Sliding Dovetails with the Stanley #79

[Derek Cohen]

I have finally got around to creating a pictorial of the Stanley #79 conversion into a dovetail plane. This was originally posted when I was building the Lingerie Chest.

The article is here:  http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeToo...ley79.html



Regards from Perth

Derek

[Adnick]

Derek:


Outstanding, was just thinking about different ways of accomplishing the same.....

Thanks for posting,
Andy
Mos Maiorum

[Derek Cohen]

Andy, there are indeed many ways to do this. I have posted a number of methods over the years - different planes, saw and chisel, router plane, stopped vs through, straight vs tapered. The list goes on. This plane modification is just one more choice. I like it particularly since it is the easiest plane for most to acquire.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[cputnam]

If I understand correctly, the female portion is made by 1st creating a normal dado and then cutting out the tail angle(s.) The mating piece is then cut with the matching angle(s.) I've seen plenty of planes that will do 1/2 the job but there is never a matching device for the male half. I've been thinking about miter jacks lately which spawns the idea of an angle jig that could guide either saw or chisel.

Not sure I've explained my thoughts adequately, maybe the questions will help.

Do you know of anyone who sells a matching set of planes for both male and female? Or do I not understand the process sufficiently? I can always give up and do it with a tailed router.

[Derek Cohen]

If I understand correctly, the female portion is made by 1st creating a normal dado and then cutting out the tail angle(s.) The mating piece is then cut with the matching angle(s.) I've seen plenty of planes that will do 1/2 the job but there is never a matching device for the male half. I've been thinking about miter jacks lately which spawns the idea of an angle jig that could guide either saw or chisel. 

Hi Curt

I always start with the male section, and then mark and cut the socket/housing to match. This is the same as sawing drawer dovetails tails first, and transferring the tail to the pin board.

To cut the male section, you can follow the pictorial above, or use a dedicated dovetail plane, such as the one I built many years ago.



To cut the female socket, trace or transfer marks from the male tail, and then you have choice ...

1. Saw to the lines and chisel/router plane out the waste

2. Use a female dovetail plane that I built a few years ago.

3. Or use the plane in the current pictorial - it cuts BOTH male and female joints. 

The housing for #3 may be done in a bunch of ways, but essentially you need a dado to start. This could be done with a dado plane, such as the HNT Gordon, here ..



The Stanley #79 modification could then be used to shape the side angles - simply plane them away. It takes a few strokes only ..



Regards from Perth

Derek

[cputnam]

Thank you Derek!

Gotta spend more time on your blog again.

[Philip1231]

Derek: Nice post. I had some time before brunch was to be served (waffles, bacon, and sausage: we're watching our weight) so
I ducked into the shop to see if I could accomplish anything with a LN side rabbet plane. I found a scrap that surprisingly gave me
a decent dovetail slope and attached the wedge to the depth stop with ordinary Scotch double-sided tape.  It works! Some pics
from a few minutes effort:

[cputnam]

Good idea! How's it work for the female dado?

[Carl Grover]

The only sliding dovetail I ever made was with my 45 and a hand ground cutter.

carl

[Derek Cohen]

One can also make sliding dovetails with the Veritas Small Plow (I posted this 2 years ago) ...



Find out how here ...

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeToo...lPlow.html

Regards from Perth

Derek