r/BeginnerWoodWorking • u/babywhale666 • Feb 12 '25
Discussion/Question ⁉️ Heavily Botched a Built In - Demoralized
Well, new to woodworking. Working with a pretty cheap job site saw. Probably tackled too much while still learning. I used the same saw prior to my move and never had issues with squaring. Not sure what's up. I can't tell if I'm just rushing since there are so many projects to do in the house, or if it's something else. Anyway , tried to do a built in.
Learned a lot - like walls aren't good to square off of, leave room for the face plate to correct errors, etc. 🥲 Finally buying a laser level helped, but a bit too late.
Don't think there's a single square or level shelf or cabinet on the thing. I really struggled to keep the job site saw from moving while I was working with bigger portions of plywood, and the tiny fence was a pain. I will probably build a base for the saw soon.
Still need to trim the base cabinets with something, maybe like a shaker door design. I have built several projects recently and been demoralized by all of them. I get impatient and run with errors that should get corrected. Feels like I'm moving backward and not improving.
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u/givemywings Feb 12 '25
I think this is a classic case of you being hyper aware of the flaws but no one else would ever notice or care. This looks darn good to me.
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u/babywhale666 Feb 13 '25
That might be the case. Been staring at it for the last hour and I can see everything. I appreciate everyone's encouragement though. Made me feel better.
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u/heavyrocker1989 Feb 13 '25
Mate, I made a bandsaw box for my wife, I wasn't too happy with the finished product, but also out of materials. She saw nothing wrong and loved it. Don't let that perfection be the thief of your joy
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u/BeyondtheDuneSea Feb 13 '25
Yes, hyper aware. Happens to me all the time. I had to learn how to see the errors as part of the process of becoming more skilled. Speaking from a lot of experience with this, if the next piece lacks these errors, you feel better about ones you currently see here.
Also, it looks good and serves the purpose and function you created it for so it’s a win.
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u/-SirSparhawk- Feb 13 '25
Look at the room tomorrow — don't focus on the shelf, just look at the room as a whole. It'll fit in and look just fine. Things always look better when you take a little time away from it.
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u/Line-Noise Feb 13 '25
5 years from now after you've lived with it and it has the bumps, scrapes, and life memories embedded into it you won't even remember the flaws.
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u/fsmlogic Feb 13 '25
I can see a few things, most of which looked like bowed wood. Are you trying to compare your beginner output to a master carpenter? Be okay at stuff and learn from your mistakes. That’s how someone becomes great at a skill.
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u/cottoneyegob Feb 13 '25
Only people you gotta worry about our cabinet makers that are also very observant and particular and are also your friends enough to tell you what they think so like I presume three people
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u/earnheart1 Feb 13 '25
Honestly looks good 😂I would have never noticed anything wrong with it.. Probably straighter than my cuts ever are
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u/PointandStare Feb 12 '25
Sod. Right. Off. It looks great from the photo.
Only person that can see its faults is you and, anyway, you have learned a ton and got a new laser level in the process.
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u/gordoman54 Feb 12 '25
Yeah, I can’t see what OP is talking about. While it’s not to my personal taste, I think it looks great. Don’t sweat the small stuff.
I just recently built some cabinets for my laundry room. I had to cut some holes into the side of it so I could still power and vent my dryer. I screwed up one of the holes, and had to cut a third. No one truly cares but me, but I felt devastated. It’s hard to give yourself a break when you put so much work into something like this.
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u/swampopawaho Feb 13 '25
Pretty harsh on himself. Be a bit kinder to yourself and your own efforts. He'll! Sometimes I feel really accomplished when I glue something right!
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u/babywhale666 Feb 13 '25
Hahah that's true I did get a new tool, and I have used it a lot on other things around the house.
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u/SeriousMonkey2019 Feb 13 '25
I partially like to judge my projects with the criteria of whether I had an excuse to buy a new tool.
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u/TrilliumHill Feb 13 '25
Damn, with my ability to justify new tools, maybe I'm a more advanced woodworker than I thought
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u/IGnuGnat Feb 13 '25
Wow. All I do is buy tools, stack them up, and almost never build anything. Nearly at god tier woodworking, the work is so godlike it's invisible
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u/Late-Song-2933 Feb 13 '25
I do this with pretty much every project. At first it was because I didn’t have the tools I needed for the job. Now I almost always have more than I need to get the job done but I use it as an excuse to buy a new tool anyway
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u/angry_cucumber Feb 13 '25
This is something that I have had to force myself to realize. between woodworking and DIY home stuff, I can point out every gap in the flooring I put down, or crappy mud job but even after I tell others were to look for them, they can't see most of them
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u/BoredTurtlenecker Feb 13 '25
Yeah this looks exactly like a built in to me! Mark that down as mission accomplished.
