Spent $400 on a custom jig for curved glass and it saved my sanity on a weird old house job.

The homeowner wanted a perfect reproduction of a single, oddly arched window pane from 1923, and after two failed attempts with my usual methods, that jig let me cut it right on the first try, so what's the most you've ever spent on a tool that felt like a gamble but totally paid off?

4 comments

4 Comments

matthewwilson21d ago

That bit set probably matched a standard profile, not a worn one. Those old mills kept their cutters sharp and replaced them often. The real trick was finding the exact original profile they used.

maxl9321d ago

Dropped almost a grand on a stupidly specific router bit set for making old school crown molding. Felt like a total idiot until it let me match the original trim in a Victorian renovation without a single gap, the homeowner cried they were so happy.

nathankim21d ago

Actually those old moldings weren't always fully custom, they often used standard profiles from local mills. But the cutters wore down over time, so each house ended up with its own slightly worn-in version. Your expensive bit probably matched that exact worn profile, which is why it fit so perfectly. That's the real magic, lol.

paige16621d ago

Wasn't there an article about how those old moldings were basically custom in each house? Makes sense the right bit would feel like magic.