Scraping

The second cabinet was glued up today. While the glued dried I got on with cleaning up the exterior of the first cabinet.

Looking at the finished result, I was struck by the contrast with the, now, rough look of its original state. I think that one of the joys of woodworking comes when the finished state started to emerge, like a flower unfolding.

The second cabinet glued up minus clamps ..

I particularly love it when planing down dovetails and they sharpen in profile and detail. Here I first used a block plane straight across the grain, working one side to the centre, and then the other side to the centre.

I am very concerned about break out at the dovetails, and for this reason prefer to smooth the wood with a cabinet (card) scraper than a smoothing plane. I find there is more control with a cabinet scraper as it is possible to lift the blade just before hitting the dovetail.

The finish off a scraper is not usually as reflective as from a smoother, but I was happy with the finish here (although it is interesting how the camera lens shows up all the flaws in the surface) ...

I was also very happy with the way the dovetails came out. Hardwood to hardwood dovetailing is for masochists. There is no give and no leeway for error.

A few final shots for now.

Regards from Perth

Derek

August 2011