For most woodworkers, especially those with the convenience and expedience of power tools, a step stool is a weekend project, if not a half-day project. For me, it’s looking like it will be a 2- or 3-weekend project, if I’m lucky. But I am really enjoying the process and continue to learn every time I approach the piece.
Today I cut the dovetails. I had already marked them last week so it was just a matter of putting saw (and chisel) to wood. I was quite pleased with how they turned out:
I then started on shaping the legs. I only had it in me to do one side, since my coping saw is a real piece of junk and I don’t know if it can do any more. After cutting a squiggly line with the coping saw, I cleaned it up with my spokeshave, and here’s what I got:
You can see the little arc on the bottom that I will cut out next. Then to repeat all that on the other side, and finally to do the wedged mortise and tenon for the center support.
-- Eric at http://adventuresinwoodworking.com
7 comments so far
Scott Bryan
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8490 posts in 264 days
posted 55 days ago
Eric,
This is coming together pretty well. Even though this is not a complicated furniture project putting together something like this using only hand tools and skills is pretty impressive.
-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.
Beginningwoodworker
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351 posts in 115 days
posted 55 days ago
Thats look real good, Eric.
-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker
lew
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902 posts in 198 days
posted 55 days ago
Those dovetails turned out great!
Lew
steveosshop
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178 posts in 68 days
posted 54 days ago
Nice hand cut dovetails. Looking good man.
-- Steve-o
teenagewoodworker
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1932 posts in 211 days
posted 54 days ago
great job on the dovetails! i have that same problem with my coping saw, its a piece of junk but here the spokeshaves really cleaned up that curve and it looks great! thanks for the post!
rikkor
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7112 posts in 317 days
posted 54 days ago
Great job on the dovetails. You are doing nice work, keep it up.
-- Maplewood, MN
Blake
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1874 posts in 317 days
posted 54 days ago
This is a neat project, I am glad you are blogging the process. Its great to see what you can do without power tools! It really makes the rest of us check ourselves and not take the electronics for granted. Those dovetails look great.
-- Dust collectors suck.