# What was your #1 dumbest mistake??



## USAFVET98 (Nov 13, 2010)

I read another post from a new comer to IAP where he stuck his fingers together with CA glue. So it got me thinking it might be a cool idea to get everyone's silly mistakes made while turning or other wood working.


So here is mine........


I was out in the garage ripping some oak strips for the inside of my dads custom box I made him last Christmas. The strips were to hold in the glass while I used cocobolo splines to hold together the miters. 
Anyway, as I was ripping this oak down, I guess I had to much pressure between the fence and the blade because the second I let up on the down pressure, the strip flipped up and kicked back at the same time. The force was so strong it almost knocked the wind out of me and scratched my head a little bit. 

Now that I think about it, there are many things I could have done differently to prevent it. Just wish I had.

I learned my lesson and more than ever respect the Table Saw.


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This one isnt wood related but is duracoating related........ Enjoy....

I was in the process of duracoating a few guns for a customer and in between colors I have to clean the airbrush. Well wouldnt you know it that I keep a small plastic red cup next to my airbrush to clean the tips and everything. So... without thinking I put the tip in the cup without taking it off the gun and put my finger on the trigger! 
Acetone shot out of the cup and into my eyes! You ever get acetone in your eyes? LOL Horrible feeling. Anyway, the moral of the story is, we all due stupid things whether its gluing our fingers together, chopping a piece of a finger off, or getting acetone in your eye. I just take it all as a learning experience.


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## Andrew Arndts (Nov 13, 2010)

well I not to long ago shoved a Awl into the webbing between my thumb and first finger.  that is the current #1 boneheaded maneuver.


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## jimm1 (Nov 13, 2010)

My biggest mistake... Getting into pen turning:biggrin:

Not really. It has been great therapy for me.

My biggest was glueing up tubes and blanks in my bare feet. Not realizing I dripped some thick CA onto the floor, I managed to step on it and stay there for a few minutes. When I moved, I ripped a very large/thick portion of skin from the bottom of my foot. .


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## Mapster (Nov 13, 2010)

chiseling some glue off my table with my thumb in front of the chisel. Jumped off some glue and into my thumb.


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## ed4copies (Nov 13, 2010)

I watched a guy (I NEVER do anything stupid, myself) pull on the spur center to get it out of the headstock.  Would NOT budge.  Pulled harder, while observing the 60 degree live center was in the tailstock and not too far away.  Reassurred that I (I mean HE) would stop short of  piercing a hand---well never mind, what he did WAS pretty stupid and resulted in a fairly deep "hole in the hand" that still hurts on cold days.  (So HE says)


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## bradbn4 (Nov 13, 2010)

Thinking that making my pens were cheaper than buying them.  I use to spend 200 - 400 dollars a year on pens as gifts.  

It would have been not that much more expensive to make my own.... but I went and bought a Powermatic lathe.

My biggest "awe sh@@ while working on the lathe, I would say failing to remove both sets screws when working on the powermatic right after assembling it by myself.  It did bugger up a bit, but nothing harmful.


Note:  I do have a Shopsmith - but that was way to small to work on pens....mostly too low.


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## USAFVET98 (Nov 13, 2010)

What I like about this thread is the fact that we all make stupid mistakes that could have been avoided. It could happen to any one of us (well maybe all except gluing our bare feet to the floor).... LOL This thread is a good way for us to hear these mistakes so maybe we can try to avoid them..


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## alphageek (Nov 13, 2010)

I think my biggest boo-boo was early on when drilling on the lathe.  I backed the tailstock up without realizing that the bit could pull the mt2 out... blank, bit and holder all spinning FAR to quickly...   Luckily all I got out of it was a broken 7mm bit.


