Madkrafter Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 So I'm heading back to Chicago to visit family and I signed up for Jeff Miller's dovetail class. I've been a woodworker for... ...I'm in my 3rd decade. I just never got into making dovetails. I wanted to start building some nice furniture again and thought this class would be a good primer and inspiration. I thought that the class might supply the tools, but I was wrong (don't know why I was thinking that). Coming from out of state, I'll have to ship my tools. Anyway, since I have my trusty old set of Marples chisels, my first priority was the saw. I've had an ear open to the different makers and really debated over spending big money on a saw. I emailed Mark Harrell because I was looking for a Battle Scar but they get swooped up quick and I'll be leaving for Chicago at the end of April, so I don't have time to order a custom one. I got an email back in no time. He was working on a 12" Stiletto that could be shipped out the next day! (talk about great service!) Right there, I decided that I was buying myself my May Birthday present! Now I just have to get all of the "other" dovetail "stuff" that I've never acquired in all the years I've been doing this hobby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 That's going to be a kick in the butt. Have a great time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 I kind of envy you. Kind of not. I got my ass kicked by my first set of hand cut dovetails today. Apparently, hard maple is not a good for practice, If you actually want it to fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 I kind of envy you. Kind of not. I got my ass kicked by my first set of hand cut dovetails today. Apparently, hard maple is not a good for practice, If you actually want it to fit. They're supposed to fit????? okay, back to box joints! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 ==>Hard Maple Yea, not an easy practice material… How about something like this to practice: Get a couple sticks of Poplar – mill it to 7/16 leaving components wide and long enough to made several representative drawers. Say 12 of 5”x12” x 7/16 Poplar. My big problem was figuring where I f’ed-up… So I decided to take ½ the joint out of the equation: Used a machine-based method (with a jig) to cut spot-on tailboards, then transferred the tails and cut the pins by hand… With this approach, ½ the joint is dialed-in and you focus on transfer (probably the biggest source of problems) and sawing the pins (the second biggest problem)… I [almost] always use the 140 trick. After figuring-out what went wrong, I just cut-off the pins and started over with the same tailboards… ==>Stiletto Mark makes a great saw... I use his hybrid 12" when gang-cutting and have yet to try the stiletto...... I prefer Gramercy Tool's dovetailer for the pins because it's lighter and more nimble --- but BAT in just about everything else... I'm sure you'll like the saw... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 I [almost] always use the 140 trick. I'll admit it...I've never heard of this. What is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 ==>^^^ http://www.popularwoodworking.com/techniques/joinery/four-reasons-for-tails-first-dovetails http://www.theunpluggedwoodshop.com/before-you-reach-for-that-dovetail-saw.html Assists tails transfer... Should be noted that CS has very recently backed-away from teaching the 140 trick (although he still uses it himself)... The argument is interesting, and there is a thread on it both here and on LJ… But I think it depends on what you use to cut the rebate.. If you have the LN or Stanley (without a depth stop), then I agree… However, with a depth stop (Veritas rebate or moving fillister plane), then I don’t… Note: CS uses a moving fillister… and so do I… I suspect LN will re-engineer their skew-rebate to add a depth stop in the future (like they did to add nickers) -- then it would be perfect... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madkrafter Posted April 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 My one and only set of dovetails is on my workbench that I build 20 years ago. Four drawers and from 1 to 4, you can really see the progression of me going from utter crap to OK-ish-ish-ish! The nice thing is Jeff said he teaches traditional plus some cool jigs to use on the bandsaw to do hybrid dovetails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nub Thumb Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 Nice! I recently placed my order with Bad Axe. I almost went for the Stiletto but was talked into the Tenon and the Hybrid dT/small tenon. The recently restored a pre-civil way Disston 8" for me and it's fantastic. As much as I try to tell myself that all of my saw needs will be handled, I know that Stiletto is going to haunt my dreams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 Nice looking saw! This style is next on the Bad Axe hit list! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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