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?

5 comments

5 Comments

grant.olivia1mo 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.stella1mo 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_flores1mo ago

Ever think you could just will the wood back together?

beth_park15d ago

Did you actually try to fix it or just scrap the whole project?

fiona_kim9715d ago

Been there, done that, got the sawdust in my hair. I once cut all the mortises for a table base on the wrong faces because I flipped the leg in my head. Had to plug them with matching oak and start over, which felt like a total waste of a Saturday. That sinking feeling when you realize your mistake is the absolute worst. It's like your brain just takes a coffee break without telling you.