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.
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