My brand new dovetail jig decided to have a meltdown mid-project

I was cutting some walnut drawer fronts yesterday, everything was going smooth. Then the guide bushing just SNAPPED clean off and shot across the shop like a bullet. It took me a solid hour to find it behind my dust collector. I had to finish the last three drawers by hand, which was not the plan. Has a tool ever just EXPLODED on you guys for no clear reason?

4 comments

4 Comments

caseywalker1mo ago

Had a brand new orbital sander catch fire once. It was making a funny noise, then POOF, actual flames came out of the vent. Guess it REALLY wanted to be a belt sander. Spent the rest of the day airing out the shop and feeling like a total goober for buying the cheap one. Tools just giving up the ghost is the worst kind of surprise.

ivanp781mo ago

Heard about cheap tools doing that, @caseywalker.

kevinallen1mo ago

Read a story online about a guy whose cheap angle grinder basically exploded into a shower of sparks. Makes you wonder what they're putting together in some of those factories. That story from @caseywalker about the sander going full flamethrower is just the perfect example, isn't it? Seems like the race to make things cheaper just ends with us buying the same tool twice. You get what you pay for, but sometimes you pay with your whole afternoon cleaning up soot.

kevin_williams1mo ago

Saw a video last week where a budget drill motor just smoked itself out mid-project. That story from @caseywalker really lines up with all the junk out there now.