Megan is teaching a Dutch tool chest class during the next three days, so today is all about dovetails in the bench room. It’s also all about dovetails at our warehouse – we have just restocked with Crucible Dovetail Templates. They are ready to ship.
These handy little tools mark out 1:6, 1:8 and 90° – everything you need to lay out the shape of the joint. The templates are made in Kentucky and are milled out of one piece of steel to ensure the tool is perfectly 90°. (It’s not a wasteful process; all the excess steel is recycled.)
I am trying to figure out how to offer this tool with 1:4, which is the redneck slope I prefer. I’ll keep you posted on our progress.
We also continue to look hard for warehouse space in Covington. We have a couple good leads. One place used to be a grocery store. The other used to be an auto repair service and was built in the early part of the 20th century. Either way, I’ve got the right shirt.
— Christopher Schwarz
Chris: If you’re serious about the 1:4 ratio, couldn’t you use the base of the “T” and put that ratio on it? You might have to extend it a bit, but then you’d have 3 dovetail ratios on the tool.
You still want that leg at 90 degrees.
Ha! When I saw the headline for this post I thought: “Great – now I can ask what I’ve been meaning to ask when opportunity arose, if they’ve considered also making one with a 1:4 slope”. And then you went on and answered that question even before I had a chance to put it to you!
Really glad to hear that, and I hope it comes off! While I really like my Sterling Tool Works Saddle-Tails, I have found the Crucible one even niftier. And were you then to go on to put a 1:5 slope on the end opposite the 1:4, well, you’d make my day frabjous for real!
Cheers,
Mattias
The machinist and I are working it out this evening. Trying to make it work with the same steel stock we use for the other template.
Is it because the angled end would be too short, or too pointy?
I was wondering the same …
Go 14°!
You are such a modern age HS student. When I was in HS in the second half of the 1960’s we were told what we could or could not wear. No jeans for boys, no slacks for girls, unless the temperature was below X for example. We never had a day of school cancelled due to temps and we all waited for a bus. Oh, for a properly timed snowfall. The only hope of a cancellation. So the young ladies deserved some protection.
So the dovetail jigs I have I made by hand, they are made of wood and it took me a few tries to get them right. If you make one of these in brass and put some fancy designs on it I will be forced to buy one. Until then I’ll struggle with the wood jigs I made, after all I finally got it right and the tools I make mean something to me. But I do like showy tools in brass!
Much easier to machine I might add and the chips are just as recyclable!
Make them “limited edition”!
Just a suggestion……
Nice job, Laura!
That’s what I was think. Those cuts are crisp.
Am I the only one that free hands the angle? I just tip the board and let-er rip. I do mark the top and the stop line though
No. You aren’t alone. We are all different. And that’s OK.
Free hand is fine. As long as you free hand the tails first.
Megan certainly is the champ.
Looking forward to the 1:4. I like ‘em chonky too!
Is student Laura using poplar?
Basswood
Nope – Linden