Thread: obsessive, compulsive, fanatical about tolerances disorder

Oh Barri, if only you were closer, not the other side of the state - then you could come over and offer me some counselling, for I STILL suffer from "Dial Indicatoritis" (at least now I know it has a name, perhaps that's the first step to healing )

On another thread one of the guys chipped me about worrying about three thou out of alignment on my jointer between the two tables, BUT I STILL CAN'T STOP FRETTING!!

Yeah, some of us STILL need help

Get a hatchet, a spoke shave or a draw knife, and a brace and bit and go make some bush furniture.

Originally Posted by BobL

Get a hatchet, a spoke shave or a draw knife, and a brace and bit and go make some bush furniture.

I'd love to do that some day. Watched 'Alone In The Wilderness' again the other day (highly recommended, it's on YouTube) and Dick Proenneke makes some great stuff with just simple hand tools.

Originally Posted by Bendigo Bob

Oh Barri, if only you were closer, not the other side of the state - then you could come over and offer me some counselling, for I STILL suffer from "Dial Indicatoritis" (at least now I know it has a name, perhaps that's the first step to healing )

On another thread one of the guys chipped me about worrying about three thou out of alignment on my jointer between the two tables, BUT I STILL CAN'T STOP FRETTING!!

Yeah, some of us STILL need help

The jointer at work is out by 4 thou (tables are fine, the cutter is higher on one side than the other) and it's made no appreciable difference. If i had my way I'd fix it, but it's just not worth the time and effort to shim the bearing housing (Shelix head, so can't just adjust the knives)

The bearing on the drill press is so bad that you can actually feel the slop in it and the chuck is buggered so to get bits running true you just tap them sideways, but we don't need it to be any better so we just live with it

If it is good enough, then it is PERFECT!

I have never owned or used a dial indicator. They look like a good bit of kit for 'knowing'. But I already know my jointer tables are not coplanar and I joint wind into my boards. I know that the operator side of the outfeed table is low causing trailing snipe on wide boards. I know that the slider on panelsaw isn't parallel to the blade because it sounds different at the start of the cut than at the end of the cut. I know that my rip fence is angled slightly towards the blade which gives me horrific dramas now and then when ripping boards. I don't "know" if my drill press runs true or runs out, but I really couldn't care less if my 8mm drill bits are making a 9mm hole, I'll just use a 7mm bit

I'd LOVE to have every machine set perfectly (I even bought a dial gauge that reads to 0.1 thou for this purpose), but it's very much a case of diminishing return on investment; especially when the materials we're working with can move by more than the error overnight.

Originally Posted by woodPixel

If my TS isn't perfect it drives me crazy.

When I first got my table saw the blade was under 2 thou out from parallel to the miter slots. That is more than an acceptable figure but silly me decided to get it to 1 thou because on youtube they make it look so easy. I ended making it worse, much worse and couldn't get it back to that wonderful initial figure. I was so upset that my brand new table saw was "out" of alignment I ended paying a technician to fix it but the best he could get it was about 5 or 6 thou. It has remained at that figure ever since but as I said on the original post my TS is cutting perfectly square, parallel and smooth without any burning or teeth marks. I reckon some of those "acceptable" tolerances are too low. My drill press is measuring around 1 thou on the quill, about 4 thou on the arbor and worse on the chuck (chuck is the culprit) but it is drilling nice accurate holes. So I am going to ignore what everyone says.

So BendigoBob, I'll give you free counseling next time I'm in Bendigo

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

I'd LOVE to have every machine set perfectly (I even bought a dial gauge that reads to 0.1 thou for this purpose), but it's very much a case of diminishing return on investment; especially when the materials we're working with can move by more than the error overnight.

So true Elan! This is woodwork we're doing not precision engineering. You can set everything as precisely as you like but the material will defeat you at every turn!

Very true! My TS alignment reading changes everyday. I remember one day it was almost spot on and the next day it was back to 5 or 6 thou. I should have realised then to stop fretting about this.

I now have locked up my dial indicator and thrown away the key.

Rule number one: Don't sweat the small stuff.

Rule number two: Remember, it's all small stuff.

We ain't making' rocketships are we.