19 Sep
Hand-cut dovetails - my first results
Posted in Blog, Dovetails, Hand tools by Al (Sandal Woods)This might not seem like a big deal to many of you. But to me, it is huge! The following photos show the first hand-cut dovetails I have ever produced:
Recently I started working, and practicing, to be able to cut to a line. Although I have improved in this area, I still:
- Must refine how close to the line I saw, and
- Be careful not to overshoot the dovetail depth, or it shows immediately.
In this instance I cut the tails first, and used the Kerf Kadet marking knife to layout the pins from the tails. Although this worked nicely, I left too much material on the pins, which resulted in an exceedingly tight fit. At this point I had only one choice: Use sharp chisels, and do some paring to get a good fit of the pins to the tails.
I overdid the paring in the three pins, and it shows in the top photo: I did not hold the chisel perfectly flat, and the pin looks funny on the tip; for the middle pin I also overdid it, and created a gap that shows on the bottom edge of the pin. And the same goes for the top pin. Grrr!
In the profile shot I show that both pins and tails are a little proud of the surface, as it should be. I will be able to take this down with a block plane. But this photo also shows that the tails are resting perfectly square on the pins board, which was a concern I had while chopping the sockets on this board. However, using a nice, square block perfectly aligned with the layout mark helps keep the chisel square to the work piece.
End result: I need practice, then some more practice, followed by additional practice. As a result, I will be making little boxes, in preparation for small drawers for the Krenov-inspired cabinet. And *now* you know the rest of the story.
.
.
Shannon
on September 20 2008
Al,
I have enjoyed watching your journey on hand cut dovetails. I envy your dedication to practicing sawing to a line and the persistence with which you stoned your saw to get it just right. Obviously this post shows that all of that paid off.
This is an incredible first attempt! If you pay attention to some of the recent writing of The Schwarz and Adam Cherubini you should feel very proud as these dovetails are cleaner and tighter than many of our 17 & 18th century counterpart would have ever done. I think I am sold on that marking knife you are using too.
Great work!
Shannon
“The Renaissance Woodworker”
Al (Sandal Woods)
on September 21 2008
Shannon,
Thanks! I appreciate you following along, and especially the contrast with some of the 17th and 18th century dovetails. I have also been reading with much interest The Schwarz and Cherubini’s tales of old - fascinating! I am slowly evolving, to incorporate hand tools into my work, to allow me to achieve results impossible with only power tools.