A Couple of Dovetail Markers

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

I've been struggling with flu this weekend but too restless to take it easy for long. It's at times like this that I enjoy a one-day project and I had just enough concentration left for this one.

I have been using a Woodjoy dovetail marker for the past couple of years. It is a very well made and compact marker ... but a little too compact and fiddly to be my ideal marker.

What I wanted was something less complex and more substantial. My first attempt was to make this one out of Jarrah. The ratio is 8:1

This is a great dovetail saddle ... but it lacks bling! Surely that is the First Rule of Dovetail Markers - they must have bling. Soooo ...



A nice piece of Tasmanian Blackwood and a length of brass.... and we have this... Ratio 7:1 (I always wanted a 7:1).

And for proportion, here are the three dovetail saddles together:

Thanks for looking.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Philly]

Very nice, Derek!
Hope you feel better ASAP,
Philly

 

[Alf]

Sheesh, would that I could make something nice like that when I have 'flu. #-o Get well soon, Derek. Have you tried sacrificing the Bling for clear plastics? Not as pretty, but it's nice being able to see what's where underneath my dovetail gauge, I find. Incidentally I'm a 1:7 dovetailer too - why do all these commercial makers shun us so? :lol:

Cheers, Alf

 

[Paul Chapman]

Very nice, Derek.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[DomValente]

What a beautiful piece of work.
Congratulations.

Dom

 

[tnimble]

Very nice, well done.

Get better soon

 

[Anonymous]

Lovely work Derek, especially the piece of Tasmanian Blackwood and a length of brass.

Makes my home-made cedar one look fairly cheap and nasty

 

[TonyW]

Great looking - loads of bling, nice wood and brass and dovetails on a dovetail marker really nice and classy.

Cheers
Tony

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Alf asked:

Have you tried sacrificing the Bling for clear plastics?

I am not that sick!

Timberwolf (Jack) on WoodNet has produced a few gauges in a clear plastic. I can see their potential. On the other hand, one of the reasons I have been making a few gauges like this is because I find that the brass helps enormously.

This was especially apparent with a saddle square I made a little while ago. I don't think that I posted it here ...

When you need to slide the side of a square up against a pencil line, the brass makes it so much easier to see and register accurately. By contrast, a black side (such as on my LV saddle square) is hard to read.

I wonder why 1:7 (or should that be 7:1?) is not more popular? Only LN sell one, as far as I am aware. I think it has a nicer balance than 1:8, which can look quite skinny.

Tony, sorry about that :lol:

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Alf]

Alf asked:

Have you tried sacrificing the Bling for clear plastics?

I am not that sick!

Oh I am. :lol: Dovetailed, naturally :wink:

Cheers, Alf

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

That is a very clear message, Alf. :roll: (Oh God I must be very ill to use such a poor pun!)

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[engineer one]

as usual derek nice and nicely made too.

so why 1 in 7, for both soft and hard woods?? what are the advantages???

are they as strong or is it aesthetics, (boy i can spell occassionally :roll: )

don't you find your clear ones very big and unwieldy alf :?

paul :wink:

 

[Alf]

Paul, it's only about an 1 1/2" wide, so no.

Cheers, Alf

 

[engineer one]

ok so that's nice then, but what about the angles??? :?

paul :wink:

 

[Alf]

Ooo, sorry, forgot about the angles. #-o Unlikely to be Derek's reason I'd guess, but mainly I opted for it 'cos it's the main angle for dovetails on the 'Rat and as I liked the look anyway it seemed daft to futz around with 1:6 and 1:8. Of course with dovetails it all boils down to the look 99 times out of a hundred and it may be that in certain cases it may look wrong - so I'll use something different. But it serves my needs thus far.

And I notice I've wronged LN - they offer 1:7.

Cheers, Alf

 

[engineer one]

ok. that makes sense :twisted:

i guess you could say it is a compromise for both kinds of wood.
paul :wink:

 

[pam niedermayer]

...Have you tried sacrificing the Bling for clear plastics? Not as pretty, but it's nice being able to see what's where underneath my dovetail gauge, I find....

Alf, that's exactly what I suggested on another forum (Derek spreads his cheer). Great minds....

And before some curmudgeon accuses me of copying you, I copied it from Kingshott.


Pam

 

[bugbear]

A nice piece of Tasmanian Blackwood and a length of brass.... and we have this... Ratio 7:1 (I always wanted a 7:1).

Thanks for looking.

Regards from Perth

Derek

But how did you mark those dovetails ???

BugBear (impressed)

 

[Alf]

Great minds indeed, Pam. Wouldn't like to say who I copied it from - I think ever since clear plastics were available woodworkers have seen the uses for it. I do know I was consciously copying Rob Cosman with the gauge design itself, but working it from the solid seemed so wasteful and from there t'was but a short step to a sliding dovetail and thence to plastic.

Derek does indeed spread himself, even when ill. Generally I try and skip commenting on cross-posted threads as a mild form of protest - after all no-one writes back in reply to round-robin letters at Christmas, do they?

Cheers, Alf

 

[bugbear]

This is a great dovetail saddle ... but it lacks bling! Surely that is the First Rule of Dovetail Markers - they must have bling. Soooo ...

Did someone say bling?

BugBear