# First hand cut dovetails



## Johnboy (5 Jul 2005)




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## Philly (5 Jul 2005)

Nice work John!!
Practise makes perfect when it comes to dovetails.....DAMHIK :lol: 
Philly


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## dedee (5 Jul 2005)

Well Done John,
The concentration levels really ramp up when you do all four corners for acomplete box. Even with the waste marked it is possible to chop out the tails  

Andy


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## Alf (5 Jul 2005)

=D> Excellent stuff, John. Who's words of advice did you draw on? Cosman? Kirby? Klaus? Philly...?  

Cheers, Alf


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## Gill (5 Jul 2005)

We can be our own harshest critics sometimes. Those dovetails may not be perfect but the inaccuracies are so minor as to be practically negligible. I'd be proud to own up to them.

You've done good work there, John, which is all the more impressive for it being your first attempt at dovetails. Well done!

Gill


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## Anonymous (5 Jul 2005)

Lovely work John. If you hadn't pointed out the tiny defects, then I wouldn't have noticed them

Best of luck with the box


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## Johnboy (5 Jul 2005)

Thanks for the kind words.

Alf, no specific advice really. Just reading here and in magazines. I liked the idea by Cosman to cut them to size with the saw with no paring so that is what I tried. I couldn't quite get them together straight from the saw so had to fine tune them a bit but hopefully practise will cure that. I obviously need a much better saw, marking out saddles, veritas mortice gauge etc, etc.  

John


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## Philly (5 Jul 2005)

John
Yeah-a great excuse to buy more tools!! :lol: 
If its any help I have some step-by-step photo's on my website.
http://www.philsville.co.uk/step-by-step_projects.htm
Cheers
Philly


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## Johnboy (5 Jul 2005)

Thanks Philly, that is just about how I cut them except I chiselled out all the waste as I don't have a coping saw. Another tool to buy. I presume that the saw in your pictures is the Lie-Nielsen dovetail saw?

John


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## Philly (5 Jul 2005)

Yep-a real gem! :wink: 
Go on-sell that other kidney! :lol: 
Cheers
Philly


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## mudman (5 Jul 2005)

Philly":1il6zys0 said:


> John
> Yeah-a great excuse to buy more tools!! :lol:
> If its any help I have some step-by-step photo's on my website.
> http://www.philsville.co.uk/step-by-step_projects.htm
> ...



Hmm, so now that Philly has gone a bit quiet on the gloat front, it seems that he's producing step-by-step guides on how to buy the most gloat-worthy tools and maximise the gloatage. :shock: 
Or have I got the wrong end of the stick? :wink:


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## Philly (5 Jul 2005)

No, about right Barry! :lol: :lol: 
Philly :lol:


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## Alf (5 Jul 2005)

Johnboy":1ff0bmm4 said:


> I chiselled out all the waste as I don't have a coping saw. Another tool to buy.


Quite a few folk, including myself, have _made_ a mini-bowsaw coping saw - another Slope to consider. :wink: 

Cheers, Alf


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## Johnboy (6 Jul 2005)

*Alf wrote:-*


> Quite a few folk, including myself, have made a mini-bowsaw coping saw - another Slope to consider



Interesting, do you have a link to piccies,details etc.

Philly, so many tools, so little time.

John


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## Newbie_Neil (6 Jul 2005)

Hi John

Well done. I'd like to be able to do that.

Cheers
Neil


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## Alf (6 Jul 2005)

Johnboy":kr9fz0fa said:


> *Alf wrote:-*
> 
> 
> > Quite a few folk, including myself, have made a mini-bowsaw coping saw - another Slope to consider
> ...


Well I can't find _all_ the examples that I know are out there, but for a start:

http://www.geocities.com/plybench/bowsaw.html
http://hrothgar.cwru.edu/tools.html
http://www.wdynamic.com/galoots/4images/details.php?image_id=1758
http://www.wdynamic.com/galoots/4images/details.php?image_id=1706
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=3100
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=12368
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=15162
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=19919
http://www.woodcentral.com/cgi-bin/handtools.pl?frames;read=61029

You'll find a few "Smalserish" saws in there; although they're strong, they lack the elegance of the string tensioned type for my money. You'll also notice mine isn't amongst them; it's not a thing a beauty and wouldn't inspire you one bit.  

Cheers, Alf


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## Midnight (6 Jul 2005)

Nice job John... something to be well chuffed with..


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## Johnboy (8 Jul 2005)

Thanks for the links Alf, it never occured to me to make a minature wooden bow saw. I agree about the string tensioned type looking much more elegant, the wing nut on the "smalserish" saws looks totally out of place to me.

Don't be shy about yours, you show me yours and I will show you mine(when I get it made) :lol: 

What is used for the string? Nylon cord perhaps?

John


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