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If you go with a straight 1 sided taper like sellers, you can make th joint a bit tight, then plane the mating piece while test fitting to get a super snug fit. He had a special for like $1 for the first month a while back. You can always pay for 1 month, watch what u want then cancel. I have done that when there was a relevant project I was working on. I watched his tool cheat videos to help me build more of an anarchist tool chest kind of tool chest. It was very helpful.
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Hey great idea: the $1 price is right in my wheel house! Thanks
(10-29-2018, 10:31 AM)Troywoodyard Wrote: If you go with a straight 1 sided taper like sellers, you can make th joint a bit tight, then plane the mating piece while test fitting to get a super snug fit. He had a special for like $1 for the first month a while back. You can always pay for 1 month, watch what u want then cancel. I have done that when there was a relevant project I was working on. I watched his tool cheat videos to help me build more of an anarchist tool chest kind of tool chest. It was very helpful.
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So it looks like you had success the first try?
(10-29-2018, 10:09 AM)bandit571 Wrote: hmmmmm..
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(10-29-2018, 11:44 AM)Philip1231 Wrote: So it looks like you had success the first try?
Dovetail on lower side of shelf only.
As others have said, tapered dovetail (in it's length) is very helpful as it only tightens up for the last inch or two when assembling.
It is essential to glue up a practice joint. The water based glue swells things and the shelf may stop short! This would be a disaster for a cabinet glue up.
I describe a router based method in my second book, this has the advantage of repeatability. Hand work also works fine.
When training I did this with saw and chisel, and router plane only.
Best wishes,
David Charlesworth
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David: I feel honored to have you respond to my post!
I am liking the idea of the 1/2 dovetail and will certainly give that a try.
At some point I will try tapering the joint, but I do want to give the un-tapered approach a fair try.
To be clear: yes, I'm using router plane, saw, and chisel to accomplish this: I have made this joint successfully with
electric router/router table, but as I progress with hand tools, I have found it more satisfying to leave the electric router in the drawer, and enjoy the zen-like approach of using these hand tools.
I will have to dust off my copy of your book and give that chapter another read.
Thanks again for sharing your wisdom.
Best
Phil
(10-29-2018, 01:50 PM)David Charlesworth Wrote: Dovetail on lower side of shelf only.
As others have said, tapered dovetail (in it's length) is very helpful as it only tightens up for the last inch or two when assembling.
It is essential to glue up a practice joint. The water based glue swells things and the shelf may stop short! This would be a disaster for a cabinet glue up.
I describe a router based method in my second book, this has the advantage of repeatability. Hand work also works fine.
When training I did this with saw and chisel, and router plane only.
Best wishes,
David Charlesworth
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On a long sliding dt you have to do tapered.
Otherwise you may never get the joint together during glue up.
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I am working on a 12" long sliding dovetail. The earlier practice SDTs were in the 3-4 inch range, and they were considerably less anguish.
(10-30-2018, 11:27 AM)rwe2156 Wrote: On a long sliding dt you have to do tapered.
Otherwise you may never get the joint together during glue up.
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It's one thing to do this with a 3/4 inch divider and quite another to attempt it with a full width table top or even a bookcase shelf.
Once you prove to yourself you CAN do it, you will have thoroughly learned why you DON"T WANT to ever do it again. With proper dedication, you might be able to prove to yourself that you can swim the English Channel.
Let us know when you've tried a tapered sliding dovetail joint and confess the error of your ways. You'll feel better for it.
Fair winds and following seas,
Jim Waldron
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Sage advice, no doubt. I will be reporting back, with either the thrill of victory, or the agony of defeat
(10-30-2018, 01:09 PM)Jim Waldron Wrote: It's one thing to do this with a 3/4 inch divider and quite another to attempt it with a full width table top or even a bookcase shelf.
Once you prove to yourself you CAN do it, you will have thoroughly learned why you DON"T WANT to ever do it again. With proper dedication, you might be able to prove to yourself that you can swim the English Channel.
Let us know when you've tried a tapered sliding dovetail joint and confess the error of your ways. You'll feel better for it.
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Well, it looks like Chris Gochnour was following this thread and graciously (an quickly I might add) posted this 4 part tutorial on how to cut tapered dovetails by hand (and echoed all the sage wisdom already presented in this thread by our own wooden experts).
No excuses now: I will have to make it so!
Chris Gochnour 4 Part Tutorial On Tapered Sliding Dovetails
