Dovetailed tool tray (also made from scraps)

[craigmarshall]

Hi,

I spent extra time before and after work the last few days making my first dovetailed box.

Firstly, I want to show you a picture showing that you don't need a proper vice to saw tenon cheeks:



The chap I work with only has an engineers vice (he uses mainly power tools and machinery), and it's horrible to use for this kind of cut, so I made this temporary vice, and it holds everything really solid. Ideal for this kind of work. This might help people that only have the kitchen table to work on or similar.

Here are the sides and ends of my box laid out having had the tails and pins cut already (sorry I'm bad at taking progress pics because I get into it). The long ones are ash, and the short ones are oak.



Here is the finished item, well - it's mostly finished, I don't actually have a finish on it yet, and I've found more glue to scrape and sand off, but it's close enough to look at now:



You can see why I was cutting cheeks of a tenon in the first picture now. The handle is also ash. The small wedges in each end are made of ipé (sometimes known as greenheart?)

Here are some more pics of the end and side, so you can see the tails and pins from a good angle.





Not bad for a first attempt! Next time I want to cut slightly more accurately and get the whole thing done faster too (this took about 8+ hours all together)

I have the drawers to make for Meg's bedside table soon, so I'll get to try my first
one-eyed dovetails (half-blind, get it?). I'll post pics here for you to see if you're interested.

Thanks,
Craig

[colincott]

Hi Craig

Well done but it almost sounds like you are unhappy with them ( dovetails )

You have done a good job of it

By the way, dont worry about how long it took you as you got the finished piece right and the speed will come with more practise

[craigmarshall]

Again, I forgot to say which tools I'd used for which parts:

Bandsaw, planer, thicknesser and mitre saw to get the timber flat and square and to final dimension.

Gents saw, chisels, mallet, DIY vice, square, bevel gauge, 4 (!) marking gauges for marking and cutting joints.

Block plane for trimming overhang (I made all joints overhang 1mm, too much in retrospect).

Router with straight bit for grooving for ply bottom.

Orbital sander for final smoothing.

Ideally, I'd like to make a shooting board, so I could cut and square boards with a tenon saw and then finish with a shooting board for a perfect square edge. I'd also like to get more to grips with a scraper, cabinet scraper or scraper plane so I didn't have to use a sander (I took too much material off in places!). I think using the bandsaw and P/T machine are a good idea because it leaves me more time for the the rest of it, the bits that make a difference! Otherwise I'm quite happy with the above balance.

Cheers,
Craig

[paulchapman]

Blimey, Craig, if that's your first attempt at a dovetailed box, it's excellent

I'd like to see the drawers for the bedside table when you make them.

Cheers

Paul

[paulchapman]

craigmarshall said:

Ideally, I'd like to make a shooting board

I find this sort quite good, where the hardwood stop is in the form of a wedge



If the end gets at all mangled, just knock it out, take a shaving off the sloping side, knock it back in and trim the end up



Actually, when making this one I accidentally routed the slot for the wedge too wide, so I glued in a piece of scrap MDF. But having done this, it turned out to be a good idea because it provides excellent support for the hardwood block

Cheers

Paul

[engineerone]

blimey craig wish my first dovetails were that good.


nice looking piece, you followed the best rule
to finish.

paul

[craigmarshall]

Thanks Colin and Paul for the kind comments - and thanks for the ideas for shooting boards. I know Alf also has loads of shooting board info over on her site: www.cornishworkshop.co.uk/shootingboards.html - looks like I should be able to knock one up in not much time.

Engineer one: I don't quite understand, do you mean finish as in complete the job?

Cheers,
Craig

[evergreen]

Craig

I know my eyesight is not what it was but those dovetails look pretty fine to me. It doesn't matter how long they took to do.

Regards.

[engineerone]

yes craig, that is actually what i mean, we all as amateurs have the loss of confidence period as things come toward the end,
so it is important to get to the end of the task.

(here speaks a man with a lot of tuits to finish )

paul

[pj]

Craig, very nice job! My first dovetails would not even pass as workshop cupboard quality.


Paul, I find that it's not usually the loss in confidence period, but actually loss of enthusiasm through breaks in the job, other more pressing jobs, having to make jigs etc, etc.

Philip