DOH! What's your worst/stupidest/most embarrassing Festool moment yet?

[johnbro]

"Scrote"...now that's a word I haven't heard on this side of the pond. Short for scrotum, I gather? ;D You Brits are so creative in your language--while we get, well nevermind what we get...

 

[gkeas]

(it's amazing how much you need for a relatively small job!). 

I often try (in the A/V business) to bring in just the tools I THINK I need for a specific task.  20 trips to the truck later, I end up with my entire arsenal unloaded on a moving pad in the house.  I would save a ton of time (usually) if I just bring in everything in the morning.  I think I'll find the same to be true of woodworking. :

 

[semenza]

Hi,

  If you havn't already done it. Try putting that A/V stuff in Systainers and Sortainers!

Seth

 

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Purchased the systainer with the colourful boxes in it at a woodworking show so that I could get the "free" zip up organiser with the graph paper in it which comes with a festool calculator, carpenter's ruller and a boxcutter etc then drew up all my designs for furniture and fencing in it, off to Bunning's hardward here in Perth and promptly left it in the trolley!

I had left a business card in it, reported it lost and had it returned to me a month later!

Nice one.

 

[sandy]

I was making a cherry toy chest for my grandson.  The front, sides, and top were all rail and stile construction, for which I used my Domino, noting how quick, easy, and accurately it let me join the parts.  I was next going to use the domino to join the sides to the front and back, which meant domino mortises in the "fronts" and "rears" of the side pieces, with mortises in the "backs" and "fronts" of the front and rear stiles.  I was thinking how quickly and accurately I had cut five mortises on the stile on one side of a "front" piece, when I realized that I had cut them on the side, rather than on the rear of the stile.  Whoops...  While trying to figure out whether I was going to try to fill the holes, or make an entirely new front piece, I realized that all I needed to do was to lay a rail along the seam between the (incorrectly mortised) stile and the two rails it was already glued to, and run my TS-55 up the seam, neatly cutting through the joints.  I only had to cut and join a new stile.

 

[ajones]

mine was when I bought my ets150

hooked it up to the vac and off I went .... thinking wow dust collection is realy good.... but hang on ??? does not seem to be removing any material..

Ahh forgotten the scratch [big grin]

 

[grobin]

Estimating the offset from the guide line on the Domino fence to the cutter wrong.  Was showing it off to a friend when I found that it will make a mortise in the workbench just fine.

 

[decoy]

Didn't realize that the guide rail on the MFT/3 wasn't automatically 90 degrees on the table, but that you needed to align and fasten it on the other side to get the cuts straight.

Also, I might have done better research before buying the OF1010. Really hate that it doesn't have proper lighting.

 

[btracey1]

Anybody want to know what the front rail of an MFT costs?
I needed to cut some plywood on the MFT using the guide rail, when i realized that I needed to change the blade. So I changed the blade and forgot to reset the depth stop. I proceeded to make a nice straight cut right through the front rail of the MFT. I was really surprised at how easily the TS75 cuts aluminum!
Brian

 

[BigHonu]

I was using a rabbeting bit on th OF1400 and forgot that a bt that size does not fit through the hole in the dust shroud.  Released the plunge, and off came the shroud. Luckily the bit wasn't spinning too fast, and didn't cut the shroud up too badly.

 

[jonny round boy]

I was using a rabbeting bit on th OF1400 and forgot that a bt that size does not fit through the hole in the dust shroud.  Released the plunge, and off came the shroud. Luckily the bit wasn't spinning too fast, and didn't cut the shroud up too badly.

Must admit I'm guilty of doing exactly the same!

 

[honeydoman]

Yup I did the power cord thing to.  Went ot a job grabed some toos and a fest poer cord only to find the power cord I grabbed had the little plastic piece in it so it wouldnot fit all my tools!!!  1/2 a day gone there.  Also my wife that works with me pluus the vacuum cord out of the socket by the cord from accross the room and packes it up, usally the 15A to 20A adapter stays in the outlet at the job site :/ 

That is why I electrical or duct tape mine to the cord and wrap it around so we do not leave it also been there done that!

 

[flair woodworks]

Reading this thread, does the slogan "Faster, Easier, SMARTER", relate to the tools, and not the users?

 

[MarkF]

The TS55 dust collection doesn't work very well under the MFT top when you saw through it.  Thankfully there's Bondo.

The Domino will leave interesting decorative carvings on your MFT top if you leave the depthstop too long on shallow boards.  Thankfully there's Bondo.

