hi guys
I am cuttimng the vee in a swallow tail of my retro fish. I need help with getting the vee really neat. if i keep making mistakes the board will eventually fall in two.
cheers Tim
Fuzzy,
Sorry about the above hiccup. Are you having trouble cutting the vee or shaping the vee up in the crack? Lots of stuff on this in the archives. Search for “Butt Crack” and you should gets lots of hits. Mike
What I’ve been doing is shaping the entore board, then cutting the swallow tail shape out with my jig saw (Makes easy work of getting the cuts through the stringer even). Then I’ve been using a small block with 60 to get the bulk down, a couple different rat-tails (rasps) to shape the actual crack, and then lightly smoothign everything out with screen…So far so good.
Howzit tenover, Most of the swallow tails that come in to my shop need to be cleaned up as far as the stringer cut is concerned. I use a razor blade for the fix, just shave the wood til it’s right.Aloha,Kokua
I use a Japanese saw for cutting out swallow-tails. They work really well but cost, oh, $30.
You can also buy a (much smaller) razor saw blade that fits an Exacto knife handle; costs $8-$12 or so.
I like Kokua’s clean up suggestion. Although, for thicker stringers I sometimes use a Dremel with a cone-shaped abrasive bit for final cleanup. Can get a real snazzy look in about 30 seconds…
Howzit Keith, I am amazed at the fact that as a glasser I end up fine tuning the swallow cuts for the shaper who is supposed to get it right in the first place. I especially get a kick out of when the shaper cuts past the stringer into the foam. Never seen the exacto razor saws but love those Japanese 2 way cut saws. Aloha,Kokua
Fuzzy,
I had a similar problem when shaping my first Vee in a fish tail. I was using a small round file wrapped in 40 grit paper to reduce the stringer. Everytime the tool slipped, it would cut into the foam (not nice) so I as I was getting closer to getting the butt crack to where I wanted it, I masking taped the foam around the stringer. This protected the foam from unwanted cuts and one I had the stringer where I wanted it, I just had to blend the foam in the tail using firstly a small block, then screen.
I found that using the screen to blend the tail was like blending a small rail.
-Cam