I talked with my boat service guy this week and the hull painting is supposed to begin this week.  The treatment is to include a barrier coating and VC17 paint.  It should be sweet when it's finished.  Launch is still something like 7 weeks away.  Unless we get some kind of warm up, launch may not occur until 2015.  The transition to spring has been s l o w.  Northern Lake Michigan/Huron is still solid ice from Beaver Island to Cheboygan.

So, I was a dovetailing master this weekend.  Here's a look at the process.  This happened 28 times over the last few days.

Which leaves a bit of a mess on the shop floor.

But the result is a chest full of awesome dovetail joints.

And drawers ready for the final construction and glue up.

I'm making progress.  That's the important note.

To be continued...

After a couple weeks of nursing a chest cold, I got out of the house and drove over near Grand Rapids to a salmon fishing seminar.  It should help me catch a few more fish because a hundred or more just doesn't seem like enough.

It was an informative event and I came away with a goodie bag full of "stuff" given away at the seminar.

So today, the challenge was to set up the dovetail jig and get some drawers built.  I don't use the jig very often so every time is an all new learning experience.

Step 1 is to set up the side to machine the tails.

Cut the tails.

Then, set up to cut the pins on the facing board.

Cut the pins.

Put it together and...

ALMOST!  Just a little bit of an offset.

So, 13 tries.

And on the 14th, I think we're there.

Whew!

Only 27 more corners to cut.  It really isn't that difficult, but it took a while for me to figure out just what the key datum was to line up on the pieces.  Once I had that down, it only to a couple tries to zero in on a good joint.

Daylight Savings Time...and what's this?

Yup, that's an icicle and that means it's been thawing for the first time in three months.  Must be all that extra daylight we have today.  There is still a couple feet of snow on the ground so boating remains a day or two away.

So, on the the project report.

I decided I want to use half blind dovetails for the drawer construction which is a style I haven't done on the Leigh Jig before, so I took a couple scrap pieces and did a quick set-up to see if I have the technique straight.

That'll work. So on to planing down the drawer stock to finished thickness.

And rough cutting to length.

Which results in a pile of lumber.

Some assembly required.

Next step is to finish stock to width and length prior to dovetailing.

That's what I'm talking about!

Assembled the dresser frame this morning.  Kathy ventured into the shop to assist with the gluing and clamping.  Amazingly enough, we're still on good terms.  Anyway, we got it all put together.

This is as large a cabinet as I've made.  I had to make some extensions for the pipe clamps to add a couple feet of length.

I was "tapping" the panels into position and forgot to move my finger once.

Believe me, it didn't happen twice.  The knuckle is a bit swollen, but I'll live.

After drying a couple hours the clamps came off and wonder of wonders, this thing is dead nuts square.

Added a few pieces for drawer dividers, and the exterior part of the case is complete.  Ready for finish sanding.

So, after a slow start, like 3 months, this project is taking shape.  Next up, drawer guides.

Launch day...10 weeks and counting.