freedhardwoods Posted April 14, 2017 Report Share Posted April 14, 2017 It took a whole day to get to this point. The cab and base are all just dry fitted. Nothing glued or sanded yet. I cut some door stiles and then ruined them when they didn't stay flat when running them through the router. I had to remake a half dozen miscut parts. Things are going to have to start going a lot better if this is supposed to resemble a business. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted April 15, 2017 Report Share Posted April 15, 2017 Sorry to hear your troubles, Freed. Might be a rocky start, but I'm sure you will work the kinks out quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted April 15, 2017 Report Share Posted April 15, 2017 Are you ready to hear the wise words? Patience grasshopper! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted April 15, 2017 Report Share Posted April 15, 2017 How did you attack this project? Shop drawings for each size cabinet you plan on making. Game plan, list out the steps. Most importantly, remember that stuff happens. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted April 15, 2017 Report Share Posted April 15, 2017 Will be slow until you find your flow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted April 15, 2017 Report Share Posted April 15, 2017 Like any other business, it doesn't take too many screw ups to take the profit out of a project. The old saying, that measure twice has some substance to it. May your next project be flawless! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted April 15, 2017 Report Share Posted April 15, 2017 Good luck ! It ain't easy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freedhardwoods Posted April 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2017 I did have a fairly detailed shop drawing. I didn't mention many of the things that went wrong in my original post. I had 2 table saw and 3 router kickbacks as well as several other less serious incidents. After lots of serious thinking, I am going back to working on the shop and tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted April 16, 2017 Report Share Posted April 16, 2017 Are you making one-off, custom cabinets, or more generic boxes that can be batched? Batching makes the setup time a much smaller % of total, and allows you to put more time & effort into a safe, efficient machine setup. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee-dub Posted April 16, 2017 Report Share Posted April 16, 2017 Take care. When I hear kickback I think of improperly milled lumber or a bad feed path. Be sure your parts are straight and true before feeding them through fixed path machines like a router table or a tablesaw. The tablesaw and a teeter totter piece of wood equals kickback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted April 16, 2017 Report Share Posted April 16, 2017 The kickbacks worry me more than the mistakes. I've been doing this for a living for 43 years, and never had a kickback. I sight every piece before it goes through the table saw, as well as the jointer. If it's not straight, it gets straightened, and I'm still feeling for what's going on as it goes through the saw. The best way to slow down a job is to get in a hurry. The only shortcut is doing every step right as you go along. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted April 16, 2017 Report Share Posted April 16, 2017 Woodworking always seems like a piece of cake watching it from the sidelines. But as soon as you try it for yourself...reality sets in. It's just like anything else...it takes time and practice to get good at it. It happens - usually - but you gotta take your lumps. The number of guys who fall by the wayside because they try to run before they can crawl must be countless. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freedhardwoods Posted April 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2017 The material was straight and flat. The kickbacks had to be bad feeds with lack of featherguards or splitter/knife. My router table has a nice, big top, but it's a royal pain to use. I just didn't realize how user friendly my shop isn't yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee-dub Posted April 17, 2017 Report Share Posted April 17, 2017 It's a process. I have a ton of little doodads and tweaks around my shop that are only suitable because of the way my shop is laid out. You'll end up doing a lot of the same things to your shop and your workflow will get smoother and smoother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freedhardwoods Posted April 23, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2017 I was putting a lot of pressure on myself because I was planning on being done with my shop 3 months ago. I have people (1 dealer & a couple shops way behind on orders) waiting for me to start building cabs. Hopefully, 3 more days of setting up my tools will get me to a point where I can have a reasonably productive day; unlike the day described above. It may take a while to get those 3 days in. I have a busy schedule at work this week. My first kitchen build is for a lifelong friend that has helped me on several things over the years. He pays for materials and I build them. Here is a couple pics of the cabs he is replacing. You can't get a much simpler job than this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post gee-dub Posted April 23, 2017 Popular Post Report Share Posted April 23, 2017 1 hour ago, freedhardwoods said: I was putting a lot of pressure on myself because I was planning on being done with my shop 3 months ago. I have people (1 dealer & a couple shops way behind on orders) waiting for me to start building cabs. I just got caught back up to where I was 2 days ago due to "hurrying". I'll bare my error in a project journal I have going but, I ignored my own saying, "there's no shortcut to anywhere I want to go", and paid the price. Its faster to take a little more time and do it right than to go back and fix it, that's for sure. ;-) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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