So here we are at days 112-119 of our daily dovetail practice...What have I learned after 119 joints, well hows about I make a nice list for you:
1 - Sharp is always better
2 - Poplar is a nasty, nasty wood
3 - Pine makes even the worst dovetail look sexy thanks to its "mashability"
4 - Mashability+sharp plane iron = sexy joint (only viable for mashable wood species)
5 - Alder has some ok mash properties
6 - It's all a mind game: Can you focus on cutting a dovetail with 10 sexy ladies doing the "Harlem Shake" in your shop? Well no...probably not, so focus while cutting your joint makes up for a lack of skill. But then again if you have 10 sexy ladies in your shop why are you cutting dovetails...and...can I come work in your shop?
7 - Cherry smells nice when you cut it with your dovetail saw
8 - Thin pins are sexy...but hard as hell to get right
9 - More is not always better
10 - A striking knife is your friend...until you slice your thumb while laying out your pins/tails...then it's not your friend at all, but a sharp and nasty enemy, but don't worry cause you'll make up in the end and everything works out while you both live happily ever after with unicorns and sexy joints.
What were we talking about again? Oh well, here's the joints...
Day 112
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Day 112[/caption]
Day 113 - I tried to shake things up on day 113 by incorporating a 3rd tail into the mix. What a freaking mess that was...seriously people I thought for sure that if I were ever going to chop or pare my fingers off at any time during the 112 days prior...this was it. The stock was just too narrow to really accommodate this and thankfully the less dumb side of my brain convinced me to not tred down this path any further. Filing this one away under "What the hell was I thinking!"
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Day 113[/caption]
Day 114 - I'm psychic! no no...seriously I am...cause had I been trying to cut that crazy 3rd tail POS into day 114 I would have sliced my pinky off...well...maybe not my pinky but a finger for sure when the half pin snapped like a little twig while cleaning it up. I'll also kindly refer you to Number 2 in the list above...Poplar is a nasty, nasty wood!
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Day 114[/caption]
Day 115
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Day 115[/caption]
Day 116
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Day 116[/caption]
Day 117
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Day 117[/caption]
Day 118
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Day 118[/caption]
Day 119
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Day 119[/caption]
And there you have it. Another 8 days down...