Used to swear by my Kreg jig for face frames because it was fast, but after a job in Austin where three frames started pulling apart within 6 months, I switched back to mortise and tenon last year. Am I the only one who thinks pocket screws are overrated for anything besides quick utility work?
He showed me how he cuts them freehand with just a marking gauge and a sharp chisel, no layout lines or jigs at all, and it came out cleaner than my carefully marked ones. Has anyone else gone back to simpler methods after overcomplicating things for years?
Bought the TS 55 last month. Followed all the setup videos, got the splinter guard, zero clearance insert. Still getting chipout on the back side. Tried scoring passes, different blades, even called the supplier. What am I missing here? Has anyone else had this issue with melamine?
I was building a stack of upper cabinets in my shop in Denver last month and kept getting twist in the boxes. Tried shimming, tried my panel clamps, nothing was holding them square while the glue dried. Finally I just screwed a scrap 2x4 diagonally across the back corners and that locked everything flat. Feels like cheating but it worked perfect on all 6 boxes. Anyone else do something janky like this that turned out to be a pro move?
Been building face frames with pocket screws for like 5 years. Tried dowels last month on a kitchen job in Nashville just to see what the fuss was about. No joke the alignment is way better and I don't have to fill those little holes anymore. Took me an extra 20 minutes per cabinet but the finish looks cleaner. Anyone else made the switch and stuck with it?
Last week at a shop tour in St. Louis, the owner said I was wasting time hand-raising panels on the shaper, but his CNC doors had zero character - so which side are you on and why?
Had a client in Richmond cancel a whole kitchen job after I'd already cut all the face frames and drawer boxes... turned out their financing fell through and they had to back out. Lost about $1,400 in materials and two full days of work because I hadn't taken a deposit yet. Has anyone else had a big job fall through like that and how do you protect yourself now?
Had a client who wanted a living room built-in and couldn't decide between cherry and maple. Cherry costs more and can darken over time, maple stays lighter and is easier to match. I pushed for cherry because the room had this big south facing window. Three months after install the color started warming up and the client texted me a picture saying it looks better every week. Has anyone else had a project where the wood choice just clicked?
Last month I had 5 kitchen jobs in a row where every door gap was spot on 1/16". Then this week I spent 3 days fighting warp on a set of shaker doors for a client in Portland. Anyone else get streaks like this where your shop humidity just ruins everything for a while?
I had a old timer tell me last month that sanding between every coat of polyurethane is a waste of time and just causes dust nibs, so I tried skipping it on a set of oak kitchen cabinets I just finished. Honestly, the final coat looked smoother and had fewer imperfections than when I used to sand with 320 grit between each layer. Do you guys sand between coats or just rely on proper brushing technique?
I was working on a custom kitchen in Boise and this homeowner kept hovering while I was fitting soft-close slides on a spice rack. He snapped at me for not using the brand he bought and said I was ruining his cabinets because I trimmed a 1/4 inch off the back of the slide. Has anyone else dealt with a client who thinks they know more about installation than you do?
Picked up a used drum sander from a closed shop in Spokane for $400. Looked fine but the drum was way out of true. First pass on some maple plywood left a wavy mess. Sanded through the veneer on one corner. Took me two hours to figure out the drum needed rebalancing. Spent another $60 on new abrasive strips and balancing kit. Now it runs smooth but taught me to check used gear more carefully. Anyone else got burned by a shop closing sale?
I was barely putting any pressure on it, just a light tap from my mallet, and the blade just cracked at the handle on an oak tenon for a library bookcase I'm building in Springfield, has anyone else had a decent brand chisel fail like that out of nowhere?
I built a big miter saw station back in September using standard 3/4 plywood and it started bowing near the sliding portion within 3 months... pretty sure the humidity swings in my garage did it. I see all these fancy builds online but nobody mentions how much the environment can mess with things. Anyone deal with that and find a fix that doesn't mean tearing the whole thing down?
Six months later the pocket hole drawers were starting to wobble while the dado ones were still rock solid, anyone else had that happen with larger jobs?
Last month I lost a whole row of face frames when a glue block let go on a job in Tacoma. My buddy Dave told me to try pocket screws and I fought him on it for years, but after that mess I gave in. Anyone else find that glue blocks just don't hold up in damp climates like the PNW?
I walked into Johnson's Custom Cabinets down on 5th Street last week and nearly tripped over a CNC router where they used to have three old table saws. The owner said they ditched all the hand joinery for prefinished plywood boxes and laser-cut dovetails. Anyone else feel like the craft got a little lost somewhere between the dust collectors and the computer screens?
Honestly, the beadlock jig would've been cheaper but the Domino saved me about 4 hours on this kitchen remodel I did in Austin last month. Anyone else find that the speed tradeoff is worth the extra cash for production work?
I was building a set of kitchen drawers last week, all 3/4 inch maple plywood boxes. Got them all assembled and installed the undermount slides. First drawer worked fine. Second one stuck about halfway in. Thought it was the slide alignment, so I adjusted it a dozen times. Still binding. Then I checked the drawer box itself, and realized one side was 1/16 inch wider than the other. That tiny difference was enough to make the slide bind up. Ended up having to take the drawer apart and redo the box joints. I dovetail them on a jig, and I must have had the workpiece off by a hair. Total time wasted was a solid 3 hours. Has anyone else had a small measurement error snowball into a huge headache like this?
I was grabbing some maple for a kitchen job and this retired cabinetmaker in his 80s saw me grab 80 grit. He said stop using anything below 120 on hardwoods unless you like creating more work. Said he learned that in 1962 building kitchen cabinets for a hotel downtown. I tried it on a test piece and he was right - I was spending twice as long trying to remove those deep scratches. Anyone else ever get a tip from a stranger that just stuck with you?
Bought a batch of undermount slides marked as 22-inch but they were actually 21-inch and now I gotta redo three drawers from last weekend. Anyone else run into bait-and-switch labeling at big box stores?
Guy named Pete with 40 years in the biz said never pre-finish the insides of cabinet boxes. Said it traps moisture and causes warping over time. I work in Denver where it's dry as hell so I figured he was wrong. Pre-finished a whole kitchen last month and now three doors are showing gaps. Pete's phone is disconnected so I can't even call him. Anyone else run into this debate with experienced guys?
Did a big built-in job last month with a ton of dados. Started with my usual 1/4 inch shank bit. Got some chatter, had to go slow. Halfway through, I switched to a 1/2 inch shank bit on the same router. The cut was way smoother, almost no vibration. Finished the rest of the dados in about half the time. Is the extra cost for the beefier bits actually worth it for daily use, or just for big production runs?
He said it was the only way to get a soft feel that clients love. I followed his advice for years on my own builds. Then a shop in Tacoma showed me their sharp 90 degree edges with a tiny bevel, and it looked way more modern. Now I'm rethinking my whole drawer game. Which style do you guys think holds up better and looks more professional?
I was cutting dados for a walnut bookshelf and one of my dominoes just split the board clean in half, wasted a $80 piece of wood. Anyone else had domino joints fail on them or did I just set the depth wrong?