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## ctubbs (Nov 13, 2010)

Now I, personally never make an error, I however do have learning experiences.  I decided to forgo the use of the jointer and use my router table to shape up a small piece of oak.  To get it to the exact thickness, I adjusted the fence to exactly the correct distance from the bit.  All i needed to do was feed the oak between the fence and bit, spinning at about 30,000 RPM.  I inserted it right to left and managed to watch as the piece of oak became a missel finding itself a home sticking through my brand new garage door.   Boy, was I ever glad I was not standing in the wrong place!

Now a good friend of mine, a fellow electrician, was working on a clean up at one of our local plants.  After cleaning some of the 14,200 volt gear, he was showing us which ones had been re-energized by pointing to the 'hot' gear.  He said, "That ones hot and that ones hot," and pointing to a third one, he got too close when the high voltage arced over to his finger and back from his knee.  Where upon he exclaimed, "Damn, that hurt!"  No it wasn't me, but it well could have been.  He went on and worked the rest of the day like a good lineman that he is.

Yes, we all make our fair share of booboos.  Happly, most of them are not life ending.  Let us all be more careful.
Charles


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## DurocShark (Nov 13, 2010)

Recent one for me...

Discovered the hard way that the Zen bushings aren't the same as the Stretch/Electra. The finial end is smaller on the Stretch than on the Zen.

Of course I discovered this after beginning assembly. Whoops.

That's what happens when I get sloppy and don't mic the bushings to the kit EACH BLOODY TIME!


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## GoodTurns (Nov 13, 2010)

Most recent special moment....packing up for a show, picked up one of my folding tables, straight up, through the glass window of the open garage door, heading out for a two day show, wife not too happy with being told, "I'll fix it Monday"....oops.


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## jasontg99 (Nov 13, 2010)

Mine worst mistake was while I was experimenting with different thicknesses of CA for finishes.  I was using paper towels folded as applicators.  I had started out using thick CA and BLO.  It went just fine.  Switched to Med CA and everything went fine.  Last was the thin CA.  It did not go so well.  The thin AC soaked into the paper towel and glued itself to my finger.  This happened while I was applying a little pressure to the blank.  Needless to say it heated itself up very quickly.  All i could do was wait for it to cool down and unglue the papertowel using acetone.  That was the first and last time I used thin CA and papertowels only folded over twice.


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## hilltopper46 (Nov 13, 2010)

I have in my workbench a perfectly turned and finished double-twist designer pen with pink ivory barrels on it.  Only problem is I confused the top bushings of the top and bottom barrels....

This is only one of many....

Wearing my nitrile gloves to glue up barrels with thick CA and absent mindendy scratching my ear might be another one...  took a couple days for the ca to come out, all in one piece.


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## IPD_Mrs (Nov 13, 2010)

I would have to say the dumbest was getting bored working a 30 ton punch press and taking off my left index finger.  It has been 21 years ago this month and it still aches in cold or warm weather.

As far as pen turning dumb, I got in a rush one day putting a blank between centers without bushings and before milling the ends.  As I tightened up the tail stock the cracking of the blank reminded me of my error.


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## Smitty37 (Nov 13, 2010)

*power saw*

I'd allow that sticking my left hand into my 10 inch table saw and learning that saw could cut meat almost as well as it cut wood.  By the Grace of God, I still can count to 10 without needing to take a shoe off.


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## markgum (Nov 13, 2010)

ed4copies said:


> I watched a guy (I NEVER do anything stupid, myself) pull on the spur center to get it out of the headstock.  Would NOT budge.  Pulled harder, while observing the 60 degree live center was in the tailstock and not too far away.  Reassurred that I (I mean HE) would stop short of  piercing a hand---well never mind, what he did WAS pretty stupid and resulted in a fairly deep "hole in the hand" that still hurts on cold days.  (So HE says)



ED
  you promised not to tell anyone what I did... 
yeah,, I look 2x times now to make sure the live center is removed before removing the spur center...:redface:


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## WoodWorkinthe530 (Nov 13, 2010)

Nothing that endangered life or limb. I was in a hurry (a lot of these seem to start this way) and went to trim some blanks I had just drilled and glued in the tubes. Unfortunatly the CA wasn't done curing until I inserted my barrel trimmer and proceeded to glue it into the tube. Got the trimmer out but wasted the tube, blank, and about an hour.

