Stupidity in the Shop
I was working on my long “Honey-Do” list this morning. The joints on one of our dining room chairs had broken loose from the kids leaning back on them. Do your kids do that? Anyway, I lugged it to the shop and discovered that one of the corner braces had broken out.
I found a piece of maple to make a replacement brace. I quickly discovered that the blade in my table saw was in no condition to cut maple. As I tried to cut one of the angled ends, I had burning on the workpiece. But, instead of taking the time to switch out blades, I forced the piece through to finish the cut. Stupid Act No. 1. Soon my shop was filled with smoke. My wife came out into the shop and asked, “What in the world are you doing?” I told here I was cutting hard wood with a dull blade. “You need some ventilation,” she said. So I opened the doors to the outside.
I finally had this piece cut and it was time to drill the four pocket holes for the screws. So I chucked the appropriate-sized drill bit in the drill press and started drilling. The first pocket hole went fine. As I was drilling the second one, my 11-year old boy walks in and asks, “Whatcha’ doin’?” About that time, the drill bit grabbed the workpiece and made hamburger out of the index finger on my left hand. I replied, “Well, I’m breaking a cardinal rule of woodworking,” I told him. “Always clamp the workpiece when using the drill press.” Stupid Act No. 2.
So I managed to get my wife to help me bandage my wound. I eventually made it back to the shop and finished the job. I delivered the repaired chair back to the dining room. And took a nap.
Now, I know better than this. I fell into the trap of thinking, “This won’t take long.” I was in a hurry even though I had nothing else on the agenda for the day. Was it stupidity? Laziness? Bottom line is that neither one belongs in the shop.