That time at a custom home in Austin that wrecked my dado setup

Got called to fix some cabinets in a new build. Found out the house had settled 3/8 inch in one corner. My dado stack was off by maybe 1/16. Then I bumped my table saw fence mid-cut. Had to scrap 4 panels of walnut. Now I always check the floor level before I cut anything. Anybody else had a job site throw their measurements off like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

carr.gavin26d ago

That's a pretty big leap to blame the floor for a 1/16 dado issue when you admitted you bumped the fence mid-cut. A 3/8 inch house settlement is normal settling, not exactly a foundation failure. Sounds like the real problem was operator error, not the job site.

patb1224d ago

...though it does remind me of the time I spent a whole afternoon leveling a workbench in my garage and my neighbor came over to tell me the slab he poured in 1974 was still settling. I told him the bubble level said otherwise and he just shrugged and said that's what the crack in his driveway said too. Anyway, I fixed the dado with a shim and a lot of patience, so maybe blame the coffee I spilled on the jointer instead.