings don't have a left hand thread. It would have tightened the bushing to one hundred thousand foot pounds in the blink of an eye.
Lee
Re: What makes you think
jessecloud
My mentor told me "Learn from your mistakes, but don't make that your only education!".
Re: What makes you think
james runchey
Guess I'm a slow learner.....I'm routing recesses for some new diamond stones in a piece of plywood, And I hear this godawful noise from the router, the guide flew over to the side of the bench and when I turned off the router, the guide nut threads were all torn up and unusable. I didn't make the mistake of picking up the hot guide, but that doesn't excuse my stupidity for not checking the tightness of the ring. Sad thing is, I had just read your post an hour before going to the shop.
Re: What makes you think
Barry Irby
There are a few ways do things well but an infinite number of mistakes available to screw things up.
What type of diamond stones did you buy? I saw two YouTubers recommending Trend stones/plates. They were about $125 unless you got there Kit and then it was about $40 more. Or you could buy the cheap ones for less than $20. the price differential stymied me. Did not want to pay over a hundred if twenty was enough. (some of the reviews said the diamonds wore off the cheap ones quickly.)
Re: What makes you think
james runchey
I got 3 3 x 8" stones from a company called Best Sharpening Stones.They were $109 bucks with free shipping. Amazon has the same stones for a little more. They are UltraSharp brand, got very good reviews on Amazon. You can order them with a holder, but I thought I'd make my own. I'm probably crazy making the investment at the age of 87, but my son will happy getting them on my demise.
Re: What makes you think
james runchey
Paul sellers had a video on making a holder and using the stones. That gave me the inspiration. I haven't used them yet, just finished the holder. I'm anxious to try them out, but have to do some break-in first.