I need some classmates! *LINK*

Re: I need some classmates!

GolfSteve in Calgary

>Hi Alan. That's a great course, but you'd better eat your wheaties every morning.

I learned a lot - but I was starting from knowing almost nothing about handtools. I don't know your level of skill, but Rob's method of dovetailing is a piece of cake. The only real problem with the course is that you work so hard all week, that when it comes time to learn dovetailing on Thursday or Friday, you will be dead tired.

I'm actually signed up for the advanced class that you said might be undersold...I hope it isn't cancelled - learning how to do dovetails on a curved surface would be quite a challenge, I think.

The only problem with the July 11-15 course is that it conflicts with the Calgary Stampede (July 8-15)...you can get up at 05:00, go to one of the myriad free Pancake breakfasts at 06:00, get to the course at 06:30, plane your butt off all day until 21:00, go to Cowboy's bar until 04:00 then snatch an hour of sleep before repeating it all the next day...

Seriously, if you do make it to Calgary for the course, make sure you stay the Saturday before or after the course, go to the Rodeo and Grandstand show and wander around the mid-way.

Re: I need some classmates!

alan womack

>Maybe Rob will cram you guys in with us, that would make enough too..

I believe a friend and I will drive up from Spokane, it's about 9 hours I understand. So would likely leave that Saturday, stay at the college for the week. My traveling companion had a back injury so I am not sure how he will do with the whole week, but will see.

I've flattened, trued, and joined a bit of stock with hand planes. My sons bed was ripped/crosscut on the table saw, but all other was hand planned. I've got the basics down for warped/twisted wood (don't buy it!), I can sharpen very well with jig, can fettle a plane into the sub .002 shavings, have started hand cutting my dovetails with a lee valley dozuki. SO I hope to be able to hold my own, I'm also realtively young I suspect for such classes at a mere 36.

My BIGGEST concern is sleeping, last hotel trip I took the beds KILLED me, so I have to plan for something softer to lay upon, thinking of a lake air mattress.

Alan

...you will be dead tired.

Don Thompson - Cutler Ridge, Florida

>Maybe Lyn has got a good point.

I can see it now, a new DVD: Weight Training for Successful Hand Tool Use.

Re: I need some classmates!

Dean in Burlington

>Don't worry....you won't have time to sleep.

Re: I need some classmates! *LINK*

Dean in Burlington

>Steve,

I just finished taking this course in Oakville and the curved dovetails aren't as hard as you think. Mine came out pretty well seeing I didn't cut any dovetails since the first course last year until the week before this course. It is a great deal of work though and nobody finished the project from our class, even with late nights. I just have to finish chiseling out the half blind for the top and I'm done. I plan on posting a review of the class later on when I finish. Here are some photos of the project and steps if you're interested (starting from picture 7).


Advanced Handtools Class

How did you hurt your hand?

GolfSteve in Calgary

>Too tired? I cut myself pretty good with a marking guage at the last course. I was tired, rushing, and got careless with the gauge and cut a good gash into the knuckle on my left hand.

Nice pictures by the way.

How did you match the curvature of the end pieces to the curvature of the sides? I guess you scribed the ends to match the sides then used the shooting board to creep up on the scribed lines?

Marking the pins to match the tails might have been a bit tricky - you'd have to hold the two pieces square somehow. Any tips here?

Re: How did you hurt your hand? *LINK*

Dean in Burlington

>I was doing the thing Rob tells everyone not to when cleaning up the dovetails. I wasn't holding the chisel down the shaft so I didn't have so much chisel sticking out when paring. I do it now!!!!

Yes...there was a lot of scribing with dividers. Don't worry...Rob will give good details of this. Your're right about the transfer. That was the toughest. My only tip is to make sure the inside of your front/back piece is perfectly planed to the line with the round bottom plane. The line closest to the plane in the picture below. This is the inside mark of your dovetails so they need to be perfect. Be careful with this because if you leave too much of a gap then your tails won't protrude like mine. Now I have to plane the hole case (front/back pieces) in order to plane off the tails. You can see this a little bit in picture 29.

I spent all day 9am-11pm cutting and cleaning up the dovetails for the case. The tough part is squaring them up so they fit/transfer perfecty. It's very frustrating!!!! Just ask Rob how grumpy I was :)

Hope this helps and you'll have a great time


http://photobucket.com/albums/y84/dpeddle/?action=view&current=AdvanceHandToolsCourse6.jpg