Dovetails show the craftsman

[Corset]

Dovetails show the craftsman or so they say. I can only conclude this is correct as i am no craftsman and my dovetails are a mess. I have been making a box which is 40cm x 20cm x 12cm in solid walnut which i have jointed together. The opening for the drawer will be about 8 x 16 so the drawer will be sort of a4 in size.
I made the first box no problems except the joint were very loose but i have manged to hide with glue fillets sawdust etc. On the second box i spent a long time marking out and accurately cutting to the line etc so the joints were very tight (you may see where this is going) and decided to fit once (a la rob cosman) so i glued together tonight and they went together ok but.... They creaked and i now have a twisted box the opening is square and the rear is square but by sight i can see twist (its a big thankyou to bessey for this little blessing). Due to the glue setting (titebond sets quick when you don't want it to) i can't undo it. So my big question is can i correct the warp with a big plane or is it the woodpile?? I am not sure what i have done wrong as i checked all the measurements.
Perhaps it was a cumalitive error please help.

 

[PowerTool]

Any chance of some pictures? - it is probably not as bad as you think (I think we all tend to be over-critical of our own work)
And it might be easier doing some in softwood (e.g. pine) for some more practice (easier to work with,and cheaper if it doesn't go how you planned)

Andrew

 

[Corset]

Will post pictures tomorrow at moment it is just clamps with hint of wood. I have been practising a fair bit inbetween the 1st box and this one. This is why the joints are much tighter and square. I thought they would go together well.
I think on reflection that the joints are all individually good but one corrner is slightly out of alignment with the others.
As to the bend, banana anyone!

 

[Waka]

Corset

Don't get disheartened by what you consider as failed attempts, keep at them and you will soon find that they improve. Just remember that practice makes perfect.

 

[syntec4]

Corset,
I'm still only five or six projects into my woodworking career. I have all of my dovetails that I have cut and I can see they are getting better everytime that I do them. However I am still very dissatisfied with with my latest efforts. I get the feeling I will never be 'totaly' happy with them, but maybe thats good as I will always try hard to improve.

I'll bet yours are are much better than you think, A bit of work with a plane with probably have it sorted. If that doesn't help don't throw anything on the woodpile, keep it as a reference to use for next time.

Put some pictures up, the experts round here will probably know how to help you get it spot on.

Cheers.
lee.

 

[Corset]

Right then. I am fairly happy with the joints individually. However when putting the box together they have warped it. I think i have a side that is not square or a set of joints are slightly forward are back to the other. Anyway the pictures are below. The box rocks when placed on a flat sevice and i would say the gap is about 2/3mm. Correctable???

 

[lugo35]

check each side for twist might be the wood has moved not your work

 

[Paul Chapman]

It is difficult to tell the cause of the problem from the pictures. Assuming you prepared the individual pieces well and there was no wind in the pieces, my guess from the description in your original post would be that one or more of the dovetails were not cut very well and, while the cramps pulled them together OK, in doing so they introduced a twist.

Experienced workers, like Cosman, can get away without test fitting. The rest of us probably can't

Anyway, don't get disheartened. As others have said, keep all your pieces and see how you improve with practice :wink:

Paul

 

[Corset]

I think i have found my fault. One of the side pieces is about 3mm forward of the rest of the pieces which i think has twisted the piece. After a bit of sweat i have squared up the sides with the plane. I will have to sand the the boxes which is a pain as i was hoping to plane them.
I don't mind making mistakes as long as i can find what i did wrong so i don,t
do it again. What annoys me is the dovetails themselves are my best yet but i messed up on squaring the pieces against each other, doh....
Anyway thanks for the help i am now going to knock up some drawers and see what the learning curve is here...

 

[Lord Nibbo]

I think i have found my fault. One of the side pieces is about 3mm forward of the rest of the pieces which i think has twisted the piece.

Just a thought, but were the opposite sides and the opposite ends both cut identical to each other before you did any marking out? and were the ends of each piece exactly cut square?

 

[Anonymous]

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[engineer one]

this is maybe the time to remember the old fashioned way of marking
out your parts so you cannot get them wrong, and then cutting the tails in
pairs until you get more confident.

basically they are pretty good, and maybe it is just that you demand too
much without too much practice.

keep trying it will come good. cosman did not get to do it well overnight.

paul :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

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[engineer one]

jacob,
reading the original post, it seems that his dovetails might not
be in line, so i was suggesting putting the two boards together
and cutting the tails on both boards, so they are in line,
then fit the pins to those tails.

it is one of the things that woodrat users know about and often
are advised to do.

paul :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

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[Wanlock Dod]

Jacob,

Believe it or not, it certainly didn't seem to be an obvious thing to me to cut the tails in pairs. I can assure you that the method I used last time I cut dovetails was a little different (i.e. I cut 1 joint at a time). I'm sure that you wont be surprised to hear that it was a rather poor affair. Still, we live and learn

I will endeavour to remember to follow this advice and cut in pairs next time. Whilst I'm sure it still won't make mine perfect I am hopeful of an improvement.

Cheers,

Dod

 

[Anonymous]

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[Corset]

Just a quick note. I cut the tails in pairs as described but i think when i cut the pins one of the boards must have slipped forward/back a bit pusing the pins out a bit. A basic error but i will try not to do it next time. :?

 

[Colin C]

Hi Corset,
There is one way to stop the movement, is to put some small pins throughthe bit in between the tailsso that you cut them out when you remove it.
Just make sure you put them in so you can cut around them