I've been hand cutting dovetails today with the LV dovetail guide i got for
christmas . The LV dovetail saw and guide (
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?SID=&ccurrency=2&page=41718&category=1,42884 )
are simply great. I've prefered to hand cut dovetails for some time cuz
setting up the router and jig to do it can be a real PITA. This jig (and a
good set of sharp chisels) made it much easier and more accurate than
before. In fact, I dare say now i can hand cut the dovetails for a couple
of drawers faster than with a router and jig, taking into account the time
it takes to set the router up (although if i had many drawers to do, i'd set
up the router jig). For me, the learning curve consisted of making a mark
on the jig for which side to use for the pins, and which side to use for the
tails. After that, i only had to make sure the teeth on the saw were
pointed toward the wood before i started making the cut ;)
I also got the LV sharpening jig and angle finder which i used to scary
sharp my chisels before cutting the dovetails. My hand planes are scary
sharp now as well. Don't know why i went so long without one of these, they
are simply EXCELLENT.
As some others mentioned, i too got the cabinet scraper 101 kit. To
date, i've been burnishing mine with an old push rod So far, I've had a
little difficulty in determining how hard and how many strokes to make with
the burnisher for a good burr, but have narrowed it down and have gotten a
good burr on a couple of them. I haven't spent a great deal of time messing
with it yet, but the goal for tomorrow is to refine the methods until they
work better. Any info would be appreciated. TIA --dave
Thanks for the advice! The LV burnisher doesn't need nearly as much
pressure to roll a good burr as the push rod i'd previously been using did.
Scrapers are A-1 now. --dave
"Rob Lee" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Dave Jackson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:S%[email protected]...
>> I've been hand cutting dovetails today with the LV dovetail guide i got
> for
>> christmas . The LV dovetail saw and guide (
>>
> http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?SID=&ccurrency=2&page=41718&category=1,42884 )
>> are simply great. I've prefered to hand cut dovetails for some time cuz
>> setting up the router and jig to do it can be a real PITA. This jig (and
>> a
>> good set of sharp chisels) made it much easier and more accurate than
>> before. In fact, I dare say now i can hand cut the dovetails for a
>> couple
>> of drawers faster than with a router and jig, taking into account the
>> time
>> it takes to set the router up (although if i had many drawers to do, i'd
> set
>> up the router jig). For me, the learning curve consisted of making a
>> mark
>> on the jig for which side to use for the pins, and which side to use for
> the
>> tails. After that, i only had to make sure the teeth on the saw were
>> pointed toward the wood before i started making the cut ;)
>> I also got the LV sharpening jig and angle finder which i used to
> scary
>> sharp my chisels before cutting the dovetails. My hand planes are scary
>> sharp now as well. Don't know why i went so long without one of these,
> they
>> are simply EXCELLENT.
>> As some others mentioned, i too got the cabinet scraper 101 kit. To
>> date, i've been burnishing mine with an old push rod So far, I've had a
>> little difficulty in determining how hard and how many strokes to make
> with
>> the burnisher for a good burr, but have narrowed it down and have gotten
>> a
>> good burr on a couple of them. I haven't spent a great deal of time
> messing
>> with it yet, but the goal for tomorrow is to refine the methods until
>> they
>> work better. Any info would be appreciated. TIA --dave
>>
>
>
> Hi Dave -
>
> Glad you're happy with the new tools...!
>
> As far as burnishing scrapers go - the most common "newbie" errors are -
>
> 1) Not preparing/squaring the scraper edge
> 2) too much pressure on the burnisher
> 3) too great an angle
>
> File the edge, and stone the faces of the scraper - you want perfectly
> smooth 90 degree corners to start with...
>
> You can burnish just fine with as much pressure as you'd feel comfortable
> applying with 1 hand...or - hold your burnisher between the thumb and
> forfinger of both hands (harder to apply too much pressure)...
>
> Start with angles of 5-10 degrees only....you should be able to feel a
> hook
> with your fingernail...
>
> It's a real "AHA" moment when you get it!
>
> Cheers -
>
> Rob
>
>
>
>
>
>
"Dave Jackson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:S%[email protected]...
> I've been hand cutting dovetails today with the LV dovetail guide i got
for
> christmas . The LV dovetail saw and guide (
>
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?SID=&ccurrency=2&page=41718&category=1,42884 )
> are simply great. I've prefered to hand cut dovetails for some time cuz
> setting up the router and jig to do it can be a real PITA. This jig (and a
> good set of sharp chisels) made it much easier and more accurate than
> before. In fact, I dare say now i can hand cut the dovetails for a couple
> of drawers faster than with a router and jig, taking into account the time
> it takes to set the router up (although if i had many drawers to do, i'd
set
> up the router jig). For me, the learning curve consisted of making a mark
> on the jig for which side to use for the pins, and which side to use for
the
> tails. After that, i only had to make sure the teeth on the saw were
> pointed toward the wood before i started making the cut ;)
> I also got the LV sharpening jig and angle finder which i used to
scary
> sharp my chisels before cutting the dovetails. My hand planes are scary
> sharp now as well. Don't know why i went so long without one of these,
they
> are simply EXCELLENT.
> As some others mentioned, i too got the cabinet scraper 101 kit. To
> date, i've been burnishing mine with an old push rod So far, I've had a
> little difficulty in determining how hard and how many strokes to make
with
> the burnisher for a good burr, but have narrowed it down and have gotten a
> good burr on a couple of them. I haven't spent a great deal of time
messing
> with it yet, but the goal for tomorrow is to refine the methods until they
> work better. Any info would be appreciated. TIA --dave
>
Hi Dave -
Glad you're happy with the new tools...!
As far as burnishing scrapers go - the most common "newbie" errors are -
1) Not preparing/squaring the scraper edge
2) too much pressure on the burnisher
3) too great an angle
File the edge, and stone the faces of the scraper - you want perfectly
smooth 90 degree corners to start with...
You can burnish just fine with as much pressure as you'd feel comfortable
applying with 1 hand...or - hold your burnisher between the thumb and
forfinger of both hands (harder to apply too much pressure)...
Start with angles of 5-10 degrees only....you should be able to feel a hook
with your fingernail...
It's a real "AHA" moment when you get it!
Cheers -
Rob