Fast dovetails

[Paul Chapman]

I think some of you are reading stuff into this that isn't really there. It all started with Frank Klausz who (for a laugh) did some very fast dovetails using a bow saw. The clip ended up on youtube (I think). Rob Cosman rose to the challenge and did some through dovetails even faster (also for a laugh). He has now produced these half-blind dovetails very fast - continuing the theme.

He then ends by saying that with good tools, the right tuition and plenty of practice, anyone can cut dovetails. He doesn't make any claims that the ones in the clip are the "proper" way to cut dovetails or that the be-all is speed. It was just a bit of fun...........

I think you'll find that in his DVDs he does it "properly".

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[pedder]

Hi Paul,

you are right here. This clip is not a teaching video. Maybe it's PR for his saws? He shows his method in a very fast video.

I saw his dovetail video and that is great. The right speed of teaching and working for me. Some others show it a little to slooooooooow for me. :wink:

Cheers Pedder

 

[Mr Ed]

I think some of you are reading stuff into this that isn't really there. It all started with Frank Klausz who (for a laugh) did some very fast dovetails using a bow saw. The clip ended up on youtube (I think). Rob Cosman rose to the challenge and did some through dovetails even faster (also for a laugh). He has now produced these half-blind dovetails very fast - continuing the theme.

He then ends by saying that with good tools, the right tuition and plenty of practice, anyone can cut dovetails. He doesn't make any claims that the ones in the clip are the "proper" way to cut dovetails or that the be-all is speed. It was just a bit of fun...........

I think you'll find that in his DVDs he does it "properly".

Cheers :wink:

Paul

Well done Paul - you've saved me typing all that, as I was going to make the same points!

to look at the video and believe that Rob is saying this is how one should always cut dovetails is akin to watching a Formula one race and stating you could not drive like that when you go to the shops.

In my view he's a very skilled craftsman and I personally have learnt a lot from his material, but this is just meant as a bit of showboating.

Ed

 

[Alf]

I know what RC's dvds are like and I know what his demonstrations are like in the flesh, and heck, I do recognise something as a bit of fun when I see it. I'm just not entirely convinced some of the dafter practitioners of our craft are capable of drawing that distinction, and if it puts someone off then I think that's a terrible shame, especially given that RC has done so much to demystify the whole dovetail thing. S'all.

 

[Benchwayze]

I'm sure Rob Cosman is a fine woodworker, but like our Rob, I think this is 'show-boating'.

Also I agree with Alf. It could put tyros off before they start, if they believe they have to cut dovetails that fast. They looked tight, but badly proportioned. In a professional shop they would have been thrown in the wood-stove by the foreman.

However, that saw is sharp, and I'd like to try one. But I think I'd still prefer my Wenzloff.
:wink:

Regards
John

 

[AndyT]

With many jobs in woodworking, there are plenty of different standards to aim at and techniques to use.

What many makers on this site aim at is something that is spot-on accurate and looks precise, from every side. If it takes a while to make, that's ok when you are doing it for the fun of making it.

But have a close look at some ordinary handmade furniture - a Victorian chest of drawers for instance. You'll see evidence of lots of little short cuts that speeded up the work.

Rob Cosman shows us some - and misses others. Starting pins at zero from one placing of the saw is one such trick. Another is to take the saw cuts back beyond the gauge line to save a bit of chiselling. When making drawers, the tails would have all been clamped and cut together.

Apart from a gauge line, all the rest would have been done by eye - no messing about with bevels or templates.

I find it fascinating to learn about these techniques - which all get left out of school instruction and almost all of the how-to books.

 

[Alf]

What many makers on this site aim at is something that is spot-on accurate and looks precise, from every side.

What they aim for is machine precision. It's a potentially long old debate over whether that's what using hand tools is, or should be, all about.

 

[Modernist]

It all started with Frank Klausz who (for a laugh) did some very fast dovetails using a bow saw. Paul

Now that was impressive

 

[Paul Chapman]

It all started with Frank Klausz who (for a laugh) did some very fast dovetails using a bow saw. Paul

Now that was impressive

I agree. That bow saw he uses always looks so cumbersome but he does really accurate work with it. I suppose he's always used it.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[SDF]

Hello, hope I'm not butting in. This is my first post to the forum but I've been lurking for a little while.

Don't knock RC's efforts until you have watched this, it left me speachless:

http://www.woodworkingonline.com/2008/0 ... -pedersen/

Steve.

 

[jlawrence]

There's hope for me yet. Even I can make dovetails with gaps in like those - and that's supposed to be a demonstration by an expert ?

 

[jimi43]

I'm going to have a crack at dovetails pretty soon...simply because they are gorgeous to behold...

When I do I hope I don't have to listen to that voice (that did my head in) and do it in an elevator....(the music was so annoying).

I agree with Rob...I'm sorry but while it was fun and the saw looks gorgeous...it didn't do it for me at all.

I think it is a marketing stunt for his tools...no doubt he is a great craftsman...I wouldn't want to comment on that....but I have seen FAR better results from a lot of craftsmen here...now they DID impress me.

Jim

 

[ydb1md]

I thought it was a pretty interesting video. He definitely has ironed out his technique.

I'm surprised that no one's mentioned his choice in, um, bench appliances. My wife walked behind me and asked me what I was watching. Her comment was, "OMG, does that thing need batteries?" :roll:

 

[jimi43]

Puts a whole new meaning to the term "lignum vitae"!!!

Jim

 

[Chris Knight]

I doubt it's used a lot in Rob's house - he has something like 9 kids..

 

[Benchwayze]

I thought it was a pretty interesting video. He definitely has ironed out his technique.

I'm surprised that no one's mentioned his choice in, um, bench appliances. My wife walked behind me and asked me what I was watching. Her comment was, "OMG, does that thing need batteries?" :roll:

I must have missed something. Bench appliances? :duno:

John :?

 

[woodbloke]

I thought it was a pretty interesting video. He definitely has ironed out his technique.

I'm surprised that no one's mentioned his choice in, um, bench appliances. My wife walked behind me and asked me what I was watching. Her comment was, "OMG, does that thing need batteries?" :roll:

I must have missed something. Bench appliances? :duno:

John :?

John...get a grip (but not literally :lol: :lol mallet handle! - Rob

 

[Benchwayze]

#-o


:lol:
Cheers Rob!

 

[Alf]

I'm not saying anything at all. Nope, not one word. :-#

 

[Benchwayze]

Ok.... I did once own and ride a Honda 50!

John