Das Dutchman?

[steven c newman]

I'm making a TV Table from old re-claimed pine. Larger bolt holes that I can't just cut out. A "Neander" way of making a Ducthman? Bolt holes are at least 1/2', with some "bad" areas around them. Too large just to plug and fill, AND look right. Perhaps a little chisel work, followed by a little planing?

[Bill Houghton]

Perhaps a little chisel work, followed by a little planing?

Yep, that's the technique. You want thinnish wood of the same species. You can make this yourself by resawing, or sawing strips off a scrap. Cut out shapes - the ideal shape is NOT rectangular, but canoe-shaped in some way - the angled ends will blend with the grain better. I've always had a hell of a time accurately cutting curves, so a sort of stretched-out-hexagonal shape might be easier. Set your dutchman down on the wounded area, orienting the grain of the dutchman consistent with the grain of the wood, so that, when you plane, you don't accidentally create tearout. Scribe around it with a knife, run a pencil along the knife lines so they stand out, then chisel ever so slightly less deep than the thickness of the dutchman. A router plane would be great here after the initial removal of material, but if you don't have one, drive a nail into a board to your required depth, and run it around in the depression to tell you where your cuts aren't quite deep enough.

Test fit (not all the way, just make sure it'll fit the sides), slather hole with glue, tap in with mallet (lacking a mallet, use a chunk of wood; not much force needed). Some people then clamp the dutchman down until the glue dries; probably not a bad idea. Don't forget to clean up squeeze out (wet rag if you'll be painting, wait until glue is rubbery and remove most of it with a chisel if you'll be varnishing).

Plane off excess and admire your work.

[Prashun Patel]

I did this once by hand. Pick a shape that's easy to cut out and to make a mortise for. Dovetails/butterflies fit this description.

Cut the inlay first and scribe the mortise (with a knife) to fit. Small gaps can be filled with sanding dust and finish. The trickiest part is trying to cut the bottom of the mortise reasonably flat. Even if I do this by hand, I prefer to clean up much of the cuts with a router and a spiral bit (you can use a drill press too - reserving the chisel work for the edges.

[steven c newman]

for the replies. There are eight of these holes to do. Top is a glue-up of four boards. I was able to cut between other sets of holes, but these are right in the middle of the top. After I saw the size of the TV the client wanted to use, the top became about 5/4' thick. Old pine, with a "Mission Style" look. Lots of M&T joints to do. All the wood will be from this stash of old pine.

[Zach England]

Router plane comes in handy for removing waste.

[Terry Beadle]

On the edges of the dutchman make the edge about 3 to 5 degrees angled toward the center of the piece on the bottom side. This will give you a little bit of relief so that you don't have to be as precise on the top side and even a little fat on the top side. The mortice area should have sides that give a little bottom edge relief as well. When you put the glue to it and apply the dutchman, It will fill the edges and maybe a bit over. Careful planing will give you a seamless joint. Works for me. IMO

[steven c newman]

Old School way. I made enough patches for 8 of these. I then marked out where they would go on the table top. I used a ball point pen. Why? The ball will leave a line in the wood I can follow, AND see.

Tool for this job? A one inch wide chisel, and a hammer. I set the chisel with the bevel towards the waste. I drove the chisel with just six hits of the hammer. Moveved the chisel over and drove again. The reason of the six hits? Depth control, I could maintain control over how deep the cuts were. Once i had gone all the way around the patch area, I turned the chisel's bevel down, and started to peel out the waste. I worked towards the center area of the patch, until it was flat. Also, a square corner was easy to keep by doing things this way.

Once the area was cleaned out, and a test-fit done, I glued a patch in place. As the glue dried in that one, I started on the next patch. Was the bottoms of the holes perfectly flat? Nope, didn't need to be. As long as the four corners were the same depth, that was all that was needed. After all the patches were in, a little planning was done, just to smooth things out. Otherwise, Dutchmans were done.

[Leigh Betsch]

How about a pic?

[steven c newman]

will be later on tonight. Shop time was rescheduled by a new "day-job" schedule. Instead of making 210,000 pepsi 20 oz bottles tonight, I get to make a few pounds of saw dust. Stay tuned.

[steven c newman]

of both the tools, and a completed Dutchman. Also, there are a few sitting under the tools, in the first picture.

[steven c newman]

In the first picture there is an old smooth plane. No markings at all on it. It was a "Hand-me-down". I've got it set up well enough to produce paper thin shavings, so it seems to do alright. Like I said, no markings at all. Any WAGs out there? The chisel in the picture is a cheap "China" one. It does have some good steel in it though. Stays sharp, and I have it honed to a mirror finish. It was part of a set.

[Jim Koepke]

I would have to see more of the plane to tell for sure, but from what little that shows, it looks a little like a Defiance by Stanley.

If you take more pictures, take the blade off and get a good shot of the lateral adjuster. Is there nothing hidden by dirt on the blade?

jim

[steven c newman]

There is a number of sorts under the lever-cap. Looks like 115 The adjuster "wheel" is steel, not brass. The plane "runs" with the bevel down. Iron is tapered, thick at the bevel. The two screws(?) that hold the frog in place are slotted, with a washer under the head of each screw. I'll try to get some pictures of this plane later on.

[Jim Holman]

Use a large gouge to cut the recess and the dutchman. Make a cut, rotate the gouge 180º, make a second cut. Leaves a canoe shape to either excavate and fill or use as a dutchman.