Beginner table fustrated


thunder86

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Don't get discouraged. You'll get there! Everyone starts somewhere, and if it was easy enough to just pick up your first project and create a masterpiece, everyone would be doing it... and This site wouldn't exist, and no one would sell books, and videos, and tons of tools to make it easier!   Don't assume your Miter saw is square from the Factory.  I used to have a Craftsman saw that was impossible to get dialed in and stay there. My Dewalt is much better, but still took some tweaking out of the box. Check it with a drafting square as mentioned. I would think you should be able to pull the head down so the teeth are below the table and behind the fence.  Also make sure it's square 90 degrees from the table.   Remember 1/2 a degree off on a cut adds up quickly when building a frame. 

Once you know that is all straight, then when cutting make sure you're not bumping your stop block out of position. ( I had a work stop on my milling machine once making identical parts and didn't notice I neglected to tighten it until all of my parts were different lengths)!  Then as mentioned before check your diagonals when clamping. Also, It took me a few joints the first time I used the Kreg to figure out clamping so parts didn't drift when assembling.  

Just know that what you're trying to do is possible to accomplish, you just need to find out what is throwing you off.

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I believe it was Marc that gave this excellent advice. When you start building a project split it down into multiple sub projects that are small and able to be finished within the time that you have in your shop. When you can go to work and say your done by the end of the day it's a lot easier to stay encouraged. Also focusing small will allow you to devote attention to the small detail needed to keep things square and the same length.

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1 hour ago, KeithSz said:

"I found 10 really bad ways to make chairs before i made some that took a week to eventually break."

 

Chestnut, can I use this? It's a perfect description of my work.

Feel free buddy, i think i stole it form some one anyway. I read somewhere that most quotes today are misquoted, so just say it's from Thomas Edison or something and it'll sound smart.

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