Advise on fixing a dovetail mistake?
user-3955479
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I accidentally chiseled past my knife baseline on the pin board of my console. (tails seen on top surface) This results in a gap where the inside edge of the tail meets the baseline on pin board. Easiest would be to cut a wedge of endgrain to match the tail at baseline, but then it would look like that one tail was deeper than the rest and over the baseline. Alternatively, I want to get a sliver of long grain fibers to “extend the pin board” up to the baseline. Is this possible? The gap is small but will be noticeable as a chisel chop if left unaltered. thanks.
Replies
I’ve had some luck with shaving pieces from scrap and gluing them in to fill a gap. It might be easier to cut a larger gap and fill with a larger piece. You can also shoot a little glue in the gap and fill with sawdust, but I don’t think that will give you the look you want.
Scribe a new base line even with the bottom of the pin you cut too deep. Clamp the top of a thick square edge board on this new baseline. You should also back it up with another so the backside won't tear out. A simple solution is the jig in the drawing, the tight fitting splines hold and align the two while you get a couple of clamps on them. Then firmly lay the back of a sharp chisel on the top of the lower board as shown in the pictures and pare the pin board flush (you will need to press down firmly with your thumb, not shown). Use a narrow chisel to start and then you can go to a wider one, you will quickly learn how much you can take without forcing things. So you end up with a slightly lower baseline across all pins on the board. You will probably need to also do the same on it's mate to keep things square ( you will find this is very fast), but the slight decrease in overall measurement should not affect the project. You will end up with a perfect line and no repair. (Hint) use this method when you initially cut them and you will not find yourself in this position again. Good Luck.
I would test that first...seems to me the entire joint would need to be reworked to get to where it would seat. Go for the baseline repair before major surgery.
"So you end up with a slightly lower baseline across all pins on the board."
I think I clearly stated that the base line would be cut lower across the entire width of the board as well as it's mate on the other side to keep everything perfectly square and even. Using the guide board as shown it's hardly major surgery as it will take minutes per side. It will probably take less time than fiddling with a repair, which will end up looking like a...repair.
By all means try it on a scrap piece first, if you are uneasy. With a sharp chisel and some basic skills it will result in a perfect baseline.
Robscaffe; so your end result is pins standing proud? If the tailboard is not changed then I misunderstood and your fix will work. The case just gets a touch smaller.
Right. Generally you want the pins and tails a hair proud anyway as they are easier to trim flush than the alternative. The slight change in dimension should be a non issue at this stage of the game.
I got the idea from an article on building a deck grating in a Wooden Boat magazine about 30 years ago, they simply clamped a single board on the face of the piece. Having cut dovetails over many years chopping and paring to the lines, I finally dredged up this memory several years ago and decided to try it out. It has evolved into the jig shown in the drawing, although I have replaced the splines with carriage bolts and knobs to avoid messing with clamps. I have also added a strip of UHMW to keep the backer board from being cut up by the chisel. I use this arrangement to pare to the baseline for both pins and tails, after making the angled cuts with a back saw then sawing out the waste with the coping saw just proud of the baseline.
With a sharp chisel it is a joy to use, accurate and best of all, fast.
Give it a try..
Rob
Thanks for the tips!
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