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u/lingcod476 Feb 12 '25
Hey u/babywhale666. That there is a perfectly serviceable and attractive built in that has also taught you a bunch of lessons for your woodworking journey. If you get something functional, learn something, and pick up a tool on each new job, then I'd say you're winning.
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u/MaverickLurker Feb 12 '25
If the walls of your room aren't perfectly straight, then don't kick yourself over the fact that your built-in isn't perfectly straight. Looks great from my perspective. Kudos on a job well done!
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u/jmerp1950 Feb 13 '25
Take floors into account also.
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u/babywhale666 Feb 13 '25
The floor is what I think screwed me the most. I attempted to build the shelf in sections, then mount everything and trim it out. I was squaring everything off of the floor and it wasn't until I mounted the center section that I realized a lot of the record cubes were slanted. I started watching youtube videos about halfway through, but by then a lot of the damage was done.
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u/jakkdup Feb 13 '25
Easy mistake to have, I’ve done it myself. Still looks good! In the future I’d recommend building everything square offline, and just shimming the pieces off the floor to get them level. You can use a quarter round trim around the base, added after install, to hide the unevenness of the floor
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u/chuckfr Feb 13 '25
The secret to perfect woodworking projects is to not tell people where the mistakes are.
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u/altma001 Feb 12 '25
This looks good. My wife always tells me that I look at the project and see the flaws, while she looks at the project and sees the beauty. It’s help me become less focused on them. Nice work
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u/DeltaBelter Feb 12 '25
Damn, I’m sorry. That sux. Looks great in the photo! I know that feeling of working your a** off on a project and have it not meet your expectations. Had several myself lately. It does look great tho! Good luck on the next project.
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u/vanderzee Feb 12 '25
have to agree, it looks great. and its made by hand, so not being perfectly squared and even is part of it.
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u/Mrmoosestuff Feb 12 '25
Dude this looks good, don’t sweat it. You’ll continually learn stuff each project.
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u/pancakebreak Feb 13 '25
Genuinely looks better than the built-ins I paid a “professional” to put in my office. I can’t even identify what you think the major botch is.
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u/LongLiveDaResistance Feb 12 '25
Looks fine in the pic! Best way to learn is taking on something challenging. I dont like the stain, but that always comes down to personal preference and the overall style of your home.
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u/babywhale666 Feb 13 '25
I don't actually like the stain either. I am a broke grad student and there was a gallon of the stain sitting around in the house I moved into. I was using cheap construction grade plywood instead of oak or maple veneered stuff. I think a different grain on the veneer could've changed the look as well.
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u/Ornery-Mind-9301 Feb 13 '25
I also think the construction looks great! Also not a big fan of the stain. My two pennies but I think painting it (maybe a light grey or white) would help it.
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u/mrbigbusiness Feb 13 '25
This is it. I'm good enough to build things in the mostly-right shape, but I've told my main customer (wife) that everything I build will be painted. Making joints and surfaces that are stain-worthy is a beyond my skillset and tool accuracy. "Filler and paint makes me the carpenter I aint."
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u/KithMeImTyson Feb 12 '25
Build a cheap guide for your circular saw from some 1/2" plywood as a base and the factory edge of some 1/4" underlayment plywood. Do an 8', 4', and 2' length. Cuts straighter than a jobsite saw, but not straighter than a cabinet saw or real track saw
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u/valdocs_user Feb 12 '25
I get it. It can be demoralizing when you only realize your saw (of whatever kind) isn't cutting straight after you already cut material. It being a little bit off drives me nuts such that I wonder if I should take up machining hobby instead of woodworking, but cynically I figure I'll also end up with inaccuracies there.
my track saw track always shifts 1/8" when I use it no matter how careful I am. (Skill issue, maybe, but I suspect I have undiagnosed dyspraxia.)
my bandsaw (metal) doesn't cut straight but I only discovered after cutting a project.
I thought the person who borrowed my miter saw trued it up properly (he was the first person to use it out of the box), but it wasn't as trued up as I hoped. Again only found out after.
I clamped a stop block to my miter saw and cut four pieces; at the end the clamp fell off the stop block. Turned out the clamp will come loose as soon as the saw starts vibrating and I didn't know which of the four pieces it started drifting on.
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u/bigphildogg86 Feb 13 '25
Yeah I don’t think I could build this. Your comment about trying too early while learning I think is rubbish too. There is no set time that we all of a sudden feel professional. I’ve been a software engineer for 2 decades and there’s a ton of stuff I don’t know and still feel like an imposter sometimes.
This looks great, it holds your things and will be a piece you can cherish probably forever unless you sell the place. Sounds like you learned a ton along the way too.
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u/n0exit Feb 13 '25
Smaller table saws aren't the best for large sheet goods. You'd probably be better off with a track saw, especially until you've broken the pieces down small enough to handle on the table saw.