I'm pretty new to pen turning so I have a few years to turn up the dumb...

Chris


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## MarkHix (Nov 13, 2010)

Tried to save a few pennies by using a reject turned to the right size to make my 7mm trimmer fit some other size blank...the end of the reject had the tube sticking out and the entire thing was longer than the blank I was trimming.......drilled a perfect 7mm circle into my finger when the trimmer caught on my "adapter" and started spinning against my finger supporting my blank.....used my hand held instead of the dp and a vise.....education sometimes hurts.


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## aggromere (Nov 13, 2010)

I have done so many stupid things it's hard to say.  But I will say this, the funniest stupid thing I saw in this thread was the gluing tubes barefoot.  I regularly;

1.  Drill the large diameter hole in the long blank.
2.  Drill the small hole in the short blank. (not as bad if you do this first)
3.  Using the wrong bushings.
4.  Assembling the pen wrong
5.  trying to jam a tube into a hole in which it does not fit with glue on it.
6.  Trying to correct all the above.


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## sbwertz (Nov 14, 2010)

ed4copies said:


> I watched a guy (I NEVER do anything stupid, myself) pull on the spur center to get it out of the headstock. Would NOT budge. Pulled harder, while observing the 60 degree live center was in the tailstock and not too far away. Reassurred that I (I mean HE) would stop short of piercing a hand---well never mind, what he did WAS pretty stupid and resulted in a fairly deep "hole in the hand" that still hurts on cold days. (So HE says)


 
I'll show you my scar if you'll show me yours! I made a foam bumper that I stick on that tailstock when it is not engaged.  

My stupid one was filling up a void around a large knot with CA and setting it aside to cure before cutting the piece up into blanks.  My husband came out and decided to cut up some blanks for me.  He didn't notice the CA spraying all over everything on the first cut on the tablesaw, but when the blank stuck to the splitter on the second cut, he figured it out.  It took all afternoon to get the glue off the sawblade, the saw, the ceiling, and him.  Now I put a big DON'T CUT YET sign on anything with uncured CA.


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## sbwertz (Nov 14, 2010)

alphageek said:


> I think my biggest boo-boo was early on when drilling on the lathe. I backed the tailstock up without realizing that the bit could pull the mt2 out... blank, bit and holder all spinning FAR to quickly... Luckily all I got out of it was a broken 7mm bit.


 
I didn't realize that if I screwed the tailstock back too far it would PUSH the MT2 out!


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## ssajn (Nov 14, 2010)

I've never made the mistake of doing a repair on the lathe using CA then turning the lathe on half an hour later resulting in ca flying out and coating my eye and eye lashes even while wearing glasses. I've just heard this can happen, almost two years ago and it still bothers me. So I've heard.


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## dankc908 (Nov 14, 2010)

My cutest "dumb-dumb", to date, was the day I was making bases for some clocks.  I was going to cut some dadoes in some very nice cherry, for the bases.  When I began to push the 'base-to-be' through the blade it made a horrible noise and smoked like 7734!  I thought, "gee, cherry should cut better than this" as I looked at a totally ruined piece of wood.  As I began dismantling my dado blade I discovered that I had installed it backwards.  After turning the blade around it cut beautifully - I'm very lucky I didn't ruin the $80 dado set!


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## RAdams (Nov 14, 2010)

Like a big dummy, I, Just this morning, Finished up a black titanium JG rollerball with a "starts and Stripes" laer inlay blank. The finial section of the cap was a bit loose, so i used a drop of CA to glue it in. Then i put the cap on the pen, and put it inside a closed gift box. Luckily for me, I caught it after only an hour or so of being closed up.


