I was recently thumbing the latest issue of
FWW (issue 192) and the Lie Nielsen ad. caught my attention (page 24 ). What is it this craftsperson is doing? Are they pins being beautifully pared back on a lapped or half blind dovetail? Or is it a round about way of paring a through dovetail? Maybe this is one of those “shovetail” joints I keep hearing about. Maybe I’m just confused. Sorry guys, just a bit of fun and banter.
Replies
S,
Why would anyone use dovetails any more? Now that the Festool Domino is here, most other forms of joinery are things of the past. I expect that the Lie Nielsen company will completely fold up. I know that not every body has jumped on the Domino bandwagon yet, but I have heard that many people didn't like the wheel when it first came out. Actually, and you may not have known this, the first model of the wheel was not round, it was square. The second model was triangular. That produced one less bump as it "rolled". Eventually the round version came. Now everyone uses them. Same thing will happen with the Domino. It may just take a few months.
Just think of how much the Domino saves you. You no longer need a dovetail saw, or a tenon saw. You don't need a shoulder plane any more. Those Dominos almost pay for themselves. I suppose you could still keep your chisels to knock hardened glue off your glue-ups, and to lift errant nails out.
I surely will miss the hand cut dovetail and the hand-cut M&T, but like the buggy whip, they are now things of the past.
Have fun.
Mel
PS - there are no facts in the above message. :-)
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
You do realize that the Domino is just the latest version of a very old technique. The stationary version of the slot mortiser goes back maybe 70 years and one would make their own loose tenon stock. Folks think it some revolutionary breakthrough in woodworking but's it's not. Most all the shops I know have been using slot mortisers for over 25 years. I first learned about them in FWW but they never did really explore the technique to it's true merit. Most folks didn't even notice it. Lots of folks still think the chisel mortiser is a new development but even that goes back to the 1850's. The biscuit joiner goes back to 1950. Sliding table saws are old as well. By the time the hobbyists find out, it's old news. Helical planer heads have been around for decades in industry.
Rick,
Yup. I realize what the Domino is. I don't plan to buy one. I make M&T the old way. I was just having fun.
Good to hear from you.
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
I'm just glad you know the difference between a hobbyist and a hobbiest (whatever that would be? oh, wait, hobby, hobbier, hobbiest!) ;-)
Hey Mel,
thanks for the reply. I do have to correct you on one point of history, albeit small. In fact, the triangle was the first wheel, not the square, and when Bruce Turner invented it some 47000 years ago, he realised he was on to a hiding to nothing. To get the wheel to pivot over those three huge points was an incredibly laborious task, and it wasn't until his wife, Hilda, pointed out to him that he needed to consider his options (presumably regarding the wheel) that he realised in fact an extra point might make it an easier ride, hence the square. It took several generations for a smart German named Franz Hoffenburster to invent the Octagon as a wheel and from there things started to really move. Yes, things move on, and the Domino seems to be the next big thing, but from a crafting point of view, where is the craft? I like things slow, and I think thats why I gain most of my woodworking pleasure from doing the hand cut dovetails. Commercially viable? Nah.....but thats the road I've chosen. They do look good though.......................
Cheers!
Your version of the wheel, while no doubt true, sounds like the first version of "keeping up with the Jonses". Each neighbor on the street adding one more flat spot to out do the other. It was no doubt one of their wives who got tiered of all the late night, secret tinkering and told the guy "JUST MAKE THE DAMN THING ROUND AND COME TO BED ALREADY!!"AndyTinkering late into the night...
"In fact, the triangle was the first wheel..."Don't you have that story backward? I thought the triangle was invented after people complained about the bumpy ride of dodecagonal wheels, resulting in a race among inventors to eliminate those pesky angles. One guy cut out two points with his decagonal wheel, then another bested him with the octagonal model, and so forth until they got to the irreducible minimum number of points.BruceT
aaahhhh, minimalism pared back. Thats what I like. Now, I think we can probably solve the riddle to perpetual motion if we could get rid if just one more point!
Splinterhead,
Your history is a little off. My great, great, great grandfather Bemus McDaniel invented the round wheel 2 years before Franz Hoffenburster's octagonal wheel. It was quite by accident of course. It happened after sampling a couple of bottles of scotch and him saying "Just a minute, I'm sure I can plane it square with a few more strokes."
Jack
lol!!
Your killing me.
LOL.
So the real question is ....... first the dowel, then the Biscuit, now the dominoe..... WHAT IS NEXT ??
Pardon my spelling,
Mike
Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.
The wood welder.------------------------------------
It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore
Mudman,
Good to hear from you.
Glad you recognized my message as being humorous. Not everyone did. I sometimes enjoy taking my time and doing things the old way. After all, I am not in the business of woodworking, so it doesn't matter if my project takes too much time.
Have fun. Woodworking is much more fun it one has a sense of humor (and you do).
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
When you as crappy of a wood worker as I am a "good sense of humor" is necessary.
LOL.
Pardon my spelling,
Mike
Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.
New hammer.------------------------------------
It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore
Don,
Too funny! I especially like the camera lens (no doubt for "guided" nailing....) and the "finger hit" tally.
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Tschüß!<!----><!---->
<!----><!---->James<!----><!---->
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"I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that...."
-- A.C. Clarke
Amen!
Seems like measure twice, cut four times.
Are you kidding... I already cut it 4 times and it is still too short!Pardon my spelling,
Mike
Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.
I applying for a patent for my latest invention.
It's called a gozinta, it goes inta places that no other tool can get into! It cuts dovetails that noone can see, they're blind! The dovetails that is.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 6/16/2007 8:08 am ET by KiddervilleAcres
Mel:LMAO!I just love your delicious sense of irony. Even more when so when other respond in earnest.I came to this thread a little late, but what a gem. The hammer lacks wi-fi then it could connect to a server and automatically record the productivity of your carpenters. Imagine the possibilities:"Last week you had 5000 blows, this week only 2000 - you're fired!"Regards,Hastings
Hastings,
Great to hear from you.
Glad you got a kick out of my humor.
When I read some of these posts, my mind goes off in its own direction, and I can't control it. It comes up with off-the-wall thoughts such as my response in this thread.I was thinking of having my photo taken, by striking a pose like Arnold Schwartzenegger, but holding a Domino in each hand instead of a machine gun. Keep having fun, and make a masterpiece every month.
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Looking for Knots in all the wrong places?
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
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