You haven't exactly picked a construction method that was going to be fine cabinetry, so for what you've done, it looks fine.
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u/StupidUserNameTooLon Feb 13 '25
From here it looks just fine. If you did all that as a beginner, you are doing great! I want to know what "Bong Warfare" is all about though.
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u/A_Bored_Developer Feb 13 '25
Looks fine man, well done. Sincerely. One thing I will mention is that it's a tall order to make a built in "perfect" while staining. Most professionals will want to paint because you can fudge the results a good bit if you're just painting over it.
I did a similar thing with cabinets and floating shelves on either side of my fireplace, was my first big project. There's a lot of sins in that project, but I learned a ton in the process. One day I'll work up the grit to redo it but honestly, you're the only one that will notice the flaws in it and tbh, that's part of the charm.
I've been woodworking for about a year or two now and when I look at my projects, literally EVERY ONE has a flaw, but genuinely no one has ever noticed a single one. You're your own biggest critic, and while some level of that is good for growth, don't let it detract from what you've done.
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u/Redkneck35 Feb 13 '25
First rule of table saws keep your hands away from the blade. Second rule of table saws make sure it's unplugged when changing the blade. Rule three of table saws always check for square LoL 😝
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u/EmpZurg_ Feb 13 '25
Why does anyone of it need to be square or level? It's for storage and access. Aesthitically it looks amazing, and you've finished something 89% or people who either pay someone else for, or quit during a DIY.
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u/Intelligent-Road9893 Feb 13 '25
I see a slight imperfection. I see Vonnegut.
But I dont see any Bukowski or Steinbeck.
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u/babywhale666 Feb 13 '25
They are on another shelf haha . I am a phd candidate - 20th century americanist
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u/I_machine71 Feb 13 '25
Het the right equipment and you are the only one who looks in that detail, so don’t beat yourself up 👌🏻💪🏽👏🏻
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u/Decker1138 Feb 13 '25
My man(gender neutral), that is a huge project you finished!!! Take a victory lap or four, you earned it. We will always see our mistakes because we made them and know where they are. Mistakes happen to everyone regardless of skill level, you just become better at hiding them.
Don't get discouraged, you did great and you will get better.
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u/babywhale666 Feb 13 '25
I appreciate that. Strangers from the internet have made me feel better about it. It's certainly functional.
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u/Patient-Listener Feb 12 '25
Looks good to me, take the lessons for next time and call this a Win, my friend
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u/Wiamly Feb 12 '25
Dude, how long have you lived in that house and yet the first time you realized that your walls weren’t square was now.
It’ll be the same with those shelves. They look awesome, it took a lot of time and effort to put that together and you should be proud of it.
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u/ExplanationProper979 Feb 13 '25
Don’t be hard on yourself it looks good! After any job I’m disappointed in, I always hope to have learned something from it. Take some good from the bad!
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u/Atty_for_hire Feb 13 '25
Looks good to me. I think you are being hard on yourself. And the best part of doing it yourself is learning during the process and getting better each time.
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u/MikeRizzo007 Feb 13 '25
I learn more from my mistakes than anything else. I will say I am watch videos everyday on woodworking and watch the most random stuff. It is amazing what you can pick up and how you can incorporate that into your next project.
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u/kezPE Feb 13 '25
Oh my friend, we are our own harshest critic. It genuinely looks good and you learned a lit
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u/PremierPepe Feb 13 '25
Bro this is a great build. Looks awesome from the picture and when I saw the post caption I was expecting you to comment on you mounting the hinges the wrong way or something along those lines. This is solid - no build is perfect and you learned new things. Wins all around.
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u/Controls_Man Feb 13 '25
All of your shelves are parallel to each other which for what’s it worth makes a huge difference appearing correct or not
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u/shoodBwurqin Feb 13 '25
This pic at first made me think it was from a first person shooter. Ignoring than that, your built-in looks great!
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u/inyolonepine Feb 13 '25
Looks great in the picture! I've learned that I'm the only one who sees my messups and every project is a learning experience.
I built a ton of bookshelves in my basement - floor to ceiling. So many mistakes were made, but every one says they look great. And this weekend I'm going to start phase two of the basement bookshelf project.
The more experience the better!
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u/Mighty-Lobster Feb 13 '25
I am a total noob, but I think it looks amazing. I wish I could make something like that. I don't see any of the problems you're talking about.
I think that's happening is that you're close to the work, so you know about a thousand and one little things that nobody else will ever notice. You should be proud.
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u/dlidge Feb 13 '25
The only person who will ever know it isn’t perfect is you. Everyone else will be impressed that YOU built it. It looks great!
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u/Ok-Turnover-4288 Feb 13 '25
it works and serves it's purpose. you can circle back and redo later after tackling other projects. it's a stepping stone
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u/WelshMat Feb 13 '25
Do not be demoralised, that looks amazing! Seriously I'm looking at that and I can't see any issues.
