Fast dovetails

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Alf,

Those mitred dovetails look good. Makes a very neat job.

Secret mitre d/ts are good fun too, so why not have a go? The great thing is that the only parts that need to be spot on are the mitres and the shoulder lines. Small lapses in the dovetails do not show!

There are very detailed descriptions in my first book, page 75....

The advantage of a book is that you can play it at any speed......

David Charlesworth

PS if you dont have the book I will be happy to send you one.
 
If anyone in the UK wants to learn how to do them live, venture down to Hartland and attend one of David Charlesworth's course's. The standard there is second to none.

That said I think Rob Cosman's DVDs are excellent as well.
 
Mitred dovetails do male a neat job of hiding a grove.

DSCN0104.jpg


I would happily recommend all of David C's books.

might have a go at a secret mitre dovetail, or a double twist dovetail soon

JHB
 
Cheers, David. I do have your first two books, ta very muchly. Much thumbed. :D Not sure about secret mitred d'tails though; I recall Chris (waterhead37) and his carving tool box which used them and thinking the man's mad. Brilliant, but mad. Gadzooks, that was back in 2004. :shock: Tells you what an impression it made on me.

Ooo, proper job there, JHB.

Cheers, Alf
 
jhwbigley":11di7nj5 said:
Mitred dovetails do male a neat job of hiding a grove.

DSCN0104.jpg


I would happily recommend all of David C's books.

might have a go at a secret mitre dovetail, or a double twist dovetail soon

JHB

Them's dovetails. Outside of the tree-inside of the box.. :wink:
Nice, nice, nice.
John
 
Well Alf, I'm sorry I can't persuade you. It is a very satisfying joint, just a series of different techniques.

Of course being mad helps but is not entirely necessary......

That tool chest is very nice indeed.

best wishes,
David
 
Aaaargh! I can feel myself slipping; have hopelessly low resistance to a challenge. *pulls book from shelf behind her* I'm just looking, you understand. This means nothing. 8-[
 
What was the advantage of using that chisel with the dovetail shaped blade, its depth of cut could be restricted and a quarter to three eigths chisel with mitred sides would do it just as well?
 
devonwoody":15hvcc9p said:
What was the advantage of using that chisel with the dovetail shaped blade, its depth of cut could be restricted and a quarter to three eigths chisel with mitred sides would do it just as well?

Yebbut it`s another tool to own, :D
 
Rob, as seen as you're commenting. You really ought to come clean on why you've an appliance like the one mentioned on your workbench :)
 
Hi Woody,

I believe it's designed for the final cleaning out of the sockets of a lap dovetail.

That was my understanding from the Blue Spruce site, where they have a special fish-tail chisel too. (At a price!)

HTH

John :)
 
....an expensive way of doing a simple job!! If you really struggle with ordinary chisels, get into the corner easily (and cheaply) with a Stanley knife.

Mike
 
jimi43":4jmehhip said:
So who sells those chisels? :p

I have a couple of old ones...somebody Iles on the label...I might try to grind them to that shape!

:wink:

Jim

You mean Ashley Iles.?

He resharpens chisels foc. :)
 
Jim,

The Blue Spruce chisel for cleaning out sockets is available here:

http://www.classichandtools.com/acatalo ... isels.html

But you can probably have as good a chisel if you take a nice, worn down old Marples 3/4", then grind it into the shape that Rob Cosman has in his YT vid.

Asley Isles make a good pair of Fish-tails, right and left skew. Again they are not cheap; and as Mike says, a Stanley knife will work.

I've always made do with a smaller chisel that will get into the corners. But then my dovetails were always done in a rush! :oops:

Regards
John :)
 
-one chisel instead of two (right and left skew)
-line of force is straight on instead of angled, easier to pare hard wood
-sides are sharp to undercut fibers left on the side of pins, makes it much easier to pare the pin sides.
cheers
Rob
 
robcosman":3jvmrnla said:
-one chisel instead of two (right and left skew)
-line of force is straight on instead of angled, easier to pare hard wood
-sides are sharp to undercut fibers left on the side of pins, makes it much easier to pare the pin sides.
cheers
Rob

Supporting the argument that a dovetail chisel needs to have the side bevels as close to the edge as possible, almost like a knife edge.

Makes sense to me, but eventually my chisel rack runs out of spaces! :lol:

Cheers
John
 
Benchwayze":2fd5rxvl said:
Makes sense to me, but eventually my chisel rack runs out of spaces! :lol: John

....but every single woodworker on the planet has a Stanley knife or a pocket knife........
 

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