Today, I finished cutting the tail boards and started on the pins. This is easily the most frustrating part. Getting it to fit tight seems impossible to my current skill level. I get it to fit but the examples the instructor, Gary, does are impossibly tight. Also, he and his assistant have good eyes and tell us (all the students) what the errors are. To me, they look pretty good. Maybe a woodworker needs to grow into tight fitting joints after many less than tight joints (or maybe not).
We did get some pointers today.
- Even with hollow ground chisels with a primary cutting bevel, it is still a good idea to do a micro bevel.
- 25-30 degrees is the angle to use for all chisels even mortise chisels
- When fitting dovetails, palm pressure is the strongest you should have to hit it.
- When fitting dovetails, start the fitting process at one end of the pair of boards (much like a rolling interlocking of your fingers on your hand).
- When fitting dovetails, look for shiny wood where the two boards have rubbed together (for this, you need really good light) and that is where to trim.
- Alternatively, use graphite and coat the edge of the tails or pins and see where the graphite rubs off to determine the trim location.
- In fitting dovetails, a square (smaller is easier to use) is your friend.
- A sharp and long knife is great for helping to clean up the corners.
- When chiseling out the space between tails or pins, chisel a rough edge (this way you don’t have to be precise) about 1/8inch away from your marking line. On the other side, move to 1/16″ away (you have to be a little bit more precise but not absolutely) so that the other side is supporting this side.
- When doing the cleanup chiseling on the space between tails or pins, paring smaller shavings gets a smoother shoulder (THOUGH the inside of the space actually works with a small valley vs being flat AND won’t work if it has a bump).
It was tiring today probably due to the 105 degree temps but I am still learning a lot. Some of the learning is painful though.
