c/carpenters

Two days on a split jamb, still not sure I did it right

I spent 14 hours over two days fighting a prehung door where the jamb split right at the hinge side, and I kept going back and forth between gluing and clamping it versus just replacing the whole unit. The glue and clamp took forever because I had to shim it perfectly first at that old house in Columbus, and honestly the repair might hold, but I keep second guessing if a new jamb would have been worth the $85. Any of you guys ever salvaged a split jamb like that, or do you always rip it out and start fresh?

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the_charles•4d ago

Pocket hole screws vs old school glue and nails, why did nobody tell me sooner

Finally did a face frame with a Kreg jig on Friday, and the joints are so tight I clocked 15 minutes saved per cabinet compared to the way my old boss had me pinning everything with 18 gauge nails and wood glue.

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the_henry•6d ago

Pocket hole jig stripped after 2 cabinet jobs, check your clamps

My old pocket hole jig finally gave up last Thursday, the threads just ate themselves on a walnut face frame in Toledo. Turned out the quick clamp was vibrating loose with the impact driver, so the bit walked and ruined the guide bushing. Replaced it with a $45 kit and now I torque the clamp by hand every time, but honestly the finger tight method costs me an extra 20 seconds per joint. Anyone else switch to a bench mounted version for repeat holes, or do you just baby the plastic clamps?

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betty136•7d ago

Miter saw fence bent after 3 jobs, what's the fix?

Picked up a used Delta miter saw and the fence was out of square by 3 degrees on the second cut. I clamped it straight and worked around it for a week, but it's still bugging me. Any way to true one up without dropping $200 on a new fence?

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phoenix29•11d ago

Master carpenter's level trick saved my crown molding job last Tuesday

I was fighting with crown molding in a 1920s house in Portland and couldn't get the corners to close. Old timer Dave, who's been framing since the 70s, watched me cuss at it for a minute and said 'flip your level upside down and check the ceiling plane first.' He was right, the ceiling dropped almost half an inch across that room. I'd been squaring everything to the floor and the whole top line was off. Anyone else run into walls that aren't plumb even when they look fine?

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phoenix_carter•11d ago

6 years of pocket holes before I figured out the waste side

I've been doing pocket hole joints wrong since I started building cabinets in my garage outside Portland. Always put the jig on the outside face, never thought twice. Then my neighbor who builds decks pointed out my screws were showing through a drawer face I'd routed down to 3/4 inch. Swapped to drilling from the inside face on a test piece of oak and the joint looked way cleaner. Anyone else have a basic technique they just never question until someone calls it out?

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amy154•11d ago

Found out I was sharpening chisels wrong for a decade

Last month a guy on a job in Portland watched me do a few passes and asked why I was honing at such a steep angle. Turns out I had the bevel set like a scraper, so every cut was fighting the wood. Fixed it in 10 minutes and my dovetails finally look clean. Anyone else learn a basic move this late?

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mila_perry13•12d ago

That tip about scribing with a cheap washer changed my game

Last week I was fitting a cabinet against a wall that was way out of square, looked like a funhouse mirror. I was about to bust out the contour gauge when my buddy Wes, who does trim work, told me to just tape a big flat washer to my pencil and run it along the wall. The washer keeps the pencil tip at a constant gap, so you get a perfect parallel line without any special tools. I tried it on this stubborn baseboard corner in a 1920s house downtown, and it took me one pass instead of the usual three with my crappy old scribing tool. Cost me like 40 cents for a pack of washers versus the $25 gauge I was eyeing. Anyone else got a dumb simple trick that makes up for not owning fancy jigs? I swear half this trade is just knowing which junk in your truck can do double duty.

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the_lee•12d ago

That time I trusted a laser level from 2009 and it cost me a full Saturday

Last month I was setting up some kitchen cabinets for a client over in Medford, and I pulled out my old laser level that I've had since I first got into the trade about 3 years ago. It worked fine on the bench so I mounted it up, marked my lines, and cut all the base boards before realizing the laser was sitting about a quarter inch off over 8 feet. Had to redo every single cut, which took the whole day, and the client was standing there watching me with that look, you know the one. I still don't know if it was the battery dying or the sensor getting knocked around in my truck, but I ordered a new one that night. Anyone else had an older tool fail on them at the worst possible moment, or do I just need to accept that tools have a shelf life?

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murphy.barbara•12d ago

That $80 track saw rail clamps were worth every penny on my last deck job

Bought a pair of Kreg clamps last Tuesday after fighting with my old ones on a 16 foot cut, and they held so straight I finished the whole fascia board run in a third of the time, anyone else swore by pricier rail clamps or is it just me?

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ryan_ellis•12d ago

Old timer's chalk line trick saved me 2 hours on the trim job

Was doing crown molding at a house off Route 9 and the guy watching me, probably 70, said to snap the line twice at an angle so the dust makes a shadow line. Tried it on the second room and my miters lined up first try, never going back. Anyone else got a weird old-school tip that actually works?

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the_henry•13d ago

The cheap chalk reel I mocked is now my favorite tool

Bought one of those cheap auto-retracting chalk lines at a hardware store in Tulsa, figured it'd snap in a week. I've always used the old manual wind ones, so this thing felt like a toy with its plastic case and weird button. Last month I had to snap lines across a 30 foot deck frame alone, no helper to hold the end. That retractable hook grabbed the corner tight, and the auto rewind meant I could snap three lines in the time it took to wind one by hand. The chalk came out even and sharp too, not all blotchy like I expected. Still using it three months later, dropped it off a ladder and everything. Anyone else had a tool they bought as a joke that ended up being their go to?

