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It’s Sunday, and I’m in the shop pursuing enlightment through dovetailing as I work on the drawers for my coffee table. While dovetail Nirvana it still some steps away, I’ve finally achieved at least some Right Understanding. That is, to get the job done correctly, you must use the right tools. Guess which one in the picture above was missing before today.
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Interesting that there is an ad for Sears specs on this page!
Megan:
Guessed the glasses before I read your post. Fixed power reading glasses may be just the thing–I have prescription gradient “bifocals” and find that in the shop I suffer from BHS (Bobble Head Syndrome) trying to find the sweet spot.
A pair of drugstore reading glasses are probably the least expensive tool you have for cutting those dovetails!
Megan,
I think you’re missing a chisel to remove waste. Also could use a coping saw but I think the chisel is all that’s missing.
I should have had my can of Diet Coke and my iPod in the picture. I truly can’t work without either of those. The answer, however, is the reading glasses. Like so many of us over a certain age, my eyes can no longer adjust from far to near in my regular glasses, so until now, I’ve been titling my head up or down to look either under or over my glasses while sawing. I can see the lines just fine without my glasses, but the angle was throwing me off my lines from time to time. I suppose I could have simply removed my regular glasses while sawing, but things are a little crisper with the reading pair. I guess I need to get some high-strength polycarbonate, shatterproof “shop” glasses…
along with that recently acquired membership in AARP… I would guess that you got a great coupon for the eye exam & spectacles. Did I win the prize?
Megan,
I believe it is the twin screw vise and the added height that it brings to the sawing. Correct position is right up there with being able to see and we have seen you with the glasses before!
John
its the floor pads. you need to be comfortable when carving out dovetails 🙂
where are you hiding glen huey???????????????
Given the name of the image, I’m going to go with accurate glasses…
The Cup of Coffee
There are no chisels present. The tool at the end of the bench looks like a screw driver from the handle. You don’t cut dovetails without a chisel of some sort.
You’re all wrong. It’s the plastic guard for the dovetail saw.
I’m gonna guess the twin screw vise. I figure you already had the glasses, and the other items all appear to have had some use.
My first set of progressive lenses and good lighting have been a big part of improving my dovetails. Makes the money spent on good hand tools look a bit more reasonable.
Glasses !!!
Megan,
I don’t know about your current tool arsenal, but if you are anything like me, the most important thing on your dovetail bench are the glasses. I strike my lines with a knife, and particularly in the end grain I cannot accurately position my saw without the improved vision. The amount I have to pare from my pins has decreased significantly since I added the eyeware.
The screwdriver?