Cutting the wrong side of a dovetail on a walnut dresser

I was in my garage shop about two years ago, working on a dresser for a client in Charlotte. I had marked the pins on the first drawer front, but I got distracted and cut the tails on the wrong side of the line. I had to glue in a new piece of walnut, re-plane it down, and start the whole layout over. It added almost a full day to the job. Has anyone else had a major layout brain-fart like that on a nice piece of wood?

3 comments

3 Comments

grant.olivia1d ago

Oh man, that's the worst kind of mistake. You stare at it for a solid minute hoping the wood will magically grow back. I once cut a whole set of cabinet door panels to the wrong width because I read the tape measure upside down. Had that "oh no" feeling in my stomach when I tried to dry fit them. Spent the rest of the night at the lumber yard hoping they had more of the same maple batch.

hernandez.stella1d ago

Honestly reading the tape measure upside down is a special kind of talent. Tbh I'd probably just stare at the wrong panels and pretend that was the design all along.

cameron_flores1d ago

Ever think you could just will the wood back together?