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Derek Cohen
09-22-2009, 10:41 AM
Further to recent posts on sliding dovetails ....

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Joints/Sliding%20Dovetails%20II/21Slidingdovetail-completed2.jpg

I have updated the article on my website ..

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/SlidingDovetailsbyhand1.html

Always interested in critique.

Regards from Perth

Derek
RickT Harding
09-22-2009, 12:01 PM
Derek, you make it look entirely too easy.

I really love the look/idea on the sliding dovetails and I guess I'll need to work on some of those guides to try it out.

Thanks for the pics/how-to
Jim Koepke
09-22-2009, 2:30 PM
Thanks Derek. I have been looking for an article like this for years.

I have tried to do sliding dovetails with little success a couple times. It is the repeatability of the operation that matters I guess.

jim
harry strasil
09-22-2009, 3:39 PM
very nice tutoral Derek, the only thing I do different is test the female part with a short tail section to see if it slides thru all the way and to check for tight spots.
Mike Henderson
09-22-2009, 4:08 PM
Wow - That looks really difficult. Makes you appreciate powered routers.

Mike
John Keeton
09-22-2009, 5:13 PM
Whew!! I am worn out just reading thru the article!! Can't imagine doing a bunch of those by hand - just don't guess I am dyed in the wool neander:o
mike holden
09-22-2009, 5:18 PM
Derek,
Looks just the way I was taught.
The only thing I have to add, is that I was taught to use a chisel as a scraper on the male dovetail to adjust the fit. Darn things expand unequally and there is always a high spot to remove just before glue-up.
Mike
Zahid Naqvi
09-22-2009, 5:58 PM
nice write up as usual. I always enjoy reading your tutorials. So do you apply glue at final assembly
harry strasil
09-22-2009, 9:34 PM
Mike, I made a tool to do that with, LOL
Derek Cohen
09-22-2009, 10:29 PM
The only thing I have to add, is that I was taught to use a chisel as a scraper on the male dovetail to adjust the fit. Darn things expand unequally and there is always a high spot to remove just before glue-up.

Hi Mike

Harry has made so.me amazing tools to tuning sliding dovetails (among the vaste number of creative tools he has made).

I need to add in a few items that I take for granted that now I see others would benefit from knowing about. For example, it pays to chase the base of the tail (the male section) with a sharp knife to get rid of any sides not cleanly cut by the nicker. For fine tuning I will use the dovetail plane or the #79.

Harry has a modified depth stop for the #79. .... Harry, does your mod include an angle (for the dovetail - this is what I plan to make), or is it square?

The other point of note is that I leave the pin/tail intersection at the front of the cabinet a little tight. This gets punched in to make a tight fit. I plan to plane it all down later as well. Zahid, you asked about glue - I do use glue: the front end is the important area to do.

Regards from Perth

Derek
harry strasil
09-23-2009, 12:52 AM
Derek, I got my 79 with no depth stop with mine, so I made A depth stop from stainless steel angle and then made the 20 degree guide from 12 ga SS sheet, if you vigorously brush it with a wire wheel, it looks similar to stanleys castings that are nickel plated. the screws were turned on a lathe from SS rod.
william scott
09-23-2009, 1:21 AM
Harry, what does that tool look like from the other side? What's holding the blade in?
harry strasil
09-23-2009, 5:26 AM
If you look closely at the keeper, its split in the middle, its a 1/4 in rod split down the middle and formed around the blade, the other end is threaded and its got one of my shopmade, rams horn wing nuts to tighten it.

I love those type wing nuts, so I make them for all my homegrown tools.

I looks just like this one on my little Thumb Router.
william scott
09-23-2009, 9:02 AM
If you look closely at the keeper, its split in the middle, its a 1/4 in rod split down the middle and formed around the blade, the other end is threaded and its got one of my shopmade, rams horn wing nuts to tighten it.

I love those type wing nuts, so I make them for all my homegrown tools.

I looks just like this one on my little Thumb Router.

Thank you! Now it makes sense what I'm looking at. That's an interesting idea for holding a blade in place.