Re: speed and eyeball layout
Dave Mount
>I'll caveat this by saying that I haven't seen the video you speak of, but I saw him do dovetails on Roy's show.
There are two notable elements of what he does -- he does it fast, and he does it mostly with eyeball layout (with the notable exception of scribing the baselines).
Speed comes with practice. It's not reasonable to set your own expectations based on his speed, other than to realize that you'll get faster with practice.
With regard to eyeball layout, this depends on what you want your dovetails to look like, as well as some on practice. Since handcut dovetails are cut to fit tails to pins or pins to tails (depending on your dovetailual orientation. . .and discrimination on this basis is prohibited), it's not really a big deal to make structurally sound dovetails using eyeball layout. The only really critical thing is that you can cut perpendicular across the board by eye, and that isn't really that hard, particularly in thinner stock (actually, thin stock doesn't make cutting perpendicular any easier, it just relaxes the tolerances). *However* -- the resulting dovetails may look exceedingly "hand cut" in that the layout may not be very regular and/or the angles may not be consistent, particularly when you are just starting.
I think most people cutting dovetails for quality furniture want the dovetails to look neat and "professional." My own goal is for people's eyebrows to go up when I tell them they are hand cut, because they think they look too nice to have been done by hand. That means even angles and consisent size and spacing. Doing that requires a measured layout unless you really are superhuman.
So I guess my answer would be first that you shouldn't expect to cut them like Klausz, though it's fair to use his skill as motivation that you will improve. As you are learning, I would suggest that you use full measured layout. I say this because there are several new skills involved in cutting dovetails. If you take eyeball layout out of the mix, then you can focus on the remaining skills initially. If you try it all at once, you risk getting frustrated because there are too many variables and it's not clear where your mistakes are and where to focus your efforts to improve. Once you develop some initial competence actually cutting the joint, go ahead and do some with eyeball layout and see what you think. If it jazzes you that the dovetails were cut not only by hand but by eye as well, then stick with it. Otherwise, stay with the 95%+ folks that measure. Keep in mind that some dovetails need only to function as a joint; others are both that and a statement of craftsmanship/artistry. Which you are cutting affects your approach.
Couple other things. With regard to measuring, every time I dovetail something I make a story stick that has the layout for that particular width. When I'm done, I throw them in the same box as my dovetail saw. Over time, you build up a library of those layout sticks and are able to reuse them on other pieces, rather than having to figure it all out from scratch each time.
Second, and not to blasphemy a master, but if you look closely at the dovetails Master Klausz cut on Roy's show, there are some gaps. Not that they'll fall apart or aren't sound structurally, but there are some gaps you can see if you look closely. I suspect that when he is making dovetails for his finest furniture, he may not cut them at the same blazing speed that he does for show.
My $0.02 (or a little more),
Dave
