Reply To: Off cuts and scraps, what do YOU do with them?

No, no taper. With the sockets well away from the edges of the sides, I didn’t think there would much of a risk that they would break, even if a part of a tail was pushing very much upwards and to the side. I did give the tails a little tiny “run-in”. When tapering, I follow Mr. Tom Fidgen’s recommendation: “Just take off a minute fraction on the tails, without any tapering of the sockets”. In all honesty, my talent for getting this joint loose, does not need the addition of tapering.

There were several moments when setting up the table saw appeared as a most palatable alternative, but eventually I got the hang on how to cut. I began with a chisel that was resting on a piece of thick paper. That way I could pare off close to the line without undercutting. After that I alternated between a shoulder plane and the chisel, with very frequent tests of the fit.

Next step is to make a 1:4 dovetail plane. Putting a bevelled fence on the rebate plane resulted in the open mouth of the plane tilting over the edge of the rebate, with some ugly tear outs.