Removing the tedium of chopping dovetails
Bill Tindall, E.TN
>I am making some trays for Christmas that involve dovetailed corners. I don't get any joy from removing dovetail waste. Anything that reduces the tedium of this operation would encourage me to build more with this robust joint as well as provide time for building more. I have used traditional chopping it out as well as the coping, or more appropriately jewelry, saw. Works fine but slow and tedious.
I heard a lecture by Jeff Headley and he got into drawer making. Obviously, the people in his shop have studied taking labor out of drawer making. Among the useful tips was to remove dovetail waste with a band saw. Woohoo, is that fast. I used a 4 tpi by 1/4" blade and it chiseled out the waste right up to the scribe line in seconds. (think of this operation as chiseling with a powered 1/32" chisel rather than sawing) One quick pareing pass with a chisel on each side at the