Re: Opinions on the FWW dovetail article?
Thom D
>"I liked it. Things that struck me:
- he uses a japanese saw, which is my preference "
I have always use JS, until I got a Tarant independence, as you mention below thin kerf isn't always helpful anyway, and Independence cuts just as well. It isn't as nice a kerf, but the sides that are left are just fine.
"- he saws pins and tails with the board horizontal on the bench. Seems silly for tails, but makes sense for half-blind pins"
Sounds like more Japanese, a vise seems to make life easier for me. (Now that I know we are talking aobut KS, his article in FWW on body mechanics and trssles was interestig though he also has a western bench.
"- his sockets are chopped very cleanly. Are Japanese chisels that good? "
The best chisels bar none, makes no difference in the results, it's all subtle stuff. It's more the hand than the chisel by far.
"- he uses a pencil for marking, which I've come to prefer (more visible). He sharpen his like a knife, I don't think that's necessary and actually could be counter-productive IMHO, a sharp pencil point will follow the mark, whereas a knife shape can veer off unless held flat against the piece (one reason why I've abandoned using knifes). A 2H or 3H pencil will remain sharp quite a long time... "
I file the point off so that one has a rounded knife edge does everything better, gets in tighter lasts longer, follows fine. I just use this on dovetails.
"- he uses a modified version of Frid's scraper trick. I tried that trick too, but ended up curling my scraper without making much of a dent in the uncut part of the half-blind pins, most probably because the kerf of a Japanese saw is so thin that only my thinnest scraper (0.4 mm, or about 1/64") would fit. I guess Frid's kerf was much wider... In any case, Swensson chops the uncut part gradually, which seems to defeat the purpose of using the scraper trick (speed)"
Ah we are talking about Swensson. I wonder about his technique, he learned from a timber framer. If a person over here learned their cabinetmaking from a TF they would do a variety of oddball stuff that makes no sense also.
I use a putty knife just like chisel and hammer it down the side. Keep in mind Frid loved Mahogany (and walnut and cherry). I'm not planing on trying this with ebony.
"Finally, he does a set of half-blinds in about a hour, which makes me feel good that a pro uses the same amount of time as I do..."
I've heard Swensson is slow (which doesn't make it true), there was some thing in FHB about a project he took on involving a beam and it took eons to complete. He does very nice work though. Typical modern woodworking though, It's all about becoming something else than a woodworker: teacher, writer, designer, analyst.
DC