Work is fantastically more fun and enjoyable when things are square..........

Mark Rios

Member
Messages
797
Location
Central CA
I've been faceframing my cabinet carcasses for the last couple of days and I"m soooooooooooooooooooooooooo happy. By taking ALL of the itme that I've taken to get my miter saw perfectly square, my faceframes go together square without a thought.

My biggest cabinet/faceframe is 54" x 42" (an upper). I attached the intermediate stiles to the top rail and then put on the bottom rail. Because the ends of the rails are perfectly (as far as I can get them) square, they are exactly in the right distance from the outer stiles. I double check with my tape of course and then clamp them and put in the screws and glue. When I lay the last piece in place and attach it, the other outer stile,both the top and bottom rail are right at the ends, just where they are supposed to be. When I cross measure to check for square, it ws only off by less than 1/32", less than 1/64" in each direction. All of the others have come out equally as well.

I'm not a great woodworking cabinet maker, more of a hack trying to get by, so when my faceframes are square I know that when I hang the cabinets I won't have any alignment problems. The bottoms come out flush with each other, my stiles meet without gaps, my doors hang effortlessly and I"m very happy with the job when I'm done. I take a long time getting them done but I'd rather be satisfied with my workmanship when I'm done than save a litle time even if I make less money. I'm just a bonehead hack but I've never had a call back or anyone been anything but very happy when I get paid. When I see that my customers are excited to use their new kitchen, bath, deck, closet shelves, door knob, fan or whatever, I feel satisfied that I did a good job. That is what makes the agonizing over the little things worth it for me. That's why I like what I do.

Anyway, enough of my feelings. Thanks to all for putting up with me through my saw alignment ordeal and for your help and advice.
 
I TRULY understand your elation, 'cause it's SOOOOOOOOOO Nice when things come together as planned, and well TUNED Tools sure speed up reaching that Climax, (and eliminate a TON of Frustration in the process Too). Any "Time Spent" tuning up tools is worth the effort many times over, and it's especially nice when the tools are of a quality that will "Hold" that tuneup for a long time.:thumb:
 
Isn't accuracy fun? :D I love it when two pieces mate up exactly right. (The Incra on my TS has spoiled me.) I know woodworking doesn't necessarily have to be down to a machinist's level of accuracy, but it's nice when you get there anyway.
 
I totally understand how you feel. Last desk I made i took a lot of time paying attention to details. Then when the crucial glue-up came I lapsed into ADS. The whole thing was out. :eek: The only fix was to make the drawers out of square. The final piece came out fine but... When everything is square you have a feeling you're walking on air.
 
Mark,

You have reached woodworking nirvana by getting square, not being square. :D

Congratulations.

I think I might invest a little more time this weekend to alignment issues.
 
Yea, I usually tell myself that accuracy is overrated and something "truly square" is just a myth... until I actually get it right. Tis' nice isn't it? I have a love/hate relationship with my square.
 
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