Getting rolling - dadoes, mortises and tenons

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Yxoc
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Re: Getting rolling - dadoes, mortises and tenons

Wed Mar 07, 2012 2:13 am

Looks good Jack,
Would you mind expanding a bit on your method for hand cutting the stopped dadoes?

Regards

Derek
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Re: Getting rolling - dadoes, mortises and tenons

Wed Mar 07, 2012 3:53 pm

Yxoc wrote:Looks good Jack,
Would you mind expanding a bit on your method for hand cutting the stopped dadoes?

Regards

Derek
Derek,
Here are photos and a brief overview. You will have to excuse some of the images as they are blurred since this was hand held and I didn't go in and get my bench top tripod. I will next time but I think you will get the idea. The layout is for a 1/2" dado that I knifed around quiet deep and just undersized so that the initial mortising cuts will not break out on top but will form a perimeter for the hand router to follow. You will see in the continued post how I establish size on this sample dado. I used a 12mm chisel to make one run across. I am using a 9mm chisel just to show by alternating side to side how a smaller chisel can be used. I started and stopped approx. 1/8" from the end.
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The spacing is approximately 1/8" by eye.
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Using a smaller chisel bevel down the first row of waste can be popped out.
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Then using a small router plane, I loosened the clamp knob and let the cutter dig in then tightening the the clamp I made the first pass.
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I set the cutter for a very aggressive cut and by making several offsetting passes at that level I roughed past the chisel marks.
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Five attachments are all that is allowed here so this will be continued in next post ...............
Jack_Ervin.
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Re: Getting rolling - dadoes, mortises and tenons

Wed Mar 07, 2012 4:16 pm

Yxoc wrote:Looks good Jack,
Would you mind expanding a bit on your method for hand cutting the stopped dadoes?

Regards

Derek
Derek,
Continuing on from previous post. Cutting dadoes using hand tools.
The nest cuts are quiet aggressive, taking cuts of about 1/32".
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Down to within about 1/32" or .030".
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The I pared the ends to approx. 1/32" to 1/64".
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I did this so the floor would be clean.
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Then took the dado to final depth taking finer cuts ( .002" to .005" approx.).
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Continued an next post................
Jack_Ervin.
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Re: Getting rolling - dadoes, mortises and tenons

Wed Mar 07, 2012 4:36 pm

Yxoc wrote:Looks good Jack,
Would you mind expanding a bit on your method for hand cutting the stopped dadoes?

Regards

Derek
Derek,
This should finish up this series of one of my methods to cut dadoes using hand tools which I just devised out of necessity for this project and using tools that I have. Using a 1x2x12 parallel set flush with the front edge establishes the dado 1" from edge.
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End is final trimmed.
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Other end is final trimmed.
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Back parallel is set off front parallel using 1/4x1/2x6 parallel, establishing 1/2" width dado.
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And the 1/4x1/2x6 parallel a tight fit in the dado. The finish depth is 3/16". Length is whatever is needed.
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Regards,

Jack
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Chris Hall
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Re: Getting rolling - dadoes, mortises and tenons

Wed Mar 07, 2012 4:46 pm

Awesome! Thanks for posting that up Jack.
djwong
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Re: Getting rolling - dadoes, mortises and tenons

Wed Mar 07, 2012 8:39 pm

Really informative sequence of photos Jack. Thanks for taking the time to post them. Here's a counterpoint of what not to do...

I finished my layout yesterday, and started by cutting the tenon shoulders in the end walls. I experimented on some scrap with cutting the shoulder withe a rabbit plane after sawing the tenons, but I was getting too much blowout on the ends of the tenons in the douglas fir.
Image

Next I cut the though dados for the floor board with my 1/4" plow plane. My plan was to cut the 1/4" dado to depth, and widen the sides with a chisel. I set a guide fence, knifed a line, and started paring. The side walls sort of turned into a splintery mess.
Image

Frustrated, I let the fence slip and cut the dado too wide. Instead of tossing the piece, I decided to patch it, since it was not structural and would not show in the finished piece. I cleaned up the dado mess with a router and glued a patch. I did not use the router to cut the original dado because I frankly lack confidence in handling the router.
Image

As long as I had the glue out, I finished gluing up the floor board. There must have been a hidden fracture, because it broke apart in the clamps sometime later - not along the glue line.
Image

So I am back to cutting dados and preparing new floor board stock.
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Chris Hall
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Re: Getting rolling - dadoes, mortises and tenons

Wed Mar 07, 2012 9:03 pm

Djwong,

looks like you're having some adventures in cut out land. Doug Fir can be tricky due to the pronounced differences in density between the early wood and the late wood. You fitted a cleanly matched patch into place - well done!

Could you re-glue that board along its split? That would save making up new boards.

Are you planning to tackle the dado cut out a little differently for round 2?

For dealing with blowout on the end of a stick, you can try clamping a sacrificial block on the end that you cut through with the plane.
djwong
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Re: Getting rolling - dadoes, mortises and tenons

Thu Mar 08, 2012 1:08 am

Chris Hall wrote:Could you re-glue that board along its split? That would save making up new boards.
I actually have a second set of partially milled components set aside for almost every piece in the toolbox. I figured somewhere along the way, I would screw something up. I did not think it would be the floor board, so I will have to resaw new boards from a slab I have. I use a bandsaw and a jointer/planer, so it should not cost much time. The one thing I will do differently is to leave it a little thicker when I glue it up.
Are you planning to tackle the dado cut out a little differently for round 2?
Yes. I think I will use a powered router for all the dado's. I am not opposed to going out and getting a new plow or router plane, but one of the lessons I wanted out of these projects, was to learn to use my existing tools better. The router is one of those tools that can really do some damage to your workpiece in a blink of the eye. That's why I have always been reluctant to use it.

-David
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Re: Getting rolling - dadoes, mortises and tenons

Thu Mar 08, 2012 2:37 am

djwong wrote: I finished my layout yesterday, and started by cutting the tenon shoulders in the end walls. I experimented on some scrap with cutting the shoulder withe a rabbit plane after sawing the tenons, but I was getting too much blowout on the ends of the tenons in the douglas fir.
...

Next I cut the though dados for the floor board with my 1/4" plow plane. My plan was to cut the 1/4" dado to depth, and widen the sides with a chisel. I set a guide fence, knifed a line, and started paring. The side walls sort of turned into a splintery mess.
...

As long as I had the glue out, I finished gluing up the floor board. There must have been a hidden fracture, because it broke apart in the clamps sometime later - not along the glue line.

So I am back to cutting dados and preparing new floor board stock.
I'm glad to see that someone else is using "douglas," though your stock looks nicer than mine. I was starting to get serious wood envy, what with all the exotic species people are using :)

Re the "splintery mess," in my own limited experience I've found that a super-sharp chisel helps that problem a lot.

Progress: I've started milling the boards to size. The first one -- a long side of the big box -- is taking a long time due to somewhat limited late-night sessions and a steep learning curve, but I'm getting there. The next ones should take less time. It's very satisfying to use a big old wood jointer plane!
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Yxoc
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Re: Getting rolling - dadoes, mortises and tenons

Thu Mar 08, 2012 7:54 am

Jack - Thankyou, that was a comprehensive explanation and well illustrated. I had imagined them being done by knifing the lines and then working to depth with the router plane but wasting out with the chisel first is much more efficient.

regards

Derek

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