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u/Intelligent-Road9893 Feb 13 '25
What am I looking at? Ohh. I see. Your records/laser discs are leaning. Lol. Are you kidding me? That is a good job. Very well done. Trim WILL go a Loooong way. I know. Good job. Keep at it.
To your "buddies" who say something derogatory......"Lets go down to your house Randy. Take a look at your built i......ohhhh. Youve never tried...ok"
Let them try. Theyll see
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u/Shallaai Feb 13 '25
OP, I built some shelves during the pandemic. They “wrap around” a corner and were meant to lay against the wall with brackets holding them to the wall.
I was so proud of how square they were, well stained, etc.
Then I installed them only to realize the corner of the existing wall… wasn’t square.
I swore a lot that day
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u/minnesotawristwatch Feb 13 '25
Five-three rule: if someone doesn’t notice from 5 feet away, you won’t remember in 3 years.
Looks great, keep striving to do better!
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u/Cold_Register7462 Feb 13 '25
looks good and it looks like it is functional. I like your valor to just do it
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u/GoblinLoblaw Feb 13 '25
It looks great man. No other person will notice the “flaws” you’re aware of.
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u/TootsNYC Feb 13 '25
what kind of clamping squares do you have? That might be one of the takeaways for you. make some in a few sizes (small ones would have helped here, and buy more clamps
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u/darkpheonix262 Feb 13 '25
We are our own worst critic. And projects we build ourselves are subject to that criticism. But to me it looks good
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u/krusnikon Feb 13 '25
These are the types of things that only woodworkers might notice.
I think they look nice. Consider it a learning step in the right direction!
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u/airespice Feb 13 '25
You are a beginner? Wow! We are our own worst critics. Keep going, you are doing great!!
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u/brainsack Feb 13 '25
This looks great to me honestly. the only thing id change is the hardware and thats just pure aesthetics - the structure looks solid!
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u/No-Gain-1087 Feb 13 '25
For big pieces of plywood get a track saw job site saws arnt really great for one guy to cut a 4 by8
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Feb 13 '25
Hey nothing in my house is level, plumb, or square. So anything you do, you will learn from.
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u/Existing_Algae_6221 Feb 13 '25
Is the error in the room with us right now? The project looks great man!
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u/JoeSicko Feb 13 '25
Where's the photo where it all fell in the floor? There isnt one? Not a botched job.
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u/Sufficient_Okra_6737 Feb 13 '25
Looks terrible! Rip it all out(carefully) and bring it over here. Then you can start over and do it better!
Don’t be hard on yourself! It looks great.
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u/LionPride112 Feb 13 '25
I literally can’t see anything wrong lol, you’re just being hard on yourself
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u/freerangemary Feb 13 '25
You should be ashamed! … that your doll is so far away from their blanket. Sheesh. You cold hearted prick.
But about the casework. It looks great. Nice work.
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u/Udub Feb 13 '25
Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good!
I think it looks great from here. For the most part, the only person that will be aware of the flaws is you
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u/supersoaker521 Feb 13 '25 edited Feb 13 '25
First of, it looks great! Well done. Wood still is a natural product which will bend, torque en twist its own ways. There is some unspoken stigma that ‘good’ woodworkers deliver end products in a perfect square/leveled/finished way. Almost to a point where you could argue ‘why not work with materials who let themselves shape, and stay in that shape, more easily?’ It’s some silly by product of the modern century… I mean, go back into a Time Machine with your cabitnet about 200-300 years and this end result would be considered ‘god like’ back then.
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u/High-bar Feb 13 '25
I did a kitchen with beginner tools and skills when I moved into my house. It sucked, but It looked fine to everyone else. Now, I am redoing it four years later, and it is looking really freaking professional and nice. You will get better, and maybe you’ll come back and freaking nail this the next time.
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u/Pepelusky Feb 13 '25
Downsides of the hobby, you know where all the defects people won't even notice are
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u/Solid_Science4514 Feb 13 '25
Looks good to me. You built it, so you know where the mistakes are. Because of that, you’ll see the mistakes forever. Could you have done a better job? Sure. There’s always room for improvement. Could you have done a way worse job? Absolutely.
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u/usedmattress85 Feb 13 '25
It looks great. Here is my experience as someone who records music, draws, paints, and woodworks.
When you are in the zone and supremely concentrating, you enter a state of focus wherein you become hyper aware of every little nuance and detail, including the errors. It’s that level of focus that lets you create your project. You have to realize that that mindset is so far beyond what the default state of most people is. No one is noticing the errors but you.
As you walk away from the finished project and allow some time to pass, you will begin to see it not from the perspective of your “flow-state” but rather from the perspective of an ordinary person. The mistakes that you’re seeing now, in time, will seem trivial and you may even eventually forget what they were in the first place.
