8 Woodworking Lessons Learned the Hard Way

So… what have you learned the hard way? Bill Huber asked his buddies over at SawmillCreek and got over 60 responses! There are some SCARY answers over there, and some that will get you in trouble if you read them at work because you’ll probably end up laughing out loud.

I read through all of them and took out the top 8 lessons that I think will be most useful to woodworkers everywhere… Especially #8 :)

1) When using little brass screws…

You have to pre-drill as deep as the screw in hardwood and you better use bees wax on them and then you don’t tighten them like they were a 5/16th bolt or…. they snap right off.
-Bill Huber

2) What I have learned the hard way is to make sure your collet is real tight on the router. I was making box joints for the first time a few months ago, first bunch fit like a dream….then gaps started developing. Huh? Ohhh, the fingers are getting longer. The up-spirial bit was slowing creeping up on each cut.
-Dave Watkins

3) it’s only wood, and it does grow on trees….don’t beat yourself up over mistakes
-scott spencer

4) Use zero clearance inserts on the TS. I have a permanent lump on one finger from some splinters shooting back that’s like a sticky note reminder.
-Doug Shepard

5) Don’t try to trim even the slightest amount of material off in the router table doing a pull cut w/o ample feather boards and a big push block.
– Bill Wyko

6) The Delta mobile base for the Unisaw doesn’t fit the Delta Hybrid Tablesaw.
– Jesse Espe

7) Don’t assume that someone elses description of a used tool is as the same as yours would be, or up to your standards…Ask specific questions before buying. Not that someone is necessarily trying to rip you off, but they may just have a different perception of “accurate”, ” great condition”, “good user” etc.
– Sean Kinn

8) If you tell your wife you ran into an old girl freind at the store and your wife asks how did she look…….lie.
– Mike Seals

So, woodworkers… what did YOU learn the hard way? Leave your lessons in the comments on this post!

There are many many more stories over at SawmillCreek: So what did you learn the HARD way…