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Peeps,
I'm increasingly conscious that some persons may have an exaggerated view of my woodworking ability. To make sure you know what you're dealing with here , I offer up this little cautionary tale.
As work progresses slowly on the Music Stand of Myth and Legend [TM], I decided to speed up one task. I had the 6mm MDF template made to mark out, and rough shape, the three legs . Hmm, I thought, bearing guided router cutter and I can have these done in a brace of shakes. I chose the Power Devil as weapon of choice 'cos you can see the cutter well, and it's handier for this sort of thing. Stuck the template to the blank with double-sided tape, and the blank to the sacrifical board similarly.
First snag. The cutter's too long for the 3/4" thick cherry. No problem, I'll save even more time by sticking two blanks together under the template, and get one and a half edges done in one go. Simple. So I prise up the blank from the board and stick it to another blank which I then stick down as before. I did not change the double-sided... Get the picture? It's a sandwich, from the bottom up, of sacrifical work board, double-sided tape, cherry blank, re-used double-sided tape, cherry blank, double-sided tape, MDF template. Watch carefully. Round and round and round they go...
As I progressed around the template, I gradually became aware that there seemed to be more cherry to remove from the lower blank than I'd expected. I stopped the router and looked in horror. The upper blank and template were firmly stuck together but they had slipped sideways off the lower blank because the re-used tape hadn't held firmly enough. I had ruined the second leg blank. B*gg*r.
I gritted my teeth and finished the top leg. Turned it over to see a blemish/weak area in the wood that I thought I'd avoided when marking up the blanks. Two blanks no good. Double B*gg*r.
Okay, not to worry. I'd allowed for problems. Everything's under control. I cut out two more blanks.
The third blank, I stuck the template on with fresh double-sided and clamped the blank so it hung over the edge of the sacrificial board. Can't do the whole thing without re-clamping, but I was being extra, extra careful now. All went well until I came within a couple of inches of the finish. The Bl**dy P*w*r D*v*l plunge lock failed. The cutter went up, the bearing no longer bore on the template. Result: Trashed template and the third ruined blank.
The evidence.
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B*gg*r, b*gg*r, b*gg*r
I toyed with the idea of throwing the Power Devil at the wall, but the way things were going I reckoned there was a good chance it would bounce, but it'd break something else instead.
Okay. So I know how to take a hint. I just managed to squeeze out a sixth and final blank form my stock. This was it. Three blanks for three legs.
I did what I should have done from the start. I got out a wooden spokeshave and a scraper and did 'em by hand. All done and dusted, no probs.
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