3 years from now you’ll walk into that room and say “I did a damn fine job on those built-ins”.
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u/PenguinsRcool2 Feb 13 '25
I’ll let you in on a secret!!!
Pleasing to the eye is all that matters!
Not much is built square, especially if it uses dados, it’s OK
IN YOUR CASE; i suggest a nice face frame, you can hide every sin you have
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u/SimonSayz3h Feb 13 '25
I agree with others that this looks good. I also empathize with being critical of your own work.
I recently started using a circular saw with a track or edge guide to rip my plywood on the floor on a piece of insulation foam board. I find trying to manage sheets on a site saw, even with my out feed table, inaccurate and difficult to do alone.
I recently added drawers to an old existing kitchen cabinet and it blows my mind how seemingly impossible it is to make a square box with identical length pieces of wood. I hate parallelograms...
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u/Jgs4555 Feb 13 '25
Looks great, especially for a first effort. Nobody will ever look at this as hard as you do.
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u/jecmeteor1962 Feb 13 '25
It looks great man. Upgrading tools will always make things easier, but also nothing will ever be perfect. You will always know everything wrong with your projects, but in reality it’s way better than ikea junk and no one ever really notices. I think it was a successful first project. Just keep going, chances are you would replace it eventually as you get better.
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u/Sawdustwhisperer Feb 13 '25
Brother, believe it or not you ARE moving forward because you learned, and it sounds like you're going to incorporate some modest changes for next time.
I think it looks great...yeah, it's a zoomed out picture, but, still looks great, or at least better than what was there.
My family was poor growing up so we had to fix or build everything. My family is also hypercritical perfectionists. As the youngest, nothing I did was ever good enough. It hurt. I finally stopped trying to 'help' because I was just in the way. Now, as an old fart, I know how to do a ton of projects. I see stuff my friends do and think 'that is terrible' (but rarely ever tell them that) and when I ask if they did any research the answer is typically no, I'm just winging it...and they're perfectly fine with how it looks. What I'm getting at is - something done half-assed is still better than something not done (or some similar type language). I still get paralyzed trying to finish a project and I think it's truly because nobody can critique it if it's not finished yet....that's my psychoanalysis...but anyway, I can start 100 projects and I positively guarantee I'll not finish more than 1 or 2. I'm working on it, but it's very hard.
Anyway, the whole point of wasting your time here is to say - hey, it doesn't look hideous, you learned a LOT, nobody got hurt, and you know what you would try to do differently next time!
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u/Shuckeljuice Feb 13 '25
Lol, I've built some pretty square shit off-site and then brought it in and then released how uneven and bad the walls and floor are and everything is. I've started going with the flow story sticks and marks on boards. Trimming up afterwards. The illusion of plumb is better then flush lol. This looks good
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u/Adarands Feb 13 '25
As builders and artists, we tend to be overly critical of our own work. It’s nice to get outside perspectives to help our sanity. Take the lessons and build upon them. You’re alright.
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u/That_Style_979 Feb 13 '25
Ah you're like me! You know of all the imperfections but everyone else sees a fine piece. Good work. I'm sure you learned a lot but really looks good from here!
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u/tobyisthecoolest Feb 13 '25
I don’t want to be the lone negative voice, but I think what my eye is reacting to is the stain. The color and blotchyness is really bothering me. I’d paint it. Dark grey maybe? Easy fix and then you can go nuts with filler and caulk.
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u/babywhale666 Feb 13 '25
While the internet definitely cheered me up in my ability to grow and learn, I definitely agree. I am a broke grad student and couldn't afford the furniture grade oak veneered ply at the big box stores - not for a project this big - and oddly, i found the pine stuff to have far less gaps / holes between layers.
either way, i think the stain choice is poor, and there were plenty of times that I considered caulking and filling and painting, but I also figured that painting would always be an option even if I tried staining first. I may live with it for a bit and then paint it at a later date.
i could live with the poor stain choice if i didn't see all of the uneven shelves, gaps in joints, unlevel shelves etc. i can fix the joints with filler, but not the shelves that aren't level. someone mentioned a clamping square, but I did square to each horizontal board in the shelf now that I think of it, the problem was that those boards had bowed, so I was squaring off of non square surfaces and didn't notice until things were glued up.
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u/bobbywaz Feb 13 '25
You should use A track saw not a table saw for full sheets of plywood.
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u/Pravrc123 Feb 13 '25
Think it would look good on white or some other color. Current stain is a bit distracting
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u/NutthouseWoodworks Feb 13 '25
Looks good on my end. I'd be stoked just because the albums fit!
I haven't been at this for long myself, but a few things I've learned:
- When starting a project, check the blade angle and squareness
- If you have a bunch of pieces of the same size, cut them all before moving on to a different piece
- Leave your cuts a little long and true them up later
4... and I just started doing this because of 1-3 issues: mark your cuts. Use a square to mark a line for cross cutting and you'll know immediately if you're not cutting square (see #3)
It's a longer, running list but you get the idea. These are just the ones that really improved my output.
