The current issue of British Woodworking has an article by teacher John Lloyd discussing the merits or not of using magnetic guides, mine included. In Johns ambling manor I'm not sure exactly where he stands on the subject but I think he advocates learning the hard way, 10,000 hours practice was mentioned!
I remember when David Charlesworth first saw me demonstrating my dovetail guide at The West Dean College Show he bought five of them on the spot! Now that's a more enlightened attitude.
Any guide which helps make a process easier and more accurate without completely taking over has got to be a good thing, it also helps open the mind to other ways of working.
When I got to the end of the magazine I was surprised to see that the next issue features an article by John Lloyd on making a jig for planing mitres, Mmmm!
I struggle with dovetails and your jig is easy to use and allows me to do things that are beyond my skills, no different to machinery. There's no right or wrong, so long a you enjoy yourself.
ReplyDeleteHi David, Indeed and it's when things go wrong that enjoyment can be spoilt so any help is very welcolme particularly with dovetails. All the best, David.
DeleteDavid, I have your dovetail guide and I think it's great. It's a tool like every other tool: it makes things easier, and results are consistent. Normally tools take time to setup and that's the drawback of using them, but not in this case. Even if I was able to do it freehand, I would still use it, because I will make fewer mistakes and saw even more quickly.
ReplyDeleteHi Tom, Again I agree and when you are done no one can tell if you used the jig or not. The customers who buy my boxes certainly don't care. All the best, David.
DeleteDavid,
ReplyDeleteThis woodworking circus is full of folks that hold to the belief that the old way is the only way, just because it's the old way. Why can't this traditional craft show some progress? Your dovetail tool (and others) makes a job easier and more consistent than doing it the old way. Besides its not like you are using a router....
Hi Richard, I couldn't agreed more! All the best, David.
DeleteYou`re not a John Lloyd fan then!
ReplyDeleteAt college I am currently cutting dovetails "freehand", one of my colleagues is cutting dovetails using one of your guides, we have both only cut the tails and at the moment there is no difference in accuracy. So who is the better maker? I keep telling myself it doesn`t matter, the end result will be the same and no-one else will know or probably care, but for some reason it does still bother me and I don`t know why!
Hi Mark, If you can make the cuts dead square you are doing very well and this skill will help you in other areas of cabinetmaking, a point I think John was trying to make. So you stick to your guns it will help you in the long run. The guide really comes into its own for those who have cut hundreds of dovetails freehand but are still struggling with squareness. It also speeds up the process so it's very useful if you are trying to make money! I'd love to see some pictures when you are finished. All the best, David.
DeleteI fell that even with using your guid it still takes a bit of skill (as Lloyd puts it ) to get good dovetails as you still need to mark them out and chisel out the wast to get a nice fit.
ReplyDeleteHi David, There is plenty of skill and care needed to get clean well fitted dovetails, my guide just helps with the all important part of keeping everything dead square. All the best, David.
DeleteHi David,
ReplyDeleteI've made a couple of jigs from your design and wa amazed by the results. I had a lot of trouble keeping things square and your jig made all the difference, but I agree with David Thomas that it still take a lot of care and skill to produce sharp dovetails. A brilliant hand tool; many thanks for sharing your design.
Best regards,
Brendan Gallagher
Hi Brendan, That's great to hear! All the best, David.
ReplyDelete