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Handcut dovetail gauge lines question - Handplanesandmore - 08-24-2018
Do you leave the marking gauge lines on your handcut through dovetail joint or do you remove them, and also why?
Simon
RE: Handcut dovetail gauge lines question - Tony Z - 08-24-2018
Mine are so lightly scribed and then darkened with a fine pencil, that when I clean up after assembly they disappear.
RE: Handcut dovetail gauge lines question - Mike Brady - 08-24-2018
I leave them. They are a hallmark of the handwork.
RE: Handcut dovetail gauge lines question - Derek Cohen - 08-24-2018
I plane them off, if possible. Basically, I think that the lines detract. This is a personal thing - there is no right or wrong answer.
They are made as lightly as possible to begin, and then deepened where the dovetail waste will be removed.
Regards from Perth
Derek
RE: Handcut dovetail gauge lines question - Bibliophile 13 - 08-24-2018
I plane them off if they're going to be seen. If they're concealed, I don't care.
I figure that anybody looking at my work closely enough can tell it was done by hand and not by a machine. But hey, if your hand-cut dovetails are so tight, regular, and precise that only a telltale gauge line will reveal that they weren't made by a machine, then you have my utmost respect.
RE: Handcut dovetail gauge lines question - knockknock - 08-25-2018
(08-24-2018, 08:57 PM)Bibliophile 13 Wrote: ...It isn't hard to tell mine are hand cut either
I figure that anybody looking at my work closely enough can tell it was done by hand and not by a machine. But hey, if your hand-cut dovetails are so tight, regular, and precise that only a telltale gauge line will reveal that they weren't made by a machine, then you have my utmost respect.
I don't have to remove my lines. I mark all the way across the baseline on the inside and only mark the baseline for the waste on the outside (show side).
RE: Handcut dovetail gauge lines question - TraditionalToolworks - 08-25-2018
My $0.02...(worth what I charge you) is that if you're seeing layout lines on your joinery you need to practice more at cutting to your line...if you split your lines you will not be able to tell, and especially if you clean them up with a hand plane, I never need to worry about layout lines when I'm on my game.
BTW, this is to say, practice your sawing a bit. Mark a bunch of vertical lines on a board, try to split the line. Angle the lines and follow them the same...split the line...now angle the lines every which way and continue trying to split the line as you cut them. You'll improve your sawing skills greatly by practicing that for a few nights.
Cheers,
Alan
RE: Handcut dovetail gauge lines question - Handplanesandmore - 08-25-2018
(08-25-2018, 05:26 PM)TraditionalToolworks Wrote: .if you split your lines you will not be able to tell, and especially if you clean them up with a hand plane, I never need to worry about layout lines when I'm on my game.
Cheers,
Alan
Alan,
My question is about the baselines/shoulder lines, not the cut lines (which usually are just pencil lines), whether people leave them or remove them.
Simon
RE: Handcut dovetail gauge lines question - TraditionalToolworks - 08-25-2018
(08-25-2018, 06:15 PM)Handplanesandmore Wrote: Alan,
My question is about the baselines/shoulder lines, not the cut lines (which usually are just pencil lines), whether people leave them or remove them.
Simon
Simon,
What about them?
Do you leave your work unfinished?
IOW, do you leave your projects looking like some of your practice work?
I can't imagine not planing or sanding (if need be) and applying some type of finish to the joinery when I complete it.
I don't see the issue really...for dovetails I use a round cutter Tite-Mark and run it on both sides. Is that the baseline you refer to? If you mark it with pen/pencil, plane it off...simple. I can usually see the baseline fine, but I still clean my work up and put some type of finish on it.
And although we were not discussing this, I like to say, "There's nothing that can't be fixed with some pine tar and saw dust...", which is a fancy way of saying there is nothing that can't be fixed. You can cut a kerf with a saw and glue a wedge into a tail/pin joint, you can use a ball peen and move the wood around also...at the end of the day a craftsman does what a craftsman does. It's not about being perfect, it's knowing how to fix things...
So, speaking for myself if there was markings I probably didn't finish things properly. I don't leave my work like that, period.
Alan
RE: Handcut dovetail gauge lines question - Handplanesandmore - 08-25-2018
(08-25-2018, 06:32 PM)TraditionalToolworks Wrote: Simon,It is not really about leaving a finished work to look like a practice piece or half finished.
What about them?
Do you leave your work unfinished?
IOW, do you leave your projects looking like some of your practice work?
I can't imagine not planing or sanding (if need be) and applying some type of finish to the joinery when I complete it.
Alan
Hayward was against leaving the layout lines:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBDIHVvww4E&feature=youtu.be&t=4m28s
BUT Krenov (see A Cabinetmaker's Notebook) proudly displayed them!
https://www.google.com/search?q=a+cabinetmaker%27s+notebook&client=firefox-b-ab&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiOnP61s4ndAhUnxlQKHU9XDNEQ_AUICigB&biw=1093&bih=450#imgrc=nS4KZJV2yWTKWM:
Simon