Best/Worst Woodworking Advice

[prov163]

What is the best woodworking advice you ever got?  The worst?

I'll start:

Best advice - "The only reason I'm a better woodworker than you is because I do more of it" - Jim Heavey   It reminded me that in all skills you improve in direct relation to how much time you spend honing them. 

Worst advice - "The 12'x24' building will be plenty big enough."  LOL

[Llama]

Worst advice: Trust the things that wood magazines print. They are experts, and are always right.

Best advice: Learn to think for yourself. 

[Eric.]

Best advice:

"This is real woodworking.  Nothing ever works out perfectly, and anyone who tells you otherwise...is lying."  - Spags

Worst advice:

"Buy Grizzly."  - people who I'd like to punch in the face

[Ronn W]

2nd best: Make sample boards using a new type of finish or when you aren't sure about the finish you want.

Best:  Think about every movement you make when blade machine is on.

Can't think of a worst.

[trialbyfire]

Best: following the link to here from thewoodwhisperer.com

Worst: F&%$ it, cut it and let's get this s#$% done, it's hot out here.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[Guest]

Worst advice: "you don't need a jointer".  I can't tell you how many clueless numbskulls have told me that.  Woodworking became enjoyable the day I bought a jointer.  

 

[JosephThomas]

Worst:  "You could just stain it. Not much work, would save a ton of money."

Best: "Buy what you can afford, but only if you need it for a project. Then go make stuff"

1 hour ago, Eric. said:

Best advice:

"This is real woodworking.  Nothing ever works out perfectly, and anyone who tells you otherwise...is lying."  - Spags

Worst advice:

"Buy Grizzly."  - people who I'd like to punch in the face

Pretty sure that's your own quote from 5 years in the past

[Eric.]

3 minutes ago, JosephThomas said:

 

Pretty sure that's your own quote from 5 years in the past

Oh, yeah. LOL

[..Kev]

Best Advice: 2 are tied for my top spot

Buy once, cry once - Author Unknown

Never buy anything Harbor Freight with a motor - Anyone who's ever owned them

Worst Advice:

You have all the tools you need, this won't be expensive - My wife

[Woodenskye]

Best advice: there are no screw ups just learning opportunities. 

Worst advice: wood filler fixes bad joinery. 

[JosephThomas]

Just now, TIODS said:

Best Advice: 2 are tied for my top spot

Buy once, cry once - Author Unknown

Never buy anything Harbor Freight with a motor - Anyone who's ever owned them

Worst Advice:

You have all the tools you need, this won't be expensive - My wife

Lol nice.  Honestly the first one is a mixed bag for me.  I have done that with other hobbies and regretted it because I didn't continue with the hobby for more than a couple years, so I never pass that kind of advice on to people who are new to any hobby...especially not one like this where the initial outlay ranges from the thousands to tens of thousands.

[bleedinblue]

Worst advice:  Pocket hole EVERYTHING.  -Ana White 

*runner up is "measure twice cut once," just because it is so cliche it's annoying.

Best advice:  Make a part of each project something new, something you haven't done before. 

[Unknown craftsman]

Best advise: Measure twice cut once

Worst advise: Just add more screws and glue.

Funny saying is I cut it twice and it's still too short.

 

Aj

[krtwood]

Best advice: Be safe, have fun, stay dirty.  - Eric the Car Guy (while wearing latex gloves)

Worst advice: You can never have enough clamps. - Norm

 

[JohnDi]

Best advice: mill extra stock to make set ups.

[tag]

Best advice: Always wear safety glasses

Worst advice: "You don't need a planner just buy BORG wood. " The now ex-wife.

[Isaac]

This is kind of a paraphrase but best advice

"you can't use a tool safely if you don't understand how it works"

[gee-dub]

Best advice not followed quite soon enough: "Dust collection is the FIRST consideration when setting up your shop".

There's so much poor advice on the internet it is hard to choose but, a compound miter saw proved to be the most useless investment this side of a biscuit joiner I have ever been told that I "need".

Oh, and my favorite: "I been using a table saw fer forty years and ain't never needed a guard".

Old-timers and experienced hands that don't over-emphasize safety to newbies are just plain irresponsible IMHO.

 

[bradpotts]

Best advice: If you are about to make a cut and something doesn't feel right, stop and think of another way to do it.

Worst advice: run that piece of wood through the table saw in the opposite direction with if on. (Middle school shop class, and we actually tried it when the teacher was gone. Thank god we didn't kill anyone)

[mat60]

1 minute ago, bradpotts said:

 

Worst advice: run that piece of wood through the table saw in the opposite direction with if on. (Middle school shop class, and we actually tried it when the teacher was gone. Thank god we didn't kill anyone)

Did you try it with the blade on backwards..LOL

[Cliff]

9 hours ago, Eric. said:

Best advice:

"This is real woodworking.  Nothing ever works out perfectly, and anyone who tells you otherwise...is lying."  - Spags

Worst advice:

"Buy Grizzly."  - people who I'd like to punch in the face

Best advice:

"This jointer sucks, you shouldn't buy it." - Eric

Worst:

"You have nothing else, you should buy this jointer" - Myself.

[mat60]

Best advice: Get a SawStop..Everyone here.    Worst:  Saying that you dont want one on the forum: Myself

[Andy Wright]

Best recent advice: "Build what makes you happy and don't worry about what people on the internet think" - Jimmy Diresta

[prov163]

1 hour ago, gee-dub said:

Best advice not followed quite soon enough: "Dust collection is the FIRST consideration when setting up your shop".

There's so much poor advice on the internet it is hard to choose but, a compound miter saw proved to be the most useless investment this side of a biscuit joiner I have ever been told that I "need".

Oh, and my favorite: "I been using a table saw fer forty years and ain't never needed a guard".

Old-timers and experienced hands that don't over-emphasize safety to newbies are just plain irresponsible IMHO.

 

gee-dub, I'm seriously thinking of taking my SCMS out of my flow.  I only use it for crosscutting and merely as a convenience.  It takes up an inordinate amount of space and again, I only use it for one operation.  How did it work out for you?  Are you using hand saws and a shooting board, or that NASA engineered table saw sled?

[gee-dub]

32 minutes ago, prov163 said:

gee-dub, I'm seriously thinking of taking my SCMS out of my flow.  I only use it for crosscutting and merely as a convenience.  It takes up an inordinate amount of space and again, I only use it for one operation.  How did it work out for you?  Are you using hand saws and a shooting board, or that NASA engineered table saw sled?

Threadjack!

" It takes up an inordinate amount of space"  <=== BINGO.

First, I am not preaching that the folks who praise the CSM or RAS (or three of each) are wrong.  The tools and methods that work for you are "the best" for you.  I'm sure I do a lot of things in ways that some others would find tiresome while still others would consider shortcuts .

For me, the CMS. SCMS or RAS take up too much real estate for the return.  I breakdown lumber with an old Porter Cable 314 or a jigsaw for thicker stock.  Once boards are of a manageable size I use the tablesaw. For items requiring fine tuning I have a shooting board.

The value of any tool is based on what it does for you.  I found that the things I make and the way I work got very little benefit from dedicated crosscutting tools.  Someone who trims out houses would be hard pressed to put a compound angle on a 12 foot piece of crown using a tablesaw.  The right tool for one operation isn't always the best tool for that operation under different circumstances.