May 24, 2012

Impromptu gathering of three great minds in Cincinnati

Witness The indefatigable Schwarz, Dr. Wilbur Pan, and the great Frank Klausz (clipped from a short video):

Left-to-right: The Schwarz, Dr. Wilbur Pan, and Frank Klausz.

The Schwarz requested Wilbur’s help with Japanese hand planes, and Wilbur obliged. Then Klausz joined in, and provided the following thought toward the end of the gathering – I transcribed from a short video I filmed while this happened (you must wait for the full content, most likely on Wilbur Pan’s blog, giant Cypress):

…I don’t know who is going to do all these things by hand… So, when you see somebody younger, cutting all these things by hand, you just wanna to see – this thing is not gonna die. (And, turning to The Schwarz, pointing a finger at him:) If YOU guys keep doing what you’re doing (my read: the Woodworking in America conferences), it’s NOT gonna die…

Frank Klausz
At impromptu gathering
Woodworking in America 2010 – Cincinnati

Frank Klausz, during impromptu gathering: "...it's NOT gonna die..."

The Cincinnati edition of Woodworking in America provided a number of these gatherings. I missed most of them, but this one was quite special.

Al Navas

#39. WIA: Advanced Dovetailing with Frank Klausz

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Run time: 1 hour, 51 min., 47 sec.

Frank Klausz returns in this episode on Advanced Dovetailing, to share how he makes half-blind and mitered dovetails. He shares tips that are crucial to get excellent joint fit with a minimum set of tools. I filmed this during his wonderful session, at the Woodworking in America hand tool conference in Berea, KY.

The session opened with Klausz talking about his background, and his search in America for “…others who made dovetails like his grandpa made them, back in Hungary…”. He later told the audience he has made “… a total of 12 of these, and now is getting ready to make his 13th mitered dovetail joint…”

Pins-first is the order of the day when making both, the half-blind, and the mitered varieties of dovetails. Klausz also uses a sharpened pencil to mark the tails from the pins; and, from the Pins vs. Tails dovetailing videos I filmed during his first session, white glue is what he uses to assemble the dovetails. He considers white glue a great stress-remover when the time comes to glue up dovetail projects – the longer open time of the white glue is good for these, he says. Of course, he is right.

If you decide to download the video: The file size is 570 MB. It will take a while, depending on your connection speed.

Relevant posts:
Woodworking in America: Pins vs. Tails, with Frank Klausz

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# 31. WIA – Dovetailing: Pins vs. Tails, Part 3

Download Quicktime (*.mov)
Run time: 17 minutes, 04 seconds

In this episode Frank Klausz discusses the importance of undercutting below the base line, and his preference for cutting both pins and tails flush with the boards. Roy Underhill introduces the concept of “bishopping”, which involves leaving the pins proud and using a ball peen hammer to “spread out” the protruding wood to make the fit appear better than it truly is.

Later, both present several variations on the dovetails:

  1. Half-lapped (or half-blind) dovetails: Look carefully inside this joint, as “there is room to undercut in every direction”.
  2. “Secret” mitered dovetail: Most of the joint is concealed, so it is impossible to determine how “clean” the joint may be. Frank Klaus will cover more on this joint, when he actually cuts one in the Advanced Dovetailing session. I will also have this session on film.
  3. In one segment Roy Underhill calls himself “The Rhinestone Wood Guy” – to the delight of the audience.
  4. The Puzzle Dovetail, done on the diagonal.
  5. The Rising Dovetail, used to hold mallet heads and highlighted on the workbench in use for this session.
  6. The Swallow Tail dovetail – I am not sure if this one is accurate, but it is on the video. Klausz and Underhill agreed that this one is truly a scarf joint. And I believe it is a very interesting joint. Layout involves careful work with gauges, etc.

A short discussion ensued on chisels suitable for dovetailing work. Most important: Sharp cutting edges, and beveled edges, to allow the chisel to get in tight quarters! When asked about the best angle to sharpen the chisels, Klausz answers, true to form: “The angle is SHARP!”

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