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## traderdon55 (Nov 14, 2010)

I thought I made a mistake once but I was wrong. Seriously probably the dumbest turning mistake I have made is that I used to hold pen blanks in my hand when using my pen mill. Milling a deer antler blank one day that happened to have a sharp corner on it the mill caught and spun the blank in my hand. It made a couple of revolutions before I could turn it loose. Needless to say that was the last time to hold any blank in my hand while milling it.


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## tim self (Nov 14, 2010)

jasontg99 said:


> Mine worst mistake was while I was experimenting with different thicknesses of CA for finishes.  I was using paper towels folded as applicators.  I had started out using thick CA and BLO.  It went just fine.  Switched to Med CA and everything went fine.  Last was the thin CA.  It did not go so well.  The thin AC soaked into the paper towel and glued itself to my finger.  This happened while I was applying a little pressure to the blank.  Needless to say it heated itself up very quickly.  All i could do was wait for it to cool down and unglue the papertowel using acetone.  That was the first and last time I used thin CA and papertowels only folded over twice.



Let me add to this.  I did NOT wait till it cooled.  Yanked it right off the finger.  Took the skin off right to the muscle.  

There, I said it.


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## MatthewZS (Nov 14, 2010)

"Hmmm.  I wonder what "Pen Kits" are for?


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## jasontg99 (Nov 14, 2010)

tim self said:


> jasontg99 said:
> 
> 
> > Mine worst mistake was while I was experimenting with different thicknesses of CA for finishes. I was using paper towels folded as applicators. I had started out using thick CA and BLO. It went just fine. Switched to Med CA and everything went fine. Last was the thin CA. It did not go so well. The thin AC soaked into the paper towel and glued itself to my finger. This happened while I was applying a little pressure to the blank. Needless to say it heated itself up very quickly. All i could do was wait for it to cool down and unglue the papertowel using acetone. That was the first and last time I used thin CA and papertowels only folded over twice.
> ...


 
That was my first instinct.  Luckily I did not react on instinct.  There was some yelling and expletives being thrown around though!  :curse:


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## LEAP (Nov 14, 2010)

First mistake when learning pen turning was putting my bushings in one of those compartmented tackle boxes. A chip covered floor with lots of small corners and hiding spaces and  a box full of bushings don't mix well. Took me hours to find them all and sort em out.


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## bitshird (Nov 14, 2010)

Cutting off a finger and a half. I think that was pretty dumb..


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## randywa (Nov 14, 2010)

My brother says they are not mistakes, just graphic learning opportunities. I learned to not wear cotton knit gloves while using the drill press.


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## angboy (Nov 14, 2010)

My dumbest move would have to be when I spilled thick CA into the palm of my hand. I knew I was going to have to use acetone to get it off but standing there waiting for it to dry/harden so I could begin using the acetone was too much for my patience. So I came up with the brilliant idea to spray it with accelerant- that makes CA harden fast right? Well yep, it does- right after it sizzles and burns your hand and there's nothing you can do to stop that process...


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## TomW (Nov 14, 2010)

Super Glued my wife's hands (both of them) to the workbench....Initially I thought it was funny...learned better quickly...


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## randywa (Nov 14, 2010)

Tom, did you let her loose, or hire it done?


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## ericw95 (Nov 14, 2010)

Marriage - kids - Oh wait you wanted my mistakes.

Holding the blink with a bare hand, putting my first Gent together backwards.


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## snyiper (Nov 15, 2010)

Lets see The 2 "Best" were sharpening something on a grinder while wearing a polyester shirt....Yea after I peeled the melted shirt off it went in the trash.

Table top drill press (see where this is going) didnt take out the chuck key when turning on drill ....yea that left a mark on the old noggin!!!


