Have you ever

Re: Have you ever

Glenn Madsen

>I'd feel worse for you if you hadn't paid less than $4/bf for 6/4 mahogany...

Yes

David Miller from Iowa

>We should start a thread with our biggest mistakes.

Like that time when I went into mass production making five hand cut dovetail drawers for a lingerie cabinet (under high scrutiny from some normites). The dovetails, except for one drawer, turned out pretty decent, except for the fact that the drawers were 1" wider than deep and I mixed up the pieces.

This is exactly why you...

Scott Burr Ben Lomond,CA

>Measure twice and cut once...And it's still too short:(

Re: This is exactly why you...

paul womack

>Measure twice and cut once...And it's still too short:(

I have made exactly the same mistake as the OP, using the same 1" origin technique for "accuracy".

My procedure now is to measure twice. The first marking is made using the 1" technique, for accuracy.

The second is made roughly, using the hook of the tape, to confirm that the accuracy is in the right place (if you see what I mean).

This approach has worked well for me. This kind of accuracy is most important when simple story stick techniques don't work, for example calculated compound joinery.

BugBear

Re: Nope

Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI

>Why, that's a mistake that would be made by a completely ignorant rookie. I can't believe you actually did that. You must be pulling my leg. I've never done anything quite that stupid! Of course, if I had done the exact same thing numerous times I would deny it vehemently even if there were witnesses. I would blame it on the change in atmospheric pressure or the alignment of the planets; I would never openly admit to being such a neophyte.

<;)

Re: Have you ever

Jack Guzman from Maine

>Since I did that once I've been wary of the method. Instead I go past the 1" mark to a larger number. It exaggerates the difference and helps me remember to add.---Jack

Re: Have you ever

Todd O. Cronkhite Native of Maine

>Jack, that is exactly what I do as well. Coarse this was after several 1" too shorts. I than do the trick that Bugbear employes and measure using the hook to double check closeness.

I've done some of my best cutting while being 1" short.

Todd O.

$3.68 ;>)

fmutchler@adelphia.net

>

Re: Have you ever

Joe Rogers, Northern Virginia

>Cripes Todd...just write down all your measurements 1 inch longer when you do your plans.

Then the tape trick is just right:-) JR

Re: Have you ever

Aaron Cunningham - Bothell, WA

>One of the woodworking mags recommeded using the 10" mark instead of the 1" for that exact reason.

Theoretically that amount of error would be really noticable, and the math is still easy.

Or just make the entire project 1" smaller ;-)

Dan Donaldson

>

Re: Have you ever

William R. Duffield on the Cohansey

>Using the 10" mark usually works better for me. I still have no clue why I can't consistently remember to do the addition. After all, how many seconds does it take me to get from one end of the board to the other? I've been measureing boards for years, thousands of measurements, and the error rate is way, way too high!

Do you guys across the Pond have a similar problem? Are you off by one centimeter, or a millimeter, or a whole meter, or is there something about the metric system that precludes this type of error.

To just "measure twice�" doesn't get rid of the systematic broken brain error. When I measure twice on critical dimensions, I try to "measure twice, using two different methods" like BugBear's example, but often using other tricks for an independent verification.

If the measurement is really critical, I find that my computer and printer are more reliable than I am, so I draw a full scale drawing, print it out, tape the pieces of paper together, and compare the wood directly to the drawing.

WOW!

Bob Hackett

>Why go thru all that cutting and taping?

When you get all the full scale lofting done why not just make up a story stick and throw the tape in the corner?

MB

Re: WOW!

Mike G.

>A story stick is kind of hard to use when measuring the short point measurements on miter and bevel cuts.

And, even after 25 years and "several" thousand cuts, I still make that mistake at least once on a job. Usually near the end after I've got a rythym going and everything's going real good, I'll get a brain fart and cut one an inch too short. Happens to the best of us.

Mike G.

Nope. Never done it

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>And I still weigh 170 pounds, just like I did in high school, and I never buy anything I don't need, and I NEVER stand in the middle of a room and say, "Now, what did I come in here for?"

Multiple-choice test:

In his statements above and in the title of the post, Bill was:

a) lying

b) delusional

c) telling the absolue, dog-bone truth

d) expressing great sympathy to Frank

My worst recent one (can't remember my worst one - one of the virtues of middle age) was cutting the new brass shower-rod 1" too short using the exact same method. We still have the funky rusty one up.

metric measurements

Jonathan Ronnow, Sweden

>well... I dont work as a professional carpenter, but my father does. Here in Sweden we use metrics, but most people still call a 2"x4" stud for "two inch four" - it really is 45x95mm. But thats studs only, most if not all other wood is sold in metric terms, say "twentyfive twohundred" - thats a sawn board 23,5x200mm.

"five twentyfive hundred, three and sixes" - thats means five of 25x100, 3,6 meters long, or say "two inch threes, two and a halves" and thats 45x70 2,5 meters long.

Anyway, most carpenters here uses folding rulers, so aligning them against a miter is no problem. Put the end there and mark off the other end, the backside is that the ruler is 2 meters long, which often leads to a 2m mark and an additional "the rest of the measurement" mark. The folding ruler (tumstock, which directly translates as inchpole) is used much the same way the sliding square is used for setting reveals and such. Its easier to use your thumbnail as a stop on a f-r than a tape. The f-r is quite stiff when folded out. Carpenters who want to take off say 10cm from a sheet of whatever, put their thumbnail at 10, the pencil against the end and run it down the edge. Often faster that using a chalk line.

Also, a common practise is to use two f-rulers as overlapping storypoles. And to open soda bottles with..... giving a nice pop goes the cap!

Jr

I'll take door "b" ;-)

Dan Donaldson

>