My book press was making a weird noise for a year

I just kept using it, thinking it was the wood settling. Then last month, my friend Sam came over to see my setup. He took one look and said, 'Dude, you put the press board in upside down.' I'd been tightening it against the smooth side, not the grooved side that's meant to grip. I flipped it and the noise stopped instantly. Has anyone else made a simple setup mistake that took forever to notice?

3 comments

3 Comments

lopez.quinn11d agoTop Commenter

Oh man, that sounds exactly like something I'd do. I built a whole workbench last summer and couldn't figure out why it wobbled so bad. Used it for months, just shoving a folded up paper under one leg. Turns out I never tightened the bolts on the leg braces, they were just sitting in there loose. Felt like a total genius when I finally saw it. That click when you fix the obvious thing is the best sound. What's the dumbest thing you've ever missed on a project?

pat_fisher2411d ago

How did you not hear those bolts rattling around every time you used it? I would have driven myself crazy with that sound. Honestly the paper under the leg trick is a classic move, I respect the commitment to the janky fix. My worst was spending an hour trying to get a new faucet to stop dripping before I realized I never took the little plastic washer out of the box. It was just sitting there the whole time.

bettyroberts11d ago

My buddy Dave once spent a whole weekend trying to figure out why his new dryer wouldn't heat up. He was checking the vent, the breaker, everything. He even called an appliance repair place for a quote. Turns out he never pushed the dryer all the way back onto the little plastic shipping block that locks the drum. It was just sitting there clicked in place, stopping the whole thing from working. He felt like a total champion when he finally spotted it.