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## KenBrasier (Nov 15, 2010)

This has been an interesting and disturbing thread..... Way too ofter I've thought *"been there, done that".*   We are suppose top learn from our mistakes and if they gave a degree in mistakes I would now have a Doctorate In Mistakes (that's assuming I learned).  I started early, at 12 years old I peeled part of my thumb and thumb nail in an old Craftsmen Jointer, hold it, it wasn't that old (it is now) that was 50 years ago and I'm still learning


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## Frank Nemke sr (Nov 15, 2010)

I've been lucky so far.   After reading the instructions on my very first cigar,I put the center bushing in backwards. I acembled it anyway and use it myself.  Then: doing the same thing on my 2nd one.   I have not made a 3rd


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## BigguyZ (Nov 15, 2010)

Here's my biggest mistake:
http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=58674&highlight=graphic

Having surgery this Thursday to repair the nerve damage (I have full use and no pain, I'm just trying to get some of the touch sensitivity back).


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## RonSchmitt (Nov 15, 2010)

Fixing the broken headband on my face shield and THINKING the CA was dried before I put it back on. (Thats what I get for thinking)


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## Gofer (Nov 15, 2010)

I can think of two right away ... I know I must be a slow learner.

The first and worst ... so far, was using a table saw.  I was building a desk for a teacher in a small town in Bosnia on my last tour.  I had pulled about 8 - 9 hours of flight time that day and was tired, I was using a crappy little bench top saw that had seen better days.  I had just finished cutting out the parts for the drawers (last part of the desk) shut the saw off and then went to get rid of the cutoffs when my hand came across the saw and the end of my right index finger hit the blade.  End of tour, time to come home.

The second one had the most potential for damage. I was showing a friend how to use his very old rockwell lathe, and scroll chuck.  he told me that he had tightened it up, so I made sure the tail stock was secure and was in good contact with the wood.  Stupid me didn't check the chuck, I turned on the lathe and a chunk of Juniper flew out of the lathe in a heart beat.  It came straight at my head, how I managed to move fast enough I will never know.  The log (2 -3' in dia by about 18' long) took my faceshield off my head and left a small scratch on the top of my head.  the faceshield was destroyed and there was a large dent in the wall behind me.

Bruce


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## moke (Nov 15, 2010)

Just my latest mistake...
I ordered a Saw Stop, then told my wife I wanted another Lathe for buffing-----
I should get off the crutches in a couple weeks!!
Moke


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## snyiper (Nov 16, 2010)

Moke sometime it is better to ask forgivness than permission. At least you can use the new toys while healing....LOL


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## RichW (Nov 16, 2010)

As I read this thread, I kept thinking "I've done that," so I started counting. Quit when I got to five. Now I'm depressed.


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## GoodTurns (Nov 16, 2010)

thread is like a car wreck, you want to stop looking, but have to keep coming back!


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## fotographik (Nov 16, 2010)

I had just finished turning a couple of pens and decided to turn a wine bottle stopper. The mandrel was held in a Jacobs chuck but I forgot to put in the drawbar. What had to happen well...happened....the chuck eventually came flying out and away from the headstock and caught me right in the hand (nothing broken but I had a nice bruise to show for it). That's what you get when turning in the middle of the night!!!


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## medemt (Nov 16, 2010)

I've made so many, I can't remember #1


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## aggromere (Nov 16, 2010)

I have a new one.  "A place for everything, and everything is something elses place"  I have looked high and low through my workshop and my laundry room(where is store glue) and can't find a large bottle of Medium CA. I just had it yesterday, lol.


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## Hturnings (Nov 16, 2010)

Not pen turning but dumb none the less.  I bought a dryer and it came with the cord unattached.  I thought I don't want to attach this and not have it fit, why don't I plug it in the wall to make sure it fits before I attach this 220 cord to the dryer. he he he.  I had the cord draped around my arm and I plugged it in.  Blew the fuse, burnt the hair off my arm, welded the bare wires of the cord together.  Wife yelled wondering he turned off the power and I thought "self that was extremely stupid and you can't blame it on alcohol."


