Dovetail Template. A lot to learn for a beginner.
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18 December 2014 at 5:38 am #122288
Getting ready to tackle my first project, the basic dovetail box in the projects section. First, I had to make the template and wow! Did I learn a lot.
I got some 30 x 30mm pine from Bunnings, watched the video a few more times and off I went. I thought I’d plane off the machining marks and that was the beginning of a long lesson on starting with square stock, planing it out of square, and finally getting it square again…. Only it was now 28 x 28mm.
I marked my lines, which “sort of” met each other, so I wasn’t as square as I thought.
Started again and managed to get to sawing down the cheeks but concentrated on one line so hard I missed my depth and sawed too far.
Started again and managed to get things right. Paring away the excess with the Aldi chisel was painful due to the sharp sides of the chisel and my fingers have several deep cuts to show for my efforts.
I finally ended up with a reasonably clean, square where it should be template.
No big deal but I thought I’d mention it in case there are others out there who, like me, kept waiting until they knew a bit more, watched a few more videos, read a few more blog posts, felt a bit more confident before having a go.
The result isn’t so important. I spent a few hours on what should have been a 20 minute job but I thoroughly enjoyed the “process” and learned a lot about planing and sawing and marking out and using a chisel.Attachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files.18 December 2014 at 6:33 am #122291Glad you posted this I have read a few other posts and from the look of it a lot of people seemed to have prior experience in woodworking. So it’s good to know I’m not the only complete beginner. Keep at it and thanks again for sharing your experience.
Wow you bring back some memories. I am actually about eighteen months into it myself and when I started I could not saw a straight line, did not know what a handplane was, etc. Hang in there, I would suggest just taking scrap pieces of wood, sawing, planing them for a couple of weeks before taking on a project.
That was my tactic anyway.Nice template.
I started a few moths ago… knew nothing.
I watched Paul’s videos over and over again, took notes and then when in the shop I always manage to mess things up. lolol
A lot of frustration on the way but also big smilesNow looking back is very funny!
Carry on
All the best
18 December 2014 at 11:42 am #122296Congrats keep at it, dont rush it, it’s a life long journey and a never ending learning experience.
To save yourself some money don’t buy from Bunnings or masters, seek out a lumber yard.Here is a simple formula to follow when when you visit a lumber yard cause they price in cubic metres. Bring a calculators.
1 x .025 x .200 x $2400 M3 = $12.00
1 x .025 x .150 x $2000 m3 = $9.00so the above is mm
1 metre length x .025(25mm)thick x .200(200mm)wide x Price per cube = Whatever
Goodluck
18 December 2014 at 3:44 pm #122305Been there done that lol 🙂 Take some sandpaper or Emory cloth to the sides of your chisels where they cut you. Slightly rounding over those edges won’t affect the performance at all. Just like Paul does all the time in the videos, you want to just barely break the arris. They will be more comfortable to use as well as safer, so you can concentrate on the work at hand and not worrying about cutting yourself.
19 December 2014 at 1:30 am #122318Great post, Andrew. The template looks good. I used to joke to my wife that I should (and sometimes I did) wear gloves any time I use a chisel. I used to end up with cuts from the corner of the blade edge. I’ve been better about it lately (knock on wood).
23 December 2014 at 7:40 pm #122581Hi Andrew I also found that the side edges on the Aldi chisels were sharp and had very deep machining marks I therefore polished the edges to remove the machine marks and the sharp edges . I also removed the steel ferrule reshaped the handles and applied new finish
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You must be logged in to view attached files.26 December 2014 at 10:36 pm #122726Your template looks good. I am at the same stage as you are, the only thing I’ve attempted is to make a new tote for a second hand plane I bought off Ebay. I made plenty of mistakes, not sawing square, not planing square etc, my piece of wood ended up too short so I glued another contrasting colour of wood in to build the height up. I eventually got the tote finished and it looked quite good, unfortunately it split as the piece of wood I used wasn’t seasoned. Not to worry, it was great fun and I learnt a lot. I wish you all the best when you make your dovetail box, that’s one I hope to attempt soon.
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