This is the easiest to sharpen iron I have EVER sharpened! I am using a 600 grit square edged slip stone in a vise. The wedge adjuster is helpful during the initial blade adjustment. The washer prevents the iron from falling into the narrow iron slot in the plane body. This washer is required because the iron is adjusted laterally and the body of the HP-6 was designed to accept two widths of irons. The dovetail kits consists of front and rear soles, the iron, wedge adjuster and a shim washer. In this tutorial I am assuming that you are using two separate HP-6 bodies, one for the dado and one for the dovetail cuts. Don’t freak out because they are not a pure sequence in one species or you spot an inconsistency – the upcoming video tutorial will be perfect. Lastly, the images below were shot during ALL of my joint making tests and feature different woods and whatnot. You need to understand this before you get crazy with the dead blow mallet. For some projects this is desirable, for others not. And one last thing if you follow my instructions, you will have a joint that is almost impossible to take apart if you whack it home. When done, I will trim the components back and it will be dead perfect. Each species is different, but after all the joints I have cut I have determined the most expeditious way to handle this issue is to make your stock a tad bit wider than you need, not only to clean the edges, but it makes the “timing” of the joint SO MUCH EASIER! When Michael gets back from yet ANOTHER vacation, we will film a complete video tutorial and my stock will be anywhere from 1/2″ to 1″ wider than my intent. In a follow-up blog post, I will detail the hole locations and the drilling and tapping and details for sending us your body.Įvery cut for tapered sliding dovetails is across the grain creating a small amount of tear-out on the exit. For those of you who are planning on purchasing the HP-6 FX body (they are in production as we speak even though we have not opened the pre-order window) it comes with these threaded holes. Not all of you will need this mod – those that purchased new HP-6 bodies with this kit will have the mod. The set screws not only fixed the problem but made the sensitive blade adjustment MUCH EASIER! If you are comfortable drilling and tapping holes, you can make this mod yourself. So, I modified my plane body by putting 4, 5-40 threaded holes in the body of the plane. Either case, if it happens to me, it will happen to others. I suspect it was a combination of the iron dulling or the depth of cut was too deep. It turns out, side cutting end grain in spongy ring porous woods the blade clamp can be/is insufficient – it “sucked” my side cutting iron INTO the wood and jammed. I completely freaked out until I discovered what happened. In one of my tests, (Brazilian pine), the plane jammed on me half-way through cutting the female dovetail. Before you begin any project, you have to make one practice joint! This will tell you where the taper starts to lock so you can make the necessary adjustments prior to cutting your project pieces. This joint is a compression joint and there is no “one setting” answer when making this joint in different woods. Before I take you through the process here are a couple of caveats All were 6-8″ in length, and all were tests. So far, I have made tapered sliding dovetails in Brazilian pine, poplar, ash and walnut. The results are stunning – the image below is 3/4″ thick Ash and the joint is 7″ long. I spent last week and four days this week putting our HP-6 Tapered Sliding Dovetail Kit through its paces. Soon, you will be able to make sliding dovetails completely by hand. Our Skunk Lab is full of tool parts that are being boxed and will soon be on their way to our fulfillment facility.
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