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## David M (Nov 16, 2010)

sorry to say but i have been very lucky. i gess my worse one is the one comming .


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## sbwertz (Nov 16, 2010)

aggromere said:


> I have a new one. "A place for everything, and everything is something elses place" I have looked high and low through my workshop and my laundry room(where is store glue) and can't find a large bottle of Medium CA. I just had it yesterday, lol.


 
The house ate it.  Mine does that ALL the time.


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## Padre (Nov 16, 2010)

About 2 years ago, after dinner one night, I decided to cut up a 10 foot 16/4 board of cherry into  bowl sized turning blanks.  I cut the wood with my circular saw into  16” lengths, then started cutting the 16” lengths on my bandsaw.  I have  on my 1” rake tooth blade, so I’m all set.


   	Put the first 16” on the bandsaw, cut in half like butter.  Rounded  both sides off.  I then measured the true thickness and it was 5” not  4”.  SOOOOOO, I said to myself, “Self, just resaw the bowl blank to 4”  and you have a 1” piece for a plate to match.” 



Uh oh.  I put the almost  round blank up against my re-saw fence, put it up to the blade and  ZINGO, that very heavy piece of cherry bounced off my  chin/cheek/mouth/nose in about 1 nanosecond.  I used to box and I never took a right as bad as this one hit.


I stood there for a second, dazed, wondering what the heck had  happened.  Then I felt some warm stuff on my mouth, nose and face, and I  came inside.  Looked in the morror.  Ouch.  It had put my teeth through  my bottom lip on the right hand side. 



It cut my upper lip inside and  out and caused my nose to bleed.  No loose teeth though!   I’m  bleeding like a stuck pig, so I grabbed a towel, headed out the door,  and went to the ER.  There I met a most gorgeous Physicians Assistant  who stitched me up.  She found a nice cherry splinter inside the  laceration and in my mustache!    When she went to inject the  lidocaine, it squirted right through my lip from the outside to the  inside.  Man, that stuff tastes really bad.


Patched me up, sent me on my way, and gave me a script for  antibiotics.  I throbbed but it was a good reminder of how stupid I  was.


   	Needless to say I won’t be doing any re-sawing of a round bowl blank ever again.


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## Pens By Scott (Nov 24, 2010)

Ripping some 1/4 plywood, having it kick back right at my stomach....  5 days before the big vacation to Florida...  The bruise looked a lot like a purple and green Rorschach Diagram, stunning on the beach, with my pasty white office worker skin...


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## Dave_M (Nov 24, 2010)

How about grabbing a razor sharp oily drill bit stuck in a piece of tru-stone with my bare hand and attempting to rip it free.  Norseman bits are extremely sharp.  Oil soaked razor sharp object is not what you want to be yanking on with your bare hands.  A combination of late night frustration and much too tired to be working with power tools.  Almost sliced my thumb off at the knuckle.  It took 10 stitches and several days in the hospital on IV antibiotics to keep my thumb.  Factoring in all my costs associated with that pen... most expensive pen I ever made.  

Then there was the time some thin CA splashed on my lips and glued them together.


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## areaman (Nov 25, 2010)

I like many have said, have made almost all the mistakes above at one time or another. the worst was when I had a rather large uneven blank come out of the lathe and almost knock me completely out. My wife happened to be there and caught me on my way to the floor. Since then I try to round things off with the bandsaw first. but at that time I didn't have one.


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## ctubbs (Nov 25, 2010)

aggromere said:


> I have a new one.  "A place for everything, and everything is something elses place"  I have looked high and low through my workshop and my laundry room(where is store glue) and can't find a large bottle of Medium CA. I just had it yesterday, lol.



Check the post Shop Visitor,  the mice ate it.

I hate this thread.  I just can not leave it!  Way too many of these oh-ohs are mine also.  I guess that I am very lucky to be still breathing and in possession of all ten fingers.  Don't you just love confession?:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:
Charles


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