dovetail question *LINK*

Re: dovetail question

wilbur

>It's personal preference.

It's said that the scored baseline shows is that you actually measured and cut the dovetails by hand, as opposed to a router/jig. But then again, I suppose you could cut dovetails using a router/jig, and then mark a baseline afterwards.

Sand out?

Denis Ch�nard, Orl�ans, Ont.

>I assume you meant "plane out" :-)

As Wilbur said, leaving the baseline or not is a matter of preference. When you get to the point where you make pins thin enough that they can't be made by a router and jig, that in itself will prove the dovetails have been made by hand, baseline showing or not...

DC

Re: dovetail question

Robert Henderson

>I rather like the line. I think it visually ties the joinery together as a unit. Just my $.02

Re: Sand out?

Tony - Memphis

>Or in my case, it doesn't take the line to make it obvious!

Still trying!

Tony

Re: dovetail question

Jack Guzman from Maine

>If I'm dovetailing the sides of a chest or a box where the dovetails are for appearance as well as strength I would score lightly and maybe plane them out,but if I'm building drawer sides I don't worry about lines. Concentrate on getting them tight.---Jack

Re: dovetail question

"RJ" Whelan

>Jim ... the scored line makes a good registration for the chisel - but this means going a little deep. Whether sanded or planed, you don't want eradicating the line to cause a poor fit on the drawer.

If the DT is decorative as well as structural you can make your own decision on whether to let it show.

If you're building a period piece and the lines don't show on the original, you probably don't want them to show on the reproduction.

RJ

Re: dovetail question

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

>Jim

What I like to do is a light-moderate line (depends on the hardness of the wood) on the outside, and a deep line on the inside (where it does not show). Then, after I have marked out the remainder of the lines, I return to the outside line and score more deeply only where it marks the boundary of the waste (since this aids in creating a clean base line). Later I will plane away the remainder of the (outside) scored lines.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Re: dovetail question

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>I try not to score the side that will show; but if I have to, the lines definitely get planed out before any finishing. This is a perfect example of the people who do the designing not doing the cleaning. What a perfect dust/dirt catcher that's almost impossible to keep clean.

Pam