2nd glances
So I brought Project #3 into the house at lunchtime today and set it on the table to show Scott. He’s a good man. He said "What’s wrong with it?" And when I told him, he kindly added "It looks like part of the design." Lie to me. I’m not proud.
But as I sat looking at it, I realized something: the bulk of the filler was on the right-hand side of the design. That seemed significant. If I just sucked indiscriminately, it should be all over the place, but the left-hand side had a fraction of the filler that the other side did.
"Why do you think that is?" I asked Scott. He figured that it was the side furthest away from me, and I thought that was an important thing to think about. But as I thought about it later, I realized I had to try hard and remember HOW I routed the piece, in what direction. I had clamped it at the top and had it at the end of the bench, so in fact, the cleaner, less filled side was to my right, as I slowly pulled the router towards me. I cannot remember exactly where I was at with the worst stretches, but I don’t think it matters now.
What’s key is that if I have the side I’m actually working on closest to me, and pull the router towards me instead of trying to push it away from me, and then flip the wood as needed, even if it means I leave a skinny strip of wood to do on the other side, I should do a better job.
Now that I think about it a little more, those are the sides I also had to clean up the most, which means they were in fact routed with less precision, and then probably overcorrected, but I can’t be sure. But nonetheless, the lopsided filler is an important clue. I’m glad I noticed it. It pays to review your work.
