Well I had a few dovetails that I wasn’t happy with. I took my dozuki saw and carefully opened the ones I thought looked loose to a consistent thickness. The idea is to get a kerf that you can then shim with similiar wood.
I cut those shim strips on the table saw with a zero clearance insert from cut offs from the sides. It was still a little thick so I sanded it a bit and then used a chisel to break off short shim stock. Then I slide a small piece with a bit of glue on it into the side of the kerf. Filling the kerf is a two step process so I was only trying to get the side of the dovetails to look good.
Next I trimmed those shims flush with a block plane and chisel. Now I’m ready to fill the top of the kerf. I carefully measure how wide the shim needs to be, trim one corner so it can sit properly in the kerf, a little glue and slip it into place. Just finger pressure is all it needs. After the glue dried, I trimmed these by placing a chisel blade down low and breaking off the shim so there was only a little bit that needs to be trimmed with the plane.
A little planing and sanding and this baby is about done. Here’s a quick wipe down with mineral spirits to check it out before putting some Danish oil and wipe-on poly on. Jersey will be eating dinner out of here in couple of days.
-- Every cloud has a silver lining
6 comments so far
GaryK
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8183 posts in 377 days
posted 98 days ago
One of the signs of a good woodworker fixing booboo’s.
-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.
rikkor
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6465 posts in 263 days
posted 98 days ago
Coming along nicely. Great save.
-- Maplewood, MN
kenn
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57 posts in 108 days
posted 98 days ago
Thanks guys, I thought after looking around a bit, maybe it’d be good to show that dovetails can be done. You just need a little patience and willingness to stick with it. Of course once I started this blog, I had to show the good and the bad and the ugly. A couple of coats of finish and this one is done.
-- Every cloud has a silver lining
Grumpy
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3804 posts in 240 days
posted 98 days ago
Nothing like a good coverup Kenn. We could call this one ‘woodgate’. Nicely done.
-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python
Scott Bryan
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7769 posts in 210 days
posted 98 days ago
Kenn,
Thanks for showing how to repair dovetails. I hope to put that info into use, if I can ever learn to cut them. But “fixing” them is the mark of craftmanship.
thanks for the post.
-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.
brianinpa
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210 posts in 111 days
posted 98 days ago
I have burnt many mistakes in the fire place over the years that could have saved. Thanks for the tip!
-- Brian, Lebanon PA, If you aren’t having fun doing it, find something else to do.