Fast dovetails

[Paul Chapman]

:shock: :shock: http://blog.woodworking-magazine.com/bl ... n+651.aspx

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[PeterBassett]

Blimey...

 

[head clansman]

hi

wow impressive , oh my god was that saw sharp or what . hc :wink:

 

[jlawrence]

I'd be happy to cut half blinds in 30 minutes never mind 6.5

 

[Chems]

Saw this the other day and I thought that the wood must be butter!

 

[woodbloke]

The few times that I've bothered with RC haven't impressed me at all and this is one of them. As always, it's nice soft, squashy white pine that he's using (for both bits I notice) but although the pins were well cut, they were poorly proportioned as the slope looked far greater than 1:6, which is what he ought to have set them out at...setting the apex of the pin at zero also looks wrong (at least in my eyes). The end of the tails were also far too close to the front of the joint...proper convention sets out the end of the socket board in quarters. On his, it looks like there's about 3mm which is far too little.

What is clever is that he did it less than 7 minutes...but why?.. apart from showing us that he's a bit of a smart ar&e.

I'd like to see him do something like this properly using rock maple sides, correct 1:8 slopes on the pins that don't diminish to nothing (2mm is about right for adequate strength, which his won't have) and a decent bit of mahogany for the front.

If you're impressed by the speed, crack on :wink:...if you're not, look elsewhere for best practice - Rob

 

[SBJ]

The few times that I've bothered with RC haven't impressed me at all and this is one of them. As always, it's nice soft, squashy white pine that he's using (for both bits I notice) but although the pins were well cut, they were poorly proportioned as the slope looked far greater than 1:6, which is what he ought to have set them out at...setting the apex of the pin at zero also looks wrong (at least in my eyes). The end of the tails were also far too close to the front of the joint...proper convention sets out the end of the socket board in quarters. On his, it looks like there's about 3mm which is far too little.

What is clever is that he did it less than 7 minutes...but why?.. apart from showing us that he's a bit of a smart ar&e.

I'd like to see him do something like this properly using rock maple sides, correct 1:8 slopes on the pins that don't diminish to nothing (2mm is about right for adequate strength, which his won't have) and a decent bit of mahogany for the front.

If you're impressed by the speed, crack on :wink:...if you're not, look elsewhere for best practice - Rob

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: You've got to be joking, right?

 

[Kalimna]

Notwithstanding the structural/aesthetic/proportional issues you may have with this rather nippy video - would you recommend learning to cut dovetails both through and blind by using something like pine? Or would using hardwoods instill a greater degree of 'craftsmanship' for the complete DT Beginner (tm) (i.e. Myself)?

Your thoughts on a postcard, please,

Adam


p.s. for what it's worth, I thought it was an excellent taster of how do it.

 

[woodbloke]

The few times that I've bothered with RC haven't impressed me at all and this is one of them. As always, it's nice soft, squashy white pine that he's using (for both bits I notice) but although the pins were well cut, they were poorly proportioned as the slope looked far greater than 1:6, which is what he ought to have set them out at...setting the apex of the pin at zero also looks wrong (at least in my eyes). The end of the tails were also far too close to the front of the joint...proper convention sets out the end of the socket board in quarters. On his, it looks like there's about 3mm which is far too little.

What is clever is that he did it less than 7 minutes...but why?.. apart from showing us that he's a bit of a smart ar&e.

I'd like to see him do something like this properly using rock maple sides, correct 1:8 slopes on the pins that don't diminish to nothing (2mm is about right for adequate strength, which his won't have) and a decent bit of mahogany for the front.

If you're impressed by the speed, crack on :wink:...if you're not, look elsewhere for best practice - Rob

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: You've got to be joking, right?

No...deadly serious. This is not the way to cut good dovetails. The impressive thing is the speed, everything else leaves me cold - Rob

 

[eoinsgaff]

Has anyone tried out the Rob Cosman saw?

 

[SBJ]

Cutting dovetails is no different to any other joint, it's about accurate marking out and then cutting/paring to the line. As for being a beginner - you hit the nail on the head - practise. How you go about it is a personal thing, some like to make projects involving dovetails, others go down the repitition route. Personally, i used to cut a simple dovetail from scrap as a way of warming up (like an athelete might stretch) before starting other work.

At the end of the day it's about being comfortable with the tools in your hand.

 

[Alf]

I love Rob Cosman madly*, but at best that's just a party piece. At worst I worry it could give neophyte's unrealistic expectations and put them off for life when they can't meet them. Not really one of RC's best uses of saw and video camera.

*Just resist, okay?

 

[SBJ]

but at best that's just a party piece.

i think that's the idea - a bit of fun. It's so easy to become anal about these things, it's important to have a bit of fun. Especially if its only a hobby.

 

[David C]

Yes,
for the opposite end of the spectrum, my chisel use dvd goes significantly slower..........

David Charlesworth

http://www.davidcharlesworth.co.uk

 

[SBJ]

Yes,
for the opposite end of the spectrum, my chisel use dvd goes significantly slower..........

David Charlesworth

http://www.davidcharlesworth.co.uk

You're not wrong there! An interesting watch though (although it took me a couple of attempts before I worked out not to watch it late at night!).

Anything in the pipeline DC?

 

[jlawrence]

To be fair Rob's dovetail DVD's go a lot slower as well.
I think with dovetails you've just got to practice and find a method which suits you - in my case a heck of a lot of practice

Added:
I do have DC's courses on my wish list - whether swmbo will ever give permission is another matter.

 

[JeremyM]

I briefly handled the RC dovetail saw at Westonbirt last year. I liked it a lot and would be very happy with one. It is different to Adria/LN/Veritas the blade is a little longer and the brass back massive. The fine teeth at the toe did make starting easy with a nice length behind for continuing the cut. But not really at an affordable price in the uk for most and those who have put the practice in to learn how to saw by hand probably will gain little from the "starter teeth".

RC's shop manual on through dovetails is good and well worth the money IMHO.

Jeremy

 

[lurker]

Saw this the other day and I thought that the wood must be butter!

My thoughts were similar - Merican cheese wood with imitation growth rings.

To be honest although I'm bluddy hopeless at Dovetails, I bet if I spent a day praticing I could do that -repeating four more times & ending up all square is doubtful however

 

[wizer]

Yes,
for the opposite end of the spectrum, my chisel use dvd goes significantly slower..........

David Charlesworth

http://www.davidcharlesworth.co.uk

David fwiw, I enjoyed RC's dovetailing procedure as shown on his DVD and the couple of times I've tried it, it made sense. But I also found your DVD very useful in learning how to use a chisel properly, with skill. The combination of both make my most favoured woodworking DVDs.

 

[woodbloke]

I love Rob Cosman madly*, but at best that's just a party piece. At worst I worry it could give neophyte's unrealistic expectations and put them off for life when they can't meet them. Not really one of RC's best uses of saw and video camera.

*Just resist, okay?

Agreed Alf, it's a party piece, a bit fun. The problem is that people see this clip and think it's the right way to go about the business when clearly it's not. If RC slowed down a bit and did some serious stuff (maybe he does :duno: ) then what he does would be a bit more believable. As it is, this is just clever tosh which doesn't take a lot of unravelling.
I find that most of what he does seems to be centered around the 'speed,' or time element which to me at least seems a bit nonsensical. As hobbyist woodworkers the amount of frantic enery that he generates just seems a waste of effort, when to slow down and do the job properly would be far more meaningful - Rob