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patriciap52•19d ago

Caulk line trick for long seams I wish I knew 10 years ago

I was finishing a long baseboard run in a hallway remodel last week, around 30 feet of seam between the trim and the floor. Every time I tried to run a straight caulk bead, it either came out wavy or I'd stop and start and leave little bumps. I tried tape, I tried those fancy caulk guides, nothing worked clean. Then an old timer on site told me to wet my finger with denatured alcohol instead of water and pull it in one smooth pass, no stopping. The alcohol keeps the caulk from sticking to your skin and it glides instead of dragging. I did the whole run in about 3 minutes and it looked like a machine laid it. Has anyone else tried this or do you have a better method for long caulk lines?

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drew690•19d ago

The chisel that split clean in half after 8 years of daily use

I was trimming a door jamb in a house from the 1920s over in Oak Park last week, and my old 3/4 inch chisel just snapped right at the tang. I've used that thing every workday since I started my business in 2017, never even thought to inspect it closely. I've heard about steel fatigue but never thought it'd hit me mid-cut. Ended up borrowing the homeowner's rusty one to finish the job, which was humbling. Anyone else had a favorite tool fail out of nowhere and have to rethink their backup plan?

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hart.cora•20d ago

That quote about 'measuring twice' got a whole new meaning today

I heard a contractor tell his apprentice today, 'you aint cuttin wood, you're cuttin money.' Stuck with me hard. He was pointing at a 2x4 they just messed up, about $8 down the drain in scrap. But it's not just the board, it's the 20 minutes of layout time gone too. I think we all get lazy with our tape reads when we're in a rush to finish a job. Has anyone started using a different method to double check their measurements when the pressure is on?

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eva908•23d ago

I stopped using my table saw for dados, no regrets

After 12 years of running a stacked dado set, I switched to a router and straight edge for all my cabinet joinery. The dust collection is better and I can dial in the width without swapping shims, but has anyone else found the setup time worth it for small runs?

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park.robin•26d ago

The way people load nail guns at the job site drives me nuts

I was framing a shed out in Oakley last Tuesday and this kid kept loading his 21-degree gun backwards. The collation was facing the wrong way so nails would jam every 5 shots. He swore it worked fine until I showed him the plastic strip had to face the mag. How do you figure out which way is right without someone telling you?

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elizabethtaylor•27d ago

Spent 3 hours hunting for a stud that turned out to be 24 inches from the corner

Had to patch a hole in the drywall at my buddy's house in Austin and after drilling six test holes I finally found the stud was way off from where any code says it should be has anyone else run into houses where the framing just makes zero sense?

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felix824•27d ago

Finally dialed in my coping saw technique after 15 years

Was doing crown molding in a 1920s house last week and realized I'd been cutting my inside corners at too steep an angle the whole time. Anyone else take forever to figure out that 45 degree back cut sweet spot?

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kim191•27d ago

Finally took the plunge on a track saw over a table saw for trim work

I kept going back and forth on whether to get a track saw or a cheap jobsite table saw for cutting baseboards and crown. Ended up grabbing a used Makita track saw off marketplace for $250 after watching a guy rip through sheet goods like butter. Set it up in my garage last Friday and cut 40 feet of base with zero tearout in under an hour. Anyone else switch to track saws and find yourself using your table saw way less?

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spencerm46•28d ago

That moment my circular saw kicked back on a job in Phoenix

I was cutting some oak plywood on a 95 degree afternoon last summer. The blade grabbed the wood and threw it right back at my chest. I stopped, checked the saw, and realized my rip fence was slightly off. Took me 20 minutes to reset everything properly, but I finished the cut without any more trouble. Has anyone else had a close call with kickback on a job site?

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evan_campbell•29d ago

Why does nobody talk about marking gauges going dull

I was out on a job site in Portland last week trimming out a custom closet and my marking gauge just would not cut clean. Ended up dragging fibers across a $300 piece of walnut and had to sand for 20 minutes. Swapped to a freshly sharpened one and it cut like butter. Anyone else just sharpen theirs once a year and forget about it?

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kelly.nora•1mo ago

Finally caved and tried a track saw after years of using a circular saw and a straight edge

I've been framing and doing rough carpentry for about 12 years now, so I always thought track saws were just for fancy cabinet guys with too much money. Last month I had to cut down 8 sheets of 3/4 inch plywood for a built-in shelf unit in a tight bedroom in Denver. My straight edge kept slipping and I was getting tearout on almost every cut. Borrowed my buddy's Makita track saw for the job and it was night and day. Every cut was dead straight, no chipping at all, and it took me maybe 2 hours instead of 4. I'm still not buying one for everyday framing, but for finish work I totally get the hype now. Anyone else make the switch and find it worth it for specific jobs?

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the_jason•1mo ago

I spent 6 hours scribing baseboard to an old stone foundation and everybody says to just use caulk

Worked on a 1920s house in rural New Hampshire last month. The stone foundation wall bowed out maybe 3/4 of an inch over an 8 foot run. Everyone I talked to said just run the baseboard straight and fill the gap with caulk or quarter round. I tried that on the first wall and it looked awful to me. Big crescent shaped gaps even after caulking. So I spent a whole day scribing each piece with a compass and cutting it to match the stone. Looked perfect in the end but took forever. Am I the only one who thinks scribing is worth the time on old houses or am I just being too picky?

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the_riley•1mo ago

Spent 3 hours on a simple cabinet hinge replacement

Thought I could swap out a soft-close hinge in 20 minutes. Nope - old screw holes were stripped and I had to drill new pilot holes with a jig. Anyone else find hidden damage mid-job that doubles your time?

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