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6K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  NewPickeringWdWrkr 
#1 ·
First Hand Cut Dovetails

So, as a part of Marc S' "Woodworkers fighting Cancer" guild build of the shaker table, I decided to treat the project as a skills builder regardless of how the end product turns out. If it gets trashed, then I'll start again!

The drawer called for a half blind dovetail, but we were by no means bound to follow that suggestion. So, here's my first attempt at half blind dovetails! Not great, but despite the gaps, it was still a tight fit on the first try!

I don't own a specialty saw like a dozuki, so I had to make the saw cuts with my hacksaw (the thinist kerf I could find). I should have cut further into the waste area.

I have decent chisels however, but my technique caused me to lever some of the chips out in such a way that caused a dent in the tail board. Oops.

I figure if the table survives (I'm sure it will at this point), I'll fill the gaps with some CA glue mixed with sawdust then sand smooth.


 
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#2 ·
I think they are very well done. I haven't tried half blind dovetails yet. I am still working on regular dovetails, but I do have a Dozuki and I really like it. It just takes a bit of getting use to how it works. Now that I 'get' it, it has become my favorite tool.
 
#3 ·
nice work! mine (first and so far only) were a little sloppier, having used the ryoba, which is NOT the tool for this job. i figured with the dozuki things would go much better. the extra support of the back - or in your case the frame of the hack saw is important for such sensitive cuts.

i cant say anything about the shark brand, but the irwin ryoba (i think they call it a double sided pull saw or something - they're afraid of the japanese names, apparently) is an excellent value for the $15 i paid for it. They also make a modern type dozuki with a supported back.

my guess is that unless you go really $$$, all the lower end japanese style saws are going to be the same. Im guessing that they simply heat and quench the tooth metal without tempering… which makes them stay sharp for a long time, but also makes them brittle. for me, the beginner, it's worth it. certainly better than any other type of $20 saw you can find.
 
#4 ·
Clock Project - Mortise & Tenons galore

They say that there's nothing like practise to make you better at a skill.

My cousin's wedding is in June, and I decided in my new wood working glory to make a wedding present for them. After consulting my wife, we decided that building a clock would be a nice gift. So I spent some time searching the project archive here on LJ's, and around the web. Saving pictures to the hard drive so that I could go back and forth to choose without having to bookmark the various pages that I liked.

I saw the design for the Slat Clock on Klockit, but wasn't interested in paying for it. So, I got to drawing it up in Sketchup. Here's what I came up with:


The slats will be made of purpleheart and the top/bottom borders plust the face will be maple. The slats will be joined to the top/bottom and to the rear part of the face by mortise & tenon. That's 20 mortise & tenons! I did make some on my shaker table, but these are going to need to be a little more clean as the eye will be drawn to them by virtue of the change in species of wood at the joints.

Here's the slats. I've milled them down to the same thickness, paid attention to grain patterns and clamped them together when cutting the length. I also have used my Veritas wheel marking gauge to ensure that the tenon length is the same on all pieces.


I'm using the table saw to cut my tenons and then I will make the mortises by hogging out the material with a forstner bit and fine tuning the fit by chisel.

Wish me luck! Oh, if anyone's interested in the plans, I'm happy to email them to you.
 
#8 ·
Clock Project - Resawing, Bookmatching Panels

Okay, I took a break from the Slat clock to make a Spagnuolo Contemporary Clock and that was an adventure in mitres.

After taking some time to reorganize the shop and do a cleanup, I got back at the Slat Clock that I've been working on.

My plan calls for a 8 1/2" clock face and the material I had chosen is maple as I picked some up at a discount from a retired table maker. The score on that buy was that it has some minor spalting in some areas. At least I think it's spalting. Feel free to leave me a note if you think otherwise after reviewing.

Problem is, the boards I have are only 6" wide. I was thinking about how to make an 8.5" panel, surfing the web, and came across references of bookmatching. Intrigued, I decided to try it out. I have a 6 or 7" delta bench top bandsaw (which i picked up used) with a 5" resaw capacity. After getting a new blade (3/8×4TPI) and setting it up, I tested it on a scrap of walnut. Hoo boy, I never realized how slow I would have to feed it in. I stalled out the motor numerous times (0.2 HP) and the end result was variied. You could see the tracks in the wood wherever the saw stalled out. It actually looked like rough cut lumber.

So I tried again, and yet again one more time and I managed to get through a scrap without stalling out the saw on the 3rd try. It looked adequate to my needs and I had even managed to get the drift angle right on the first setup.

So, here's my attempt at resawing and how the face looks after glue up. I have put the pieces all in approximate layout under the face so that you can see how it's going to all come together later.


The black line going through the face is the spalting I mentioned above. It moves on an angle through the board and seems to be confined to one set of growth rings. I really like the mountain look however. All of the maple pieces are cut from the same board.

Thanks again for reading. Comments or suggestions as always welcome.
 
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