Just realized my workbench vice was lying to me after that talk with the old man next door
My neighbor who restores motorcycles stopped by while I was clamping some oak for a shelf. He pointed at the wobble and said 'that vice was never square, you've been fighting it since day one'. I checked with a straight edge and yeah, it's off by almost 1/8 inch from the factory, and I've used it for 2 years without noticing. Hit me that every crooked joint I blamed on my technique was half the tool's fault. Anyone else had a setup that was secretly sabotaging their builds without showing obvious signs?