Hand Cut Dovetails

Re: Hand Cut Dovetails

Scott Post

>Your Marples chisels are fine.

You need:

- saw (I'll address this last)

- marking gage

- marking knife

- mallet

- a bevel gage or dovetail layout marker

Any old marking gage, wood mallet, and bevel gage will do.

I used an exacto knife for years but finally made myself a copy of the marking knife sold by Patrick Leach at www.supertool.com. Nothing wrong with an exacto knife

The saw is potentially the most expensive tool and definately the most controversial. You'll get a bunch of opinions, but what it boils down to is needing a saw that is sharp and properly set. You need to decide two things: how much do you want to spend and do you want a western or Japanese saw. Japanese saws cut on the pull stroke. They have their proponents and detractors. You can spend as much or as little as you want on a new Japanese saw and it will probably end up cutting pretty darned good. If you decide on a Western style saw (cuts on the push stroke) you can either pay $100+ for a new, ready to use saw from Lie Nielsen or Adria or you can buy a $10 new or used saw and have it sharpened. Anything under a $100 in a western saw isn't going to be sharp until you have it sharpened. I don't recommend a dovetail saw as the place to start on learning to sharpen saws so you'll end up having to send it out. Don't even think about trying to learn with a $10 western saw that wasn't properly sharpened. It won't track straight.

As far as resources for learning to cut dovetails - check your library. Every magazine has published multiple articles on the subject. Frank Klausz has a video showing it which is better than nothing, but hopefully someone will chime in with a better video recommendation. I learned from Frank's video and as I've gotten more experienced I realize he does a newbie a disservice with his cavalier attitude towards layout.

There are some schools around, such as the Marc Adams School in Indiana, that teach one day courses in dovetailing. If you have that available I highly recommend it. Dovetailing can be learned on your own, but it can save some frustration having someone lead you through it the first time.

Re: Hand Cut Dovetails-poplar

Barry Va Beach

>When I first started cutting dovetails I used pine and the results were poor at best. While pine is cheap, it crumbles when I tried to use my chisel to make cuts. I strongly reccommend you use poplar - it is only $2.65 a board foot at the Woodcraft near me. I cut some dovetails in it the other day and it is a delight to work. Your chisel will go through it like butter and you won't have the crumbling problem that you get with pine. If you are practising your technique, go with a wood that is easy to cut and pare.

guaranteed success

Bill Tindall, E. TN

>Buy Lie-Nielson saw and video. Study video. Practice sawing to a line. This is easy with a saw that tracks as well as LN dovetail saw. You will be successful. We teach a class with this approach and students are successful at making functional dovetails in a 4 hour class. It may take a while longer to make flauntable dovetails, if that is your ultimate goal.

Re: Hand Cut Dovetails

Bob Hutchins in Central TX

>Howdy Steve,

Get hold of the Tage Frid book (can't remember which one it was in the series) that covers dovetails. Your library prolly has it (cause my little 'un did). He covers the subject well. There was also a series by Ian Kirby in Popular Wookworking that was good, too.

As to materials, I practiced in clear redwood (scraps) when I taught myself (from Frid's book) and it was a _itch! Full blind dt's were the toughest in redwood. Get yourself some poplar. Good clear pine (not the 'white wood' from the borg) ain't too bad, but poplar is better.

As to tools, you've already been given excellent advice.

It's like gettin' to Carnegie Hall -- you gotta practice practice practice.

HTH

BobH

Re: Hand Cut Dovetails-poplar

Jim in Burlington

>Bill a post above has it nailed. I have the LN saw titemark marking gauge and hirch chisels all good top of the line tools that were a splurge. There are more to it than buying the tools and Rob Cosmans video. You need to learn how to sharpen your chisels razor sharp and planes and this will takes what seems like hours first. Then practice cutting lines with the saw then make 20 practice joints. It will probably take 40 actual hours IMO to be completly comfortable to work on drawers.

Re: Hand Cut Dovetails - links

paul womack

>The great Jeff Gorman

link farm

my favourite tip

BugBear

Agree, and *LINK*

Tom Williams

>I'll add my strong endorsement of the Rob Cosman video. Rob made this, and a second Advanced Dovetail video, for Lie-Nielsen and has a very clear technique. His layout method uses a set of small dividers, so you'd need to add that to your tool list. I ordered both videos from Rob directly (he'll give you the same package price) and had him include his little wooden dovetail marking gauge. It's cheap, ugly, and works much better than the lovely rosewood and brass one I used previously.

Video proved most enlightening to me, however if you prefer a book, Ian Kirby's "The Complete Dovetail" is excellent.

Also, you can use a jeweler's fret saw to remove most of the waste and chisels only for final paring if you'd like. Rob (and others) follow this method.

Finally, my personal preference for dovetails is a Western saw. A Japanese saw will give you a narrower kerf and thus requires noticeably less effort. However these are not significant issues IMO for dovetail cutting. If you happen to already have a dozuki (preferably rip) then by all means give it a try. I'm certainly no expert and I strongly suspect I'm missing something here, as a recent story suggests. A friend of mine signed up to take a dovetail course in Tenn. with Lonnie Bird, who subsequently called my friend to discuss his level of experience, tools, etc. Despite the fact that my friend has a Lie-Nielsen dovetail saw, Lonnie still suggested he go out to Woodcraft and pick up their Dozuki-Z saw before the class! I'm still scratching my head over that, and looking forward to the post-class report.

Tom


Rob's contact info

Re: Agree, and

SimonA

>I too will have to agree on the Rob Cosman Videos. I never thought that these wonderful joints could be made to look so easy!!

Top marks all round!!

SimonA in the UK