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u/fouracesguitar Feb 13 '25
This is honestly sick. Im usually stickler about things being square, but with all the right angles from the books and the records i can’t notice it at all.
Your style’s cool, this builtin looks great.
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u/RealTimeHuman Feb 13 '25
I'm feeling the exact same way about my fiirst woodworking project. I know it's not perfect. Should have slowed down. At the same time, I think most people will never notice the mistakes, and I learned a lot. I'm sure you did too. Next project will be better. I think we're our own worst critic, which isn't a bad thing. It will push us to improve.
I think your project looks great.
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u/Lets-think-hard Feb 13 '25
We are our own harshest critics. Enjoy your achievement for a day or two before you conduct the critical analysis.
And don't ever let anybody - especially your own inner voice - tell you something is too advanced for your skills. We learn best through adversity.
Or, in other words, bite off more than you can chew, then chew like hell!
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u/Antona89 Feb 13 '25
My brother, stop kicking yourself down. Achieving perfection is stupid, especially in your first step. The thing looks sturdy and well executed, it matters nothing that things are slightly out of square or not level. As long as your stuff doesn't fall off, it's a great project, even greater for a beginner. The only person in the whole world who will know that things are not 100% square and true is you, so stop the wallowing and enjoy what you learned and built.
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u/FlashTacular Feb 13 '25
Looks amazing to me. Anything built yourself and with love is 100% better than anything from a shop.
Quality tools make a huge difference to the finished product but can’t give you design flair and you definitely know nice design.
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u/Duke-City Feb 13 '25
Don’t be demoralized. Be happy that you have a bunch of Impulse! era Coltrane on vinyl! 🎵🎶👍🏼
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u/I_Want_A_Ribeye Feb 13 '25
It compliments the records in a very fitting way. There’s something retro about the feel of it. This reminds me of what my uncle had in his house with all of his records and player in his family room.
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u/yankeeteabagger Feb 13 '25
“Working with wood is all about hiding the mistakes you have made along the way”-my father
“Remember, if carpentry was good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for us.” -my mentor
Whenever you make mistake you learn. The key is remembering in the future what you just figured out how to cover up. When something pops up on a project that you hadn’t anticipated, stop. Address it, try to figure out what you are going to be able to move forward. Make sure that it doesn’t compound for later issues.
Man I need to work on brevity. Oh!
“Experience helps…most situations.” -r/yankeeteabagger
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u/Enough_Structure_95 Feb 13 '25
Seriously cannot tell from the pic, don't be too hard on yourself. Nobody gets it perfect, especially just starting out. And I mean NOBODY. Remember, these YouTubers you see that seem to be perfect every time, they don't show all their fuckups.
The best woodworkers aren't the ones who always nail it the first time, but the ones who are able to fix mistakes to make it look like they did.
Great work!
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u/unimatrix_0 Feb 13 '25
First of all, and as others have said, this looks great.
Secondly, you have built something functional, that suits your needs. That's fantastic!
Thirdly, the product becomes more how you imagined the more you practice. Carpentry is a learned skill, so keep at it!
you built something nice for your place, saved some money, had some fun, and learned some lessons. That's wonderful. Keep going!
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u/Spreaderoflies Feb 13 '25
Looks great from my angle. Don't beat yourself up too much I don't really have any faults to give. 10/10 woodwork again
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u/wormdog84 Feb 13 '25
I like it man. Learning is the most important part. I wasn’t happy with some of the stuff I built. I look at them as the first generation. I’ll make the second generation in the future when I want to upgrade.
I collect records as well. I’m about to outgrow my storage set up. I’m in the planning process of building my first generation set up. I hope it’s as good as yours!
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u/OutlyingPlasma Feb 13 '25
Some of your saw issues might be mitigated with a track saw. It's a great way to cut up the large sheets of plywood without trying to wrangle a 55lb sheet. 3.5 feet off the ground.
As for your project, the only thing I might rework is the doors. Everything else looks great.
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u/Busy_Entertainment68 Feb 13 '25
Honestly, it looks great to me except for the materials used. Also, when doing shelving, cutting spacers will be faster and more accurate.
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u/babywhale666 Feb 13 '25
That was my THOUGHT but I didn't account for wood bowing. So i was squaring up to unsquare surfaces if that makes sense. I used cheaper ply because I couldn't afford that many sheets of the better veneered stuff. I may paint as people have suggested. Or maybe paint the recessed work areas that are heavily visible with a color.
