The saying “Measure twice and cut once” isn’t just a set of pretty words — it’s something some of us could remember a little more often. Since it’s just my own projects that get screwed up, most of the time I wing it and on occasion eyeball measurements. This time it’s going to cost me about 30 minutes.
As some of you might be able to spy straight off, what happened here is the guide roller on the router bit dipped below the edge of the wood and the router started cutting inside the line I wanted — which ruined the piece. First I tried to blame the bit for slipping. After a check it was sadly not the cause: It was me.
It’s my own fault, really. I had been sanding on all four sides of this piece getting it smooth and didn’t bother to check if that had changed the vertical depth. Of course it had. About 1.5 mm, to be exact, which is enough to slip the roller beneath the usable guide material. There are about 15 ways I could have prevented this, yet stupidity won the day.
I was so taken with my moronic display of craftsmanship (or lack thereof) I had to stop and write what I thought of my skills in a crude manner that sums up the experience for me. What’s that other saying: Some people serve as a warning to others? In this case, that would be me.