Monday, February 22, 2010

Lessons Learned


Over the years I have made my share of woodworking mistakes; from snapping off screws when installing hardware to blowing out a lapped dovetail on a figured drawer front. My latest endeavor has been an exercise in patience. Working with a fresh design that incorporates convex and concave surfaces is new territory for my tools. When working in new territory the learning curve is steep. After milling up and shaping the convex short sides of a jewelry box twice I think I got the hang of it. I was required to double up the production of the short sides due to a re-adjustment of a marking gauge. Keeping a marking gauge set until you are completely done marking out with that setting is a “Golden Rule”, but I committed the cardinal sin and paid the price. The baseline on my pin board sockets was not square to the datum surface (read re-do). Having to make a second set of short sides allowed me to benefit from the previous practice. It took a little bit longer to accomplish but in the end I think it came out better.

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