Got a weird piece of advice from an old timer at a yard sale

I was looking through a box of old router bits at a yard sale in Portland last spring and this guy in his 70s saw me checking them out. He walked over and said something like "you know, half the time the bit ain't the problem, it's the rake angle of your feed." I had no idea what he meant at first so I asked him to explain. He grabbed a scrap piece and showed me how a shallow angle on the feed can tear out grain on oak where a steeper one leaves it clean. I've been doing cabinets for 8 years and nobody ever broke it down that simply for me. Has anyone else had a random stranger teach them something major about woodworking?

2 comments

2 Comments

rayc831mo ago

I think that's how most good advice finds you, right when you're not expecting it.

simonreed1mo ago

Hold on, wait. Are you saying you actually got good advice randomly and it actually worked? Because every time someone tells me something I didnt ask for, it's like my uncle telling me to invest in beanie babies back in the 90s. Man, I just got some unsolicited advice last week from a guy at the bus stop about fixing my car with duct tape and it messed up my whole exhaust system. Maybe your luck is way better than mine.