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Bloopers Hey, we all make mistakes. They happen. This page is devoted to sharing some of those mistakes to show that we're all human, and to possibly suggest a course of action to avoid them in the future. Some lessons are learned the hard way, but perhaps we can make the way less hard, or at least allow you to keep your sense of humor. Click on any of the thumbnails below for a more detailed photo. |
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OK,
OK, I'll start. Here's a picture of a Progression Tempered Puukko
blade that I mounted in a gorgeous spalted maple burl handle.
Unfortunately, I lost track of where the tang hole was drilled and
sanded straight through to the epoxy, exposing the imbedded blade.
Aaaargh. To see the rest of the actual tutorial, click HERE
Lesson: keep track of where and how deep you tang holes are drilled!
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Here's another. I was adding aluminum bolsters with brass pins ( for a little contrast) to a beautiful Damascus blank I had purchased. I peened the pins checking often for tightness. Despite the fact that the pins were tight, I decided to give it one more whack. Aaaaaargh. I went too far and split the bolster. Lesson: Know when to quit |
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I've
done this a few times myself: the corby bolt looks pretty good and tight
but you decide to give it one more turn. Snap! This one isn't too bad, but
I've had the shaft of the corby bolt trapped in the handle once or twice.
Your only option if this happens is to very carefully and painstakingly
drill it out. Yes, it's a pain. Sometimes an occasional swear word is therapeutic.
Lesson: Again, know when to quit. |
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Safety isn't for humans only. Make sure your workshop is clear of family pets while running power tools . When I started up my table saw, I didn't notice that the family cat was asleep on a high shelf above. The noise startled her her and she jumped down onto the spinning blade. Yeow! Besides being traumatic, this cost me over $600 bucks in vet bills. Sigh. Very unhappy kitty. |
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A customer who wishes to remain anonymous sent this picture in. He was so concerned in clamping the guard in place to hold the blade tightly together to the handle block, that he neglected to notice the gap between the blade shoulder and the handle--until the epoxy cured and he took off the clamps. | |
| What's wrong with this picture? Despite my rantings about the importance of safety in the workshop, I get sloppy and lazy myself sometimes. One night I was in a hurry to epoxy a hidden tang blade into one half of the handle and clamped it down to the workbench while waiting for the epoxy to cure----and didn't notice that I left the blade hanging out! See the problem? The next morning, I wasn't looking when I walked past it. I was lucky and only ripped my shirt---it could have been a whole lot worse! |  |
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I was in a little bit of a hurry to get a knife and sheath done for a present. I started to wet form the sheath but didn't want to wait for it to dry overnight. I thought that throwing in in the microwave would speed the process. Wrong! This is what happens. Instead of saving time, I had to wait another week and a half to get a new sheath. | |
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