Brian, they are looking a lot better than my early attempts at dovetails.
jtk
Contributor
Brian, they are looking a lot better than my early attempts at dovetails.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Contributor
Plane your cutting lines off and then resend a photo. Bet they look even better than they already do.
David
[OP]
Member
It's been a while since I've posted on this thread and I've kept busy with a few various projects, all the while practicing dovetails during down time. My latest are here:
IMG_2786.jpgIMG_2785.jpg
I think they are by far the best I've done so far. I'm a perfectionist so I'll keep practicing these until I feel like I can be consistent enough not to get into a project, mess up, and have to start over with it. Incidentally, I took advantage of the scrap I used to make the grain continuous from piece to piece - not sure if that is a thing when dovetails are involved (I've seen it on mitered corners) but it was easy enough to implement as part of the practice.
In the mean time, I've kept myself busy with a blanket ladder for my wife (I cheated on this and used my miter saw and pocket screws). Finished with brown mahogany gel stain and several coats of arm r seal - aside from some blotching (you live, you learn) which doesn't look terrible it turned out very nicely:
IMG_2776.jpg
Not sure how to rotate the photos in a post - it is in the correct orientation on my computer but for whatever reason when I upload it turns it on its side.
Also, I have made a few phone cradles out of some scrap flamed maple I got from my brother-in-law (too small for much anything else). I dimensioned the material by hand but did cheat and used a router to chamfer the edges and make the groove the phone sits in. Apologies for the blurry photo but I really like how the figure in each one stands out....I'm finishing them in Danish Oil and will likely top that with a few coats of arm r seal for protection. The table top stand mentioned below convinced me for the time being at least to stick with non-stain finishes and just start working with wood that is already the color/tone i'm looking for in the finished product.
IMG_2783.jpg
Additionally, I've been working on a table top music stand/book stand - all hand worked with half lap joints for the center column & top and bottom and mortise and tenons for the smaller supports. I really enjoyed learning these techniques and feel like it turned out pretty well - I did practice each of the joints on scrap once before I did so for this project. It is currently in the process of being finished and I'm not thrilled with the stain which, as mentioned above, made me decide to stick with natural finishes - I'd rather work on improving my wood working skills at the moment than spend a bunch of time trying to figure out stain/finishes. Ideally I'd like to make another one of these out of some of the maple I just bought as I made this one mostly as a proof of concept.
IMG_2757.jpg
In the near future it is on my to-do list to try out shellac for the first time but my next project will be a split top saw bench so that I don't have to awkwardly rip lumber to size clamped to my workbench.11
Contributor
Looks good to me....you seemed to have gotten the hang of it
Contributor
It does look good.
Continuous grain can add appeal to a piece. It is a good practice to make in to a habit.I took advantage of the scrap I used to make the grain continuous from piece to piece - not sure if that is a thing when dovetails are involved (I've seen it on mitered corners) but it was easy enough to implement as part of the practice.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Contributor
Dovetails look good to me!
Your other projects are nice and very practical.
Welcome to the hobby!
Fred
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
“If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”
Friend of the Creek
Really well done dovetails, Brian! And pine isn’t always the easiest to work with. The wrap around grain is something I always try to do with mitered corners, but using it for dovetails is a great touch.
I’ve been playing with shellac for quite some time now. Search SMC and you’ll find a number of posts with great tips. A number of members here are very good at applying shellac. Practicing joinery and/or finishing gives a certain usefullness to all the scraps I just can’t seem to ever toss
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote