Sometimes it's the simple things...

[KurtHuhn]

Yesterday I was in the workshop, drilling some delrin for tenons, and having a tough time keeping the holes straight. At first I feared the worst - that my magically straight and aligned wood lathe had somehow been knocked out of alignment, and would no longer drill straight or face square. I tried everything, including rocking the tailstock, re-attaching the chuck in the headstock, removing and re-inserting the chuck in the tailstock, using different material to drill. At one point I even brought out my old machinists tools and checked alignment of the lathe itself - which came out dead-nuts straight.

Totally bewildered, I almost called it a day and left the workshop out of disgust. I went to reach for the lightswitch and a little voice in the back of my head whispered "Try a new drill bit!".

I turned around and reached into the toolbox for a new 5/32" bit. As I broke the plastic on the black and yellow packaging, I had my doubts. I had never seen a worn bit drill crooked, and the one I was using was still very sharp and didn't display signs of wear or dulling. But, I chucked up the new bit and drilled through half a dozen tenons of 1/4" delrin one right after another - with loosening the tailstock between each, and even swapping bits. All of them were perfectly straight, and I felt rather foolish.

Check the simple things first. I drill this into my engineer's heads every day. Check the easy stuff - the cable, the receptacle, the switches, move the cable to a new port, did the user sign on correctly, etc. You should have heard the cursing after I realized that I wasted almost two hours of time over a $2 drill bit.

[LatakiaLover]

So, do you laugh or cry when stuff like this happens, Kurt?

(On a related note as general info to the board: the whole drill bit thing is so fundamental to good work that trying to save a buck on them is poor economy. Amortized over their lifespan, the very best bits cost only a few cents a week more than the kind that can make your life miserable. I've had excellent luck with the Milwaukee brand for fractionals. Dead straight, truly sized, and razor sharp.)

[KurtHuhn]

I'm laughing today, but I punched several things immediately afterward.

I've had great luck with DeWalt brand bits. They're consistently of high quality, and last forever.

[LatakiaLover]

I'm laughing today, but I punched several things immediately afterward.

That will never do for a craftsman. Protect your hands. Use a hammer.

[hazmat]

The trick I've found to save my hands and my tools is to keep throw-aways sitting around my shop in handy reach. If I do something ridiculously stupid, I grab one of those and give it a good heave across the room. I'm no longer frustrated and nothing of value is harmed(unless my aim's off, which is extremely likely).

[KurtHuhn]

I normally throw the object of my frustration onto the concrete floor and stomp on it like a scene from a late '80s underground punk rock movie. It helps if I have the Bad Brains or Black Flag playing on the iPod.

In this case, stomping on Delrin didn't seem like it would gain me much in relief, so I grabbed some 1/2" pine boards went to town.

[hazmat]

You listen to Bad Brains and Black Flag? That's pretty cool. Henry Rollins was one of my favorites growing up.

[KurtHuhn]

Rollins-era Black Flag was the best, IMO. He's also an excellent spoken word performer. I've seen him a few times when he made appearances at the local Universities. I've never been to a Black Flag concert though.

[hazmat]

I've never seen Black Flag, but I've seen him perform twice when he had Rollins Band together. When I was younger, I had his spoken word set Out of the Box or something of the sort? A friend of mine and I swore when we were about 15 or so that Rollins was god.. good stuff!

[JSPipes]

Never saw Black Flag, but I did see the Clash, DK, Ramones, 7 Seconds, Minor Threat, and several other 80's punk bands. We had a good scene in DC.

Anyway, Kurt, it's sometimes the simple things, it's almost always!

[Nick]

Hehehehe! Man, I used to love DK. Hey the 30th anniversary or Never mind the Bullocks is coming up. I almost went to see the sex Pistols on their 20th anniversary tour, but damn if i couldn't put it together. Bad Brains are just messed up!

[smokingpat]

You listen to Bad Brains and Black Flag? That's pretty cool. Henry Rollins was one of my favorites growing up.

he is doing spoken word next month in salt lake.

I might have to smoke a pipe and track him down the day of the show.

Plus black flag does make great object tossing music.

[JHowell]

I'm laughing today, but I punched several things immediately afterward.

I have a speed bag in the corner of the shop. My wife can always tell when I'm mad. WAPPITA-WAPPITA-WAPPITA-WAPPITA-BAM!

[KurtHuhn]

I really should hang a heavy bag in there, it might save a few things the dishonor of being tossed to the floor.

[smokingpat]

Kurt I was a potter for alot of years. I would get a bowl just the way i wanted it, then i would cough or something and take to much of the top. I would always get pissed and smash the poor bowl or vase. I ened up punching a bag of unfired clay as it made the same fleshy sound a real punch does. It was very refreshing.

[Nick]

I ened up punching a bag of unfired clay as it made the
same fleshy sound a real punch does. It was very refreshing.

EEEK!