Two Lawyers meet Moxon and Josh

[Ray Gardiner]

Hi All,

I'm a bit late posting this, but better late than never. Earlier this year I purchased my "dream dovetail saw" Yes, it's the Two Lawyers Tools ebony handled dovetail saw made by Klaus and Pedder, made to the supplied hand measurements it's just a delight to use, you don't really want to put it down once you pick it up... So I was a little reluctant to let my son Josh use it on the blanket chest he is building, but in the end I'm glad I did. He loved it and now I'm going have to battle to get it back.

I should add at this point that Josh's tools are generally better than mine, higher disposable income probably has something to do with it... he has his Lie Nielsen collection and I have my Stanleys and Records.

When it come to saws however I've generally got him beat... personal favourites include some of my own make, and a lovely Wenzloff & Sons Kenyon.

The blanket chest project is somewhat of a marathon dovetailing exercise, in unforgiving 3/4" Victorian mountain ash, sometimes confusingly called tasmanian oak, it's a readily available material as rock hard, splintery, kiln dried, not easy to work with, but has razor straight grain and since the bushfires last year there's lots of it around.

The other experiment in progress is the temporary Moxon twin screw vise, and I have to say it's an amazing experience to use it for wide boards, it's just the thing. I've still got to get around to making heavier jaws, maybe one day, for anyone thinking of making one, all I can say is you won't regret it.

http://www.backsaw.net/pics/BC/BC1.JPG
Here's the basic setup, note the little packing piece in the middle of the board, proper jaws would eliminate that.

http://www.backsaw.net/pics/BC/BC2.JPG

http://www.backsaw.net/pics/BC/BC3.1.JPG

http://www.backsaw.net/pics/BC/BC5.JPG

http://www.backsaw.net/pics/BC/BC6.JPG

http://www.backsaw.net/pics/BC/BC7.JPG

http://www.backsaw.net/pics/BC/BC8.JPG

http://www.backsaw.net/pics/BC/BC9.JPG

http://www.backsaw.net/pics/BC/BC10.JPG


And here is the star of the project...
http://www.backsaw.net/images/stories/CIMG1931.JPG

It's a great feeling to work with your son in the workshop and see his skills progress, he is now way better at this than I am, as the above pictures illustrate he is starting to get the hang of cutting dovetails.

The saw performed just beautifully, and I can't recommend it highly enough, now I just have to figure out how to get it back...http://www.woodworkforums.com/images/smilies/smile.gif


That picture of the saw is one of Pedders, I did take some pictures of the saw, but Pedder's picture was better than mine.. http://www.woodworkforums.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

Regards
Ray

[Ken Peluso]

Beautiful saw and nice dovetails. Best of all, you get to enjoy projects and tools with your son! My boy is only 17 months old but is fascinated with my shop and tools. I can't wait for the day he makes his first cut. Enjoy!

[george wilson]

That work looks great. Now,I wish I could get some of that wood!

[David Keller NC]

Ray - Nice work. A tip: While yes, thicker jaws for your vise would be helpful, there's a trick that will largely eliminate the need for the little slip of wood: plane a bananna into your front/rear jaws. Simply start a handplane ( a short one - a smoother or a jack) about 1/5th of the way to the end, and take a shaving until you reach the end. Do the same on the other end of the vise jaw. Repeat by starting 1/3 of the way to the end, and repeat the whole procedure several more times. The result should be that the jaws are about 1/4" thicker in the middle than on the ends, and that will cause the middle of vise to contact the work first, and tightening the screws will pull the whole jaw face into contact with your work.

This same geometry is necessary for shop-made panel clamps, that are essentially just Moxon vises with all-thread rod as the vise screws.

[Ray Gardiner]

Hi Ken,

I can say working with Josh is sometimes frustrating, sometimes a joy, but always rewarding in ways you don't expect.
As your son grows up, you are in for some fun times in the workshop, just be prepared for when he get's better at it than you...

Hi George,
A lot of the mountain ash ( actually it's not really an ash it's a eucalypt http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucalyptus_regnans) died in the bushfires a few years back, and so there has been a lot of logging going on, that will probably go for a few years yet. I'd be happy to send you some, PM me with some details of what you are after and I'll see what I can do.

Hi David,
Thanks for the tip, I wasn't planning to cut a curve in the face of the jaw, but, thinking about it some more, your suggestion makes perfect sense, with the screws spaced so far apart it's more like clamping with cauls than like the face of a vise jaw.

Regards
Ray

PS the thumbnail is a picture of some mountain ash, it grows pretty straight and some of the older trees are up to 300 ft high, nice wide quarter sawn boards.
There is a bigger picture here.. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/MountainAshWithCars.jpg/450px-MountainAshWithCars.jpg
Acknowledgement.. I should add those pictures are from wikipedia.

[george wilson]

Thank you,Ray,but having had a friend go to Australia some years ago,and us sending him packages of things(like Pop Tarts!) that he couldn't get there,I know the shipping would be killer.

[David Weaver]

Really excellent saw work, really nice.

Nice saw, too, but that's a given any time k&p's names come up!

[Mike Allen1010]

Ray,

Thanks for sharing your latest project with your son! Both the blanket chest dovetails and the beautiful Two Lawyers dovetail saw are truly inspirational! It's great to hear from someone who has first-hand experience using a beautiful hand tool like that and I'm glad to hear it works as good as it looks.

You're a lucky man to be able share a common pleasure with your son. Best wishes to you and him to keep it going!

Mike Allen

[Tony Shea]

Amazing results from such a beautiful saw and odviously a well trained sawyer. Not sure how old he is but he certainly has the ability to make great cuts. Can't wait to see some more progress and hope you keep us updated.

I also really like the wood. It is too bad we can't get some imported here in the states. I often get sick of the plain looking oaks we have here in the states and typically don't use them anymore. Seems like oaks and ash from other countries have much better coloring and figure in them. It'd be nice to have a decent source for such material.