 

[Tinker]

When I noticed this thread, i thought I might make a comment about some of my own BOOBOO's.  I started reading and discovered I had already made a comment.  A little later, i found another of my reports on stupidity as well as recognizing some like reports i recalled from other FOG'ers who have kept me company on the mistooks trail.  Now, i have come to the end of the thread and realize there has been a huge jump from October of 2007 til November 2010.  As some of the members who have been around long term (Thats pre 2010 when I was only 39  :  I am still 39  8) ) , you know I sometimes get carried away with my historical tales. (That's HISTORICAL/Not histerical  I nebver make mistooks) I have, of late, been putting together a group of my personal tales to give to my kids one of these days.  Also, some tales of the good old days for my grandson.  He is just turned 12 and I have been putting together some stories from when I was 12 (plus and minus)  .  some of the stories i have related within this thread I had forgotten about.  I really appreciate whoever renewed the thread.  I have gone back and copied my own contributions to add to my history for my own kids.  You know, one true story here that is off topic, is that I am actually younger than my children.  They are now in their 40' while I am 39.  i want to put together all i can before they get to be 39 [eek]
Tinker

 

[tiralie]

...after burning my way cross cutting a kick plate laminated with aluminum I was thinking the aluminum was causing the burning. When I started another I stopped,  thinking this can't be right Festool blades cut way better than this even if this one is a bit dull,  looking more closely at my saw I discovered I had put my blade on backwards... DOH!
tim

 

[wubears71]

Seeing how well the TS-55 cross cuts my index finger using the Guide Rail! [scared]

In all honesty, the saw's plunge action probably saved my finger.  As soon as that blade touched it, my left hand snapped off the TS-55 Handle and my finger just had a small cut on it - kind of like the Saw Stop cuts you see.

I still cannot believe how stupid I was that day - it was Christmas Eve last year and I was in a hurry.

 

[Kodi Crescent]

I was replacing the base molding in a room and instead of using my miter saw, decided to use my Festools.  I was excited to move the MFT, CT, and TS55 into the room to try actually doing something in place.  I placed the MFT on the floor and began making my 45 degree cuts in the trim, only to find that my cuts had an odd shoulder at the bottom of them.  I put the miters together the best I could, but when I was done I was still puzzled as to why I didn't have a smooth 45 degree cut.  Later inspection of the fence revealed that I didn't account for where the blade would hit.  I had the fence in to far under the guide rail and was cutting into it instead of cutting the wood cleanly.

For a non-Festool experience, I was doing a tile job where I needed to pour some self-leveling cement.  I had tried using this before, and I used some stuff that set really fast and didn't work properly.  After removing what I previously poured, I ordered the SLC that was slower setting.  On the bag it said that cold water would cause the stuff to set even more slowly, and thus allow it to be worked and leveled out better.  If you have ever used SLC, it is very particular about the amount of water added.  So I measured out the proper amount of water and filled the container with ice cubes.  I thought that the volume of ice when melted would be the equivalent to the volume of water it displaced.  I don't remember the science behind my reasoning, but needless to say I was wrong.  I poured that SLC and it never set right.  The previous SLC job was such a mess to clean up that my wife required me to hire someone to tear it out. 

So I hire this tile guy who says he can fix it.  When he arrives at the site he admits that he's never done this type of job before.  I tell him I want him to tent off the area.  I make it a policy to never loan contractors my tools, so instead of using 3rd hand poles (which I had), this guy's 2 helpers spend an hour or so trying to tape up a plastic drop cloth with blue painters tape.  It kept falling down.  Then they got to removing the SLC.  They got part way through and then the contractor decided that this job was a real bummer and that he wanted more for it.  He damaged some of my hardibacker board and then told me he could tile right over the damaged hardiboard and everything would be fine.  I knew better, so I fired him right there.  I spent the rest of the day removing the SLC with my new rotary hammer, and finished in a fraction of time that they took.  I decided at that point that quick fixes were not going to work, so I tore up my subfloor and leveled the joists so that I'd have a flat tiling surface.

A couple of years after this, Angie's List (a contractor review service) calls me soliciting for contractor reviews.  I tell them about the tile incident, and give the tile guy a bad rating.  About 2 weeks later the tile guy sees the bad rating and gives me a call.  We had a brief discussion about what happened and we decided that a refund was in order.  I removed the bad review and received a full refund a few days later.

 

[dennylj]

I was making a cherry toy chest for my grandson.  The front, sides, and top were all rail and stile construction, for which I used my Domino, noting how quick, easy, and accurately it let me join the parts.  I was next going to use the domino to join the sides to the front and back, which meant domino mortises in the "fronts" and "rears" of the side pieces, with mortises in the "backs" and "fronts" of the front and rear stiles.  I was thinking how quickly and accurately I had cut five mortises on the stile on one side of a "front" piece, when I realized that I had cut them on the side, rather than on the rear of the stile.  Whoops...  While trying to figure out whether I was going to try to fill the holes, or make an entirely new front piece, I realized that all I needed to do was to lay a rail along the seam between the (incorrectly mortised) stile and the two rails it was already glued to, and run my TS-55 up the seam, neatly cutting through the joints.  I only had to cut and join a new stile.

Sandy,
I committed the same sin, except mine was mortising slots on the side (stile)  of a face frame instead of on its inside face.  No matter what I could do to fill the mistaken mortises, they would still show on the finished piece.  I ended up slicing a 1/4" piece off the stile and glued on a 1/4" piece of the same material.  Happily it worked out fine.  But I sure could have kicked my self for such a dumb mistake!
Denny

 

[kdzito]

1. Not checking the router bit cutter's diameter and plunging it into the dust shroud.  I know others posted here of the same whoops.

2. Placing my very hot worklamp on the CT vac's hose and burning a hole in it.