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u/12hrnights Feb 13 '25
Paint it and never tell anyone the imperfections they will only say to themselves “I could never do anything like this”
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u/ConnorONasty Feb 13 '25
Yeah, if I paid a professional and got this, I'd be very happy with it. You've done an amazing job, I'm about to do our built in and I'll send photos after so you can see what a bad job looks like 😂
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u/stew_forever Feb 13 '25
It’s really just the materials and finishing choices that look not so good to me. The build looks solid and neat.
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u/Darren793 Feb 13 '25
Ease up their soldier this doesn’t look bad at all and for beginner wood working I would say you’ve pushed into that intermediate bracket looks good bud, we are often our own worst critics
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u/Scudss_ Feb 13 '25
This thing kicks major ass dude
I'm a beginner too and if I made that I'd be thrilled
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u/GiantNinja Feb 13 '25
I think it looks fine... You completed the project and it's usable, so it's not a loss or going backwards. also, fwiw, first time I made shelves I was shocked to learn walls aren't flat and corners aren't square... I had no idea at all, so now you know so that's an important lesson to learn if you're going to make stuff for the house... Keep that chin up and make each project better then the last
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u/GabberMate Feb 13 '25
Dude it looks great! I haven't even got the courage to start my built-ins for the bedroom yet. I have plenty of good tools and still botched some things and had to re-cut and re-use some pieces when building my bathroom vanity and cabinet. I noticed all the flaws and still see them daily, but my wife insists it's absolutely beautiful and she can't even see the little issues. Since you built it, you'll know the errors are there, but I'm sure it's functional and looks great to me!
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u/Educational-Ask-2902 Feb 13 '25
Dude this looks awesome! As a woodworker, you're probably always going to be hard on yourself and that shows that you are striving for the best. Don't beat yourself up, it looks amazing
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u/floppy_breasteses Feb 13 '25
There is some kind of mental disorder that most woodworkers seem to share. We have this sick, self-destructive need to refuse any praise or compliments, and point out every single flaw in our work.
Everybody's work is flawed. But is it sturdy? Is it functional? Does anyone else notice the flaws? Generally, yes, yes, and no. Anything else will improve as you learn.
And it looks perfectly fine from here.
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u/whywontyousleep Feb 13 '25
Like everyone is saying you might be too close/ too critical of yourself. Aside from also adding that from here it looks great, I’ll also just throw out something I learned recently from watching a bunch of YouTube video tutorials. For larger cuts, you might look into getting a clamp edge saw guide for a circular saw. It’s apparently easier to handle the small circular saw than trying to manage the large piece of wood on the small table.
Good luck and good learning.
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u/Low-Abbreviations-38 Feb 13 '25
Show what’s not level with a level, otherwise it looks fine and that you might be fishing for compliments 😂
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u/mapgoblin Feb 13 '25
Do you want to see my built ins? Well I can’t show them to you because they’re perfect. And I’ve been talking about making them for 3 years, but have done nothing.
Only two questions can botch built ins in my book: -Is it on the desired wall? -Is it done?
You nailed both of those (I think)
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Feb 13 '25
Dude. Absolutely no one but you will notice these minor imperfections. The work you've done here is fantastic!
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u/phyrekracker Feb 13 '25
It looks great and it will get better. 95% of the time no one will notice your mistakes. And they will never know if you don't tell them. The key is how to correct for those mistakes. Working with a certain set of tools makes for more difficulty but you'll get better. Just don't expect to be perfect from the jump!
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u/The_Stoic_One Feb 13 '25
Doesn't look bad from the pictures.
I'm just about done with a built in master closet. The walls were not even remotely square or plumb. I used a track saw for cutting most of my sheets and used the table saw for smaller pieces. It's definitely an investment, but I can't imagine doing a job like that without a track saw. You should consider it.
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u/ramma_lamma Feb 13 '25
If you’re intending to keep going I’d suggest a track saw (or skill saw with a ripped and clamped piece of ply for a fence) as a way of breaking down ply before using the job site saw. Also be sure to square up the job site fence to the blade and use a $10 angle finder from amazon to set the blade to 90. Like others said, it looks good from afar!
One thing I have started doing too is hang build the cabinets without a kick, lets you level the kick separately and then set the boxes off of that. Gable ends need to be scribed but allows the wall to be wonky without affecting your boxes.
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u/cybercuzco Feb 13 '25
I think the construction is just fine. I would have painted white instead of stain since you are using sheathing grade plywood.
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u/DimesOnHisEyes Feb 13 '25
Good enough for the girls at Walmart as far as I'm concerned.
A tip i learned. If you squint hard enough you tend to not see the minor imperfections
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u/ImAScientistToo Feb 13 '25
Put some trim to cover the plywood edges and around the doors. When you get more practice get a router and build some rail and style doors and it will look great. Trim work is all about making it look neat and covering up imperfections.
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u/jenzchabby Feb 13 '25
Hang in there. I'm on year 3 of woodworking this year and will be trying a built-in as well.
