I finally received the large pack of green polishing compound I ordered at the end of my holidays and it does make a huge difference to the sharpening results. Just for fun, I stropped the blades of my #4, #5 and #7 planes with it and it really is night and day with regards to the resulting planed surface. The surface after the #7 is almost already good for finishing, even when I do take thick shavings. All of a sudden, I can also traverse wood without getting any blowout... it's like magic.
I have been milling some more of the riven beech stock to make a dovetail box, with the freshly re-honed blades it was quite fast and almost effortless. I am also getting the craziest patterns on the wood. As I can now suddenly traverse without any issue, removing humps is a breeze. Which means I can now finally use the boards I rived way back on my first attempt without losing my sanity :)
So back to the dovetail box... by sheer accident, the wood has been thicknessed to imperial measurements. The sides are milled at exactly 3/8" thick while the back and front were milled at exactly 1/2" thick. Honest guv'nor, I didn't plan it. I did cut the first tails and matching pins... it's an almost perfect fit at the first attempt. I still have to clean up the base of the pins and tails to have an air-tight fit. Right now there's a 1/64" gap bothering me. Chopping out the waste on this wood is a joy, compared to the tenuous sawing required for softer woods.
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