Whatever your skill level or knowledge of woodworking, there are some common mistakes that you need to be aware of. If not avoided, these mistakes will result in a significant loss in time and money. Some are the result of poor planning while others are caused by lack of attention to detail. The hope is that this article will help you avoid the pitfalls that have tripped up so many other woodworkers before you.

A common woodworking mistake is to get ahead of yourself and learn new techniques or try complicated projects before mastering the more basic skills of hand-tool woodworking, such as chopping mortises, scribing lines with a marking knife, tuning up a shoulder plane , saw sharpening etc…

The best example of this is someone who wants to build a 7' Shaker cradle without having ever cut dovetails or building a small bench using only their newly tuned up chisel set . I am not saying that you have to spend years preparing for your masterpiece - in fact that would be counterproductive since most grand plans die before they even begin - however if you want something you will need to master some pretty fundamental skills with hand tools before you can even think about using them to create it.

Woodworking projects often take more time and effort than what is described in their original plan . For instance, every time I cut a mortise by drilling out most of the waste I always think "there must be a better way" - so I go searching for a solution. Sometimes this means buying or building additional tools, sometimes this means adapting jigs and fixtures from other projects etc...

In addition, wood moves around as it responds to changes in moisture content and relative humidity levels in the surrounding air. In simple terms all that means is that your project will change size, shape and overall dimensions after you have built it for some time. The best quote I have ever read regarding this phenomena is the following line from Thomas Lie-Nielsen's masterpiece "The Workbench":

This can either mean spending more time and money on a project than you are willing or able to do or using materials that are too expensive for your budget(s).

For instance putting together an oriental themed coffee table by recycling 1" x 8" boards at their original width would not make sense if you want a higher quality finished product - regardless of how fancy the joints are. In this case you will need to consider resawing boards, buying thinner stock or even re-purposing a piece of furniture that is already in your home with all these criteria in mind from the very beginning.

I am not talking about making a prototype out of balsa wood and hot gluing paperclips together here - what I mean is using a technique for a specific task before incorporating it into your final project where you really want it .

For instance if you have never used dovetails to join drawer fronts and carcass sides before then do yourself (and especially your client) a favor by practicing on scrap pieces of pine - just so that you know what to expect when you are actually doing it on the final piece. Also try to practice (and master) the techniques that you will be using in your project before you even begin buying materials, since it is much more difficult to correct a mistake once the wood has been glued into place in your project.

While there are some people who speed through projects with little sleep (myself included for years) - if woodworking ever becomes a full time venture for you, like it did for me when I started my own business last year , then please make sure that you get both sufficient material and mental rest . If not your work, health and relationships will suffer in the long run .

While this point is not necessarily specific to woodworking, it is important enough that I feel like I need to include it. Please, please , please (if you don't do anything else in your shop) make sure that you always wear the correct safety equipment - glasses / goggles and ear protection at all times .

Also be sure to use push sticks when cutting parts with a table saw or circular saw and never leave tools such as these unattended (both might grab hold of your hand instead of their intended stock). And lastly make sure that you know how to operate every machine / tool before you turn them on by reading their manuals and asking for help if necessary.

Don't try to save every penny on your projects because it will come back to bite you in the long run .

For instance if you don't use glue when assembling a carcase together (which means that the pieces might not be as firmly glued to each other as they could be) then it will likely fall apart after some time. Also, if you try painting or staining your project without first applying wood conditioner (to fill any pores etc.) then your paint or stain will most likely peel off over time - regardless of whether you have spent $5 or $50 on a can. Similarly , using shoddy glue or inadequate clamping equipment is going to lead to a sub-par finish and/or failure of your project.

Having said all that, don't be too stubborn about it . If you buy the best of everything all at once, not only are you likely to spend more money than you can afford - but you might also find that it takes some time before your skills are high enough for this level of quality. So my advice is to use products and equipment that are within your budget first, refine them as needed using free or inexpensive techniques / materials, then upgrade when the time comes.

This one might seem obvious but I have seen many people who just kept making the same mistakes over and over again because they were unwilling to take on board what other knowledgeable woodworkers had told them.

So if a customer tells you their side and/or drawer isn't fitting together correctly (they might tell you this by mentioning tight or loose joints) then listen to them and try to think of ways that you can improve your work so as to avoid such problems in the future. Also, if you have a mentor who has been helping you out for free for some time now , it is only fair that you take on board what they say about your work and how it may be better improved . If nothing else, remember that everyone needs constructive feedback otherwise no one will know what works and what doesn't.

Sometimes we get so excited about doing cool new things with our woodworking skills that we completely forget about the basics - because in the meantime we have let our standards slip so much. So if you find yourself working on projects with more than 10 different components , just stop and take a look at what you are doing . Is this really the best way to go about things or would it be easier for you to just scale things down slightly?

Remember that it isn't necessarily bad to simplify . Why not try making small test pieces first (e.g. via cardboard templates) until you get familiar enough with your project's intricacies - then make your final piece in the desired dimensions (assuming they still work of course!).

This point is self-explanatory, however sometimes I feel like I need to mention it again because people don't always understand why it is so important .

So if you don't contain your tools in one place then you will always be searching for them when you need them, which leads to untidiness and uneconomical work. Also because of this lack of organization , you would be much more likely to misplace/lose the tools themselves (and replacing things like drills isn't cheap) because they simply won't have a designated spot where they can be found again easily. Thus by keeping all your equipment inside one tool chest or cabinet , there is only one answer as to where everything is - instead of dozens / hundreds of different places throughout your shop floor.

This point should be considered as self explanatory - I'm not talking about people who can't draw or anything like that but rather those woodworkers who simply don't know how to use their CAD software properly .

One potential problem with this? You could end up doing things like making features/paths which are too close to each other, resulting in collisions and thus ruining your project.

So if you can't make a design within certain limits that fit into the size of your working area (which might be restricted by the machine's bed - such as in my case), then consider using another software suite instead because it may prove to be much more effective for your own specific needs when designing CNC projects.

There is no such thing as zero-risk. But by following all of the tips and guidelines mentioned above, you will be able to make significant improvements in your own work - thereby guaranteeing that most of your projects won't end up being complete failures anymore.

So don't forget about these crucial points when designing and building your next piece of work (or at least try to follow them as much as possible) - doing things like this will definitely help you avoid some common woodworking mistakes!

Photo by Andrew Ruiz on Unsplash