That one week where every hinge came out perfect, then Monday hit

Last month I had a run of 12 inset doors on a kitchen reno in Portland and every single hinge cup came out dead on, no shimming needed. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, and sure enough, this week I blew through two 35mm Forstner bits on a cheap plywood job because the grain kept splintering near the edges. The good week made me feel like I finally had my setup dialed in, but now I'm second guessing my drill press speed and whether I should back up the exit side with a scrap block every time. Do you guys get weeks like that where everything lines up, then one bad day makes you rethink your whole process? Or is it just the nature of working with different species and what the lumberyard sends you?

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the_sam2mo ago

Two 35mm bits in one week, that's brutal. I had a similar stretch back in March where I was doing a bunch of cabinet refacing in Beaverton and burned through three different countersink bits on the same damn oak plywood, finally figured out it was the glue line they use now, not my drill. Now I keep a piece of MDF clamped behind every hinge mortise, takes an extra 20 seconds but I haven't splintered since. The good weeks mess with your head more than the bad ones, I swear.

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danielb432mo ago

That MDF trick sounds like overthinking it, bits wear out either way, but good on you for finding a system, @the_sam.

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