Alternative to a cranked chisel for sliding dovetails?

[Hilton Ralphs]

I was just thinking about an alternative to using a cranked paring chisel for cleaning out sliding dovetails.

Assuming you own a Router plane of sorts, what about purchasing the new 3/4" blade from the nice folk over in the valley and grinding the sides a bit to accommodate the dovetail angle?

It costs less than $19 so not a huge investment.

Comments?

274329

[Chris Griggs]

No real need. Just use a blade as is and angle it so the cutting edge goes into the corner. You just need to use a blade that is slightly smaller than the joint so you have room to angle it a little. I wouldn't bother regrinding a blade for something like this task. I doubt it would work any better or quicker then just using an appropriately sized blade and making sure you clean into the corners.

Though I do think the 3/4" blade would be handy to have around for other tasks, I just would bother to regrind it and wouldn't use it for this one.

[Derek Cohen]

Hilton, Chris said it well.

Further, you do not require a cranked chisel. A long parer works as well.

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/SlidingDovetailsByHand1_html_m2471ba9f.jpg

Alternatively, a (female) dovetail plane ...

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/PlaningTheSlidingDovetail_html_m78070689.jpg

A 3/4" wide router plane blade? Who has made one?

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Zach Dillinger]

I have to get one of those dovetail planes Derek. Too cool for school.

[Chris Griggs]

A 3/4" wide router plane blade? Who has made one?


I'm not sure if you are joking or being serious just because your usually way ahead of the rest of us on LV stuff. But just in case here's the scoop. The 3/4" blade for the new LV hinge mortise plane is the same blade setup as the router plane and I believe can be used on the LV router plane.



I have to get one of those dovetail planes Derek. Too cool for school.

+1 on that.

[Jim Belair]

I think the 1/2" router blade would work as well on the 3/4" or whatever wide dovetail slot.

[Derek Cohen]

I'm not sure if you are joking or being serious just because your usually way ahead of the rest of us on LV stuff. But just in case here's the scoop. The 3/4" blade for the new LV hinge mortise plane is the same blade setup as the router plane and I believe can be used on the LV router plane.

Of course! I was thinking too literally. In any event, a blade this wide in a router plane would be difficult to take more than a shallow shaving. What one wants is a narrow blade that can scoop out the waste quickly, akin to a scrub or jack plane. Skewing the blade is needed to get into the side angle. However you cannot expect to do both sides simultaneously. The blade would jamb.

By comparison, the blade on the dovetail plane is only 1/4" wide. (Thanks for the kind words, btw).

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/PlaningTheSlidingDovetail_html_68e32bb9.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Chris Griggs]

I think the 3/4" might be nice in the router for what it was designed to do...hinge mortises....maybe if one likes to use the router for tenon/lap cheeks, the 3/4" would be nice there too (for that matter I bet the hinge plane would be great for cheek work because of the extra length).

Beyond that I agree...1/4" or 1/2" for sliding dovetails and dados...depending on the size or the joint. You really can hog out a lot of material with the narrower blades if needed, and they leave you space to get into the corners.

[Hilton Ralphs]

Ok so I had a kak idea. Thanks for all the replies though, very informative.

[Mike Holbrook]

Is this a good job for a Japanese "dovetail chisel" (yes, I know this chisel is actually a "bench" chisel not specifically designed for dovetails). Wouldn't the triangular shape fit into a sliding dovetail? I know these chisels do not always have sharp edges, but would a "bruised" corner no one can see be a real issue? I think many of these chisels have a little curve from tip to handle which might help too. An 18 mm/.70866142" chisel might just fit a 3/4" dovetail with just enough wiggle room.

[David Weaver]

I think one of the reasons the offset parers are out there in japanese chisels, and not long like patternmaker's chisels, is to clean the bottoms of sliding dovetails, which probably appear more often in japanese hand made furniture than they do here in hand made furniture.

The dieffenbacher/buck offset parers are patternmaker types and not always flat the way we'd want them to be (I have three, one of them is bellied, but the other two are OK from the factory), but they are cheap here - $25 or so per for the narrow ones you'd use in a long sliding dovetail...but a chisel that had the offset and less blade length would be more handy for actually cleaning the bottom of offset dovetails (and a turned router plane would be fine, though you're likely going to bruise something somewhere while you're using it).

[bridger berdel]

a few chisels i have modified. the 1/2" one and the 1-1/2" are the most used.274498

[Jim Koepke]

a few chisels i have modified. the 1/2" one and the 1-1/2" are the most used.

That isn't fair Bridger. It is doubtful I am the only one sitting on the edge of my seat wanting to know more about how you did this.

jtk

[bridger berdel]

another pic. this one is apparently too big, so here's a link.
http://25.media.tumblr.com/1182621d89de8fceacc5c31922ee5a9c/tumblr_mvuqzwZWqx1qhrm32o1_1280.jpg

so.
start with some plain high carbon steel chisels. they are a lot easier to heat treat. you also want ones where the handles are easy to knock off.

the first few I did I cut them, used heat to bend the shank, ground the end of the shank to fit to the top of the blade at an angle that seemed right then brazed them on. those ones I did without annealing the cutting edge, either by plunging the blade in a can of wet sand while brazing or something like thst... it's been a while, I don't remember exactly.

later I switched to just heating and bending the shank directly.

heat source in all cases was oxyacetylene.

[Jim Koepke]

Thanks for sharing the methods used.

jtk