I was cutting laminate with the good side down for a solid year.

A client in Boise finally asked why I was scoring the back of the planks, and I had to stare at my saw for a full minute. I guess I just copied the guy who trained me and never questioned it. Anyone else have a 'well, that was dumb' moment with a basic tool?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_sean3mo ago

Been there, done that with a drill chuck key.

nathan8511mo ago

The drill chuck key thing is actually a little different though... you're not really supposed to leave it in the chuck after tightening, that's just asking for it to fly out when you start the drill. If you mean bending the key to fit a worn out chuck, I get that, but that's a workaround not a fix. A bent fence is a whole different problem because it's messing up your cuts in a way that no amount of technique can fix. Sounds like your old boss was just making do with what he had, but passing that habit on without explaining why is how bad practices get spread around.

james_martin933mo ago

My old boss in Phoenix drilled it into my head to always keep the factory edge against the fence when ripping plywood. Took me three years and a ton of chipped edges to realize he only did that because his fence was bent. I was copying a fix for a problem I didn't even have.