Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Dovetails.....


I’ve been playing around with dovetails – in metal this time. Since I’ve been spending lots of time in the workshop I thought I would sneak the odd minute here and there for some fun. I tried a couple of test runs and they turned out well so thought I’d attempt something larger. And here we go – a thumb plane. I’ve just cleaned the dovetails up after peening and it looks pretty good – it’s amazing how they appear from the bruised and bulbous mass of hammered metal.

Now – don’t get excited. I’m not turning into an Infill maker – filing out dovetails is really tedious. But it has been a good exercise. And you can never have too many skills ;)

Tomorrow, Waka and I are visiting a new sawmill. I’m quite excited about this – sounds like they may have some very interesting timber. I’ll report back tomorrow with the facts!

Cheers

Philly

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Those dovetails look very neat, Phil. Beats me how you do them in metal - most of us have enough trouble with the wooden ones!!

Cheers;)

Paul Chapman

Anonymous said...

Superb job there Phil. Maybe a line of infills might sit nicey with the woodies? :) Go on, you know you love the filing LOL

Cheers

Tony

Anonymous said...

The dovetails look fab, Phil, and I MUST say that is one tight mouth! Can't really see it, to be honest... Is that something you put in later?

Cheers,

Ethan

Philly said...

Thanks Paul - it is slightly easier in metal than wood!
Tony - not ready to make infills yet, what with my "filing allergy" ;)
Ethan
Yes, that is my patented "zero clearance" mouth, guaranteed to give zero tear-out ;) I started milling the mouth out last night - hopefully I'll have some more pictures tonight.
Cheers
Phil