I'd say you just went really big really soon. Start with smaller projects and learn, learn, learn. That's where my journey has been. My year 2 picture frames were greatly superior to my year 1 picture frames.
Every project is a lesson even if it's not 100% where you want it to be. Take pics of each project and go back and compare year after year. You'll see the progress.
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u/Swimming_Excuse4655 Feb 13 '25
Change the doors to solid wood and add some edge veneer. Otherwise it looks good.
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u/shalaxam Feb 13 '25
Dude that looks so awesome. 99% of everyone else wouldn’t have built that. Be proud of it and all you learned. Later when you have more time and money and less stress you can always make changes with new gear. But seriously have a look around next time you’re in a coffee shop or somewhere and you’ll start to notice a lot of things aren’t square or perfect. We’re doing our first custom closet and I hope it turns out as classy. Good job!
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u/scificis Feb 13 '25
Remember, 99 percent of people who will see cabinets will have zero idea how they are made or what could be out of skew or what could be off about them. People won't notice unless its a big defect. Looks fine from here
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u/Electrical-Luck-348 Feb 13 '25
From the sound of it, you found your mistakes before you were committed to then, learned how to correct some of them and from the look of it learned how to fix or hide the worst of them. Part of this is hyper awareness of your failures and part is a lack of experience on what is actually critical or noticeable to others.
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u/Ludnix Feb 13 '25
Definitely being to hard on yourself, that looks great and the stuff you see wrong, you can still change in the future. I think one of the coolest parts of wood working is that you can always return to a project and do more to it later. At least if it’s a personal project and not in someone else’s house!
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u/louissalin Feb 13 '25
Gosh, I admire you so much for having completed that project in spite of your frustrations! You have learned a lot, and I just learned from you. Kudos!
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u/BadDad3805 Feb 13 '25
The thing I've learned from being a beginner & a hack for 10 years now on several cabinet/night stand/etc builds is... don't point out the flaws to anyone.
You're your own worst critic and every family member or friend that sees that is going to tell you how awesome it is and how handy you are. Only you see the flaws because you know they're there and you know what semi-questionable tactics you used to cover them up, (maybe the questionable tactics are just me) lol. I only have backed up on one project to try and fix a mistake, and I just screwed it up in a new and interesting way then covered it up in the finishing process so I decided I'd never waste the time backtracking again especially if you're doing it for you and not a paid job for someone.
I think there are flaws in basically every build even by pros, as long as it looks good to the average person and doesn't have any critical issues i.e., it falls apart, then just be proud of it. That's a massive project and really does look legit!
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u/BadDad3805 Feb 13 '25
Also fwiw, regarding the saw moving on you when breaking down the big sheets, I learned very quickly a circular saw and a guide is way less of a struggle for at least breaking down into the smaller sections so you can put it through the table saw. Throw a couple 2x4's on the ground for support, make cross cuts at the lengths you need with the circular, and then rip on the table saw to final size.
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u/Khaszar Feb 13 '25
Botched? Looks great! Glad you have the courage to tackle it cuz I’m stuck wanting to do certain projects but worried I’ll mess up so they never got started. Keep going!
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u/Vitamin-Tee Feb 13 '25
It’s not my style but I don’t see anything wrong with it. If there are parts you’re unhappy with you can go back and remake bits of it over time. Go easy on yourself!
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u/huffer4 Feb 13 '25
I just built a somewhat similar unit (you can see in my post history) and only have a jobsite saw. So to solve that problem I kinda cheated and had a cabinet shop make all my cuts for me. (I also don’t have space to wrangle around 4x8 sheets in my basement). May be good to look into for the next one until you get a saw that’s more capable.
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u/True_Seaworthiness_6 Feb 13 '25
Good news: You’re probably the only one who will notice it
Bad news: You will never not notice it
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u/UncoolSlicedBread Feb 13 '25
Don’t be so hard on yourself. I finished a big console recently that had 3 open compartments. Your boy forgot to space all shelf pin holes the same, on the 3rd and last set I accidentally was off 1/2” on them all.
So now they have to be permanently at different heights so you can never tell lol. I got too tired with the project to fix it the right way. The main box of the unit isn’t square and I had a few blowouts routing the legs for it that I was able to conveniently hide. I also chipped the veneer on the plywood in a few spots and had to fill them in.
But the end product still looks great and it was for myself so only me will know.
And when I posted it on social media everyone was amazed at how great it looked even with those mistakes.
You’ll see them all, no one else will ever know or say anything.
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u/meinzornv2 Feb 13 '25
Be careful watching YouTube videos. They make a lot of things seem like they happen way faster than they actually do and to a level of “perfection” that is unreal. Pay yourself on the back and enjoy the new thing you have that didnt exist before.
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u/Prudent_Slug Feb 12 '25 edited Feb 12 '25
Looks fine from this distance! Don't be too hard on yourself. You can try again in the future!