wouldwurker Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 I'm pretty stoked about this. Just signed up for a 10 hour class on hand cut dovetails with Rob Cosman at woodcraft Atlanta. Maximum class size is 12 students, and I love that it's from 9 AM to 7 PM. In 10 hours, I would imagine we do a lot more than just scratch the surface (insert bad marking gauge joke here). Should be a lot of hands-on work in front of a guy that can certainly help correct my technique as we work. $295 bucks sounds steep...but I think $30 an hour is worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 Have fun ! Take notes ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 Awesome Vinny! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Cancelleri Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 Awesome, Let us know how it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G S Haydon Posted August 30, 2015 Report Share Posted August 30, 2015 Cool, have fun :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 Have fun ! Take notes ! And share them! B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 Vinn, $30 an hour is a bargain. But so is going to an Astros game and sitting in the nose bleed section. Until you go for beer and peanuts, I.e. Rob Cosman:1) DT saw - $300, 2) DT marker - $30, 3) Marking knife - $46.95 and too many videos to mentionEnjoy the hell out of it dude, I would love to do it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 ==>Until you go for beer and peanuts, I.e. Rob Cosman:==> 1) DT saw - $300, 2) DT marker - $30, 3) Marking knife - $46.95 and too many videos to mention==> Enjoy the hell out of it dude, I would love to do it! Excellent observation. I did a 1-day-wonder course many moons ago -- let's just say there was some not-so-subtle marketing for his brand of tools... My advice: keep your eyes & ears open.... and your wallet closed tight... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 Sounds like you need to buy a new bad axe DT saw before the course. . Ya know, just to be prepared. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 I'm sure it will be money well spent and you'll be a much better dovetailer by the end of it. Should be a fun day. Too bad Rob Cosman will be there. LOL Hopefully he forgets his ego at home that day. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cochese Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 I wonder if the class price includes a shirt. One that says, 'Your Hand Tool Student' or something. He's not my cup of tea, but I'm sure you'll get more than your money's worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 ==>ego at home that day+1 Most memorable Cosman moment...Attended class with my standard dovetail kit – the brands don’t matter -- decent kit... After getting started (including a tool review – his tools), Rob surveys progress by going station to station providing feedback... Good advice all around... No problems...Gets to my setup, picks-up one of my tools, examines it and says, “You know, X consulted me on the design – he almost got it right”... Puts the put the tool down and moves to the next station...As I said, leave your wallet at home... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wouldwurker Posted August 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 Trip - that's classic. I'll have my LN dovetail saw with me. Any critiques on its quality will be surely ignored. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 ==>ego at home that day+1 Most memorable Cosman moment...Attended class with my standard dovetail kit – the brands don’t matter -- decent kit... After getting started (including a tool review – his tools), Rob surveys progress by going station to station providing feedback... Good advice all around... No problems...Gets to my setup, picks-up one of my tools, examines it and says, “You know, X consulted me on the design – he almost got it right”... Puts the put the tool down and moves to the next station...As I said, leave your wallet at home... Lol! Mr. Cosman sounds like a "confident" guy....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 ==>sounds like a "confident" guy.......Good way to put it... Yes, very confident... But then again, he's very good at what he does -- teaching dovetailing... Don’t get me wrong – he’s a good teacher and I learned a lot... Anyone can learn the basics of dovetailing form a mag article, but RC focused on the body mechanics to make it smooth and repeatable – stance, shoulder/head position, elbow and forearm alignment, etc... Also, you’re sawing all day... While an exaggeration, I probably cut more kerfs in one afternoon then the previous three years – so you develop some muscle memory... It’s well worth it – you do learn a lot... Just ignore the sales pitch – his gear is no better/worse than any other...The most important thing about gear is how it feels in your hands... and being sharp... It’s one advantage to his sales pitch – when you try his gear – it’s always sharp... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prov163 Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 Congrats Vinny! I love hands on classes. Watched a video with Cosman the other day. He's very good at what he does. Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wouldwurker Posted October 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2015 Had the class a few weeks ago, thought I'd provide a debriefing. Learned a lot...as I may have mentioned before, I have a short fuse for other people with whom I'm stuck in the same room, but for the most part it was a cool group of folks...more on that in a different thread. The class was scheduled for 10 hours - we went into overtime and did about 14 hours. This was supercool of Rob, but also attributable to our local Woodcraft owner who hung out until 11pm. Afterwards a bunch of us, our a Woodcraft guy, and Cosman all went out for beers and food. Rob is a nice guy. He certainly has swagger and yes, is also one hellova salesman. Frankly though, if you're a large part of your own distribution source , I suppose you have to be. He did have nice tools, they're just not for me. I have nothing negative to say about him. His dovetail cutting methods did have some unique steps that I haven't seen before. Not sure if my process going forward will involve all his steps, but I certainly have a lot more experience to 'mix and match' my process. Most of the class focused around sawing straight..and to the line. The idea being, learn to saw straight and there's very little chisel work to be had, as that is where things go bad. His steps were deliberate and mathematical. Several steps involved offsetting the pieces by the thin measurement of the saw kerf, using a marking gauge to measure the width of the saw and offset, as well as the marking knife. He also had some cool post cut analysis tricks to instantly gauge the accuracy of your cut. This was huge. We we probably sawed for half a day. Built one hellova muscle memory, and after a few hours most all of the class could very simply eyeball the dovetail angle on their tail cuts - this to me was the most amazing part. We sawed tails until we could accurately cut 6 for 6 to the line. Going 5 for 6 sucks. Missing the first one though after taking all the time to square the edge and do all the tail layout and marking REALLY sucks. I wasn't the first person to go 6 for 6, but I wasn't the last either. Most of the class never cut dovetails before. Most all of the class had a flawless result at the end of the day. We we fit and glued up one joint each. The krux of the class wasn't to make a bunch of progressively less crappy dovetails. The class circled around sawing straight and confidently, not depending on chisel cleanup to fix sloppy or unconfident sawing, self checking each cut for square (to a minimal margin of error), and having a deliberate game plan for your sawkerf. Most all of the class made close to flawless joints on their one glueup at the end. Mine were..um..ok. I rushed my chiseling because it was late and had some blowout. I also skipped a sawkerf offset step, which resulted in a few decorative cracks. I'm still very proud of my first handcut dovetails. All in all it was a great class and I recommend it to anyone. Pics in next post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post wouldwurker Posted October 22, 2015 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted October 22, 2015 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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