Half blinds revisited

[Derek Cohen]

When I started the thread "Against the Clock" the intention was to explore efficiency. Looking back I thought the methods used could have been improved, and that doing so would provide the efficiency I sought for the remaining (now eight) drawers left to build.

So here I offer two methods for the removal of waste from half blind dovetail pins. Both work easily and fairly quickly. One is power assisted and the other is 100% handtool.

Interestingly, where the previous drawer was a frantic 4 hour race against the clock, today was a relaxed 3 1/2 hour session.

Starting with a marked, sawn and kerfed pin board ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Military%20Chests/Dovetailing/DWaste1.jpg

Two pins were routed and two were chopped out for comparison. The difference this time is that the boards were placed flat (rather than vertically) for the routing ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Military%20Chests/Dovetailing/DWaste2.jpg

... and only the baseline was cleared (with a 1/16" left to finish with a chisel) ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Military%20Chests/Dovetailing/DWaste3.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Military%20Chests/Dovetailing/DWaste4.jpg

That took 8 minutes to complete:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Military%20Chests/Dovetailing/DWaste5.jpg

Method #2 involved progressively chopping out a mortice ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Military%20Chests/Dovetailing/DWaste6.jpg

... and then splitting out the waste as the mortice deepened. This is the method I generally use ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Military%20Chests/Dovetailing/DWaste7.jpg

This required a total of 10 minutes ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Military%20Chests/Dovetailing/DWaste8.jpg

The above was repeated with the remaining two pins. Both were completed in a further 10 minutes ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Military%20Chests/Dovetailing/DWaste9.jpg

.. and the pin and tail boards fitted ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Military%20Chests/Dovetailing/DWaste10.jpg

Likes and dislikes: I dislike the noise of a router. Dust is not a problem as the Elu I have is efficient at sucking the dust into a Fein vacuum cleaner. This is a speedier method, but chiseling is very close behind. On the other hand I like that the router has a depth stop and that there is no danger of blowing out or cracking the face of the pin board with an overzealous chisel blow. This is always on my mind as I chop into the hard Jarrah. Routing the initial mortice does remove a great deal of stress from the process.

For the other side of the drawer I decided to use the router alone to gauge the ease/speed more realistically by excluding interruptions, such as photos.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Military%20Chests/Dovetailing/DWaste11.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Military%20Chests/Dovetailing/DWaste12.jpg

After a casual 35 minutes ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Military%20Chests/Dovetailing/DWaste13.jpg

The rear of the drawer was dovetailed and assembled ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Military%20Chests/Dovetailing/DWaste14.jpg

Progress to date:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Military%20Chests/Dovetailing/DWaste15.jpg

Hopefully the next thread on the military chests will be to show the completed drawers.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Harvey Pascoe]

Thanks for reminding me why I don't do half blinds (time) Joking. I like your idea of using tape to mark the pins. I assume you sawed the pins only to the depth of a diagonal cut - unless you got some kind of magic saw? So if there is any break out it when chiselingwill be hidden within the joint?

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Harvey

You may have missed previous posts on this topic, especially ones that included the use of the "kerf chisel" to deepen the kerf at the corner ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Military%20Chests/Dovetailing/Dovetailing9a.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Mark Salomon]

Your method of routing only part of the waste doesn't make any sense to me. Try routing it all out, use the guide to protect your baseline if you wish. I also don't like using a router much, and the Elu is fine but things changed significantly for me when I started using a small Bosch Colt to remove most of the waste for half blind dovetails and hinge mortises.

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Mark

It is quicker this way.

I also do not like using the router much, but with 12 drawers to build in hard Jarrah ...

Routing this way is safe. It requires 2 or 3 quick chops to clear the waste (as the kerf has already been extended to depth in the corners). Then a few paring strokes to clean up to the lines. This is safer than using a router - the Jarrah is brittle and a router bit would cause chipping at the edges. I'd rather finish with a chisel.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Halgeir Wold]

Derek- is that kerf chisel sharpened with an edge - or just square blunt? :confused:

[Tom Vanzant]

Derek,
I recently saw a post where a router was used free-hand to remove the bulk of the waste, then chisel out the rest. It probably works well on normal hardwoods, but I appreciate the hardness and brittleness of Jarrah. BTW, your chests and drawer fronts are looking great!

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Tom and Halgeir

I've just spent the past month posting on these issues. If you look for the threads (hard to miss) you will find all the information and more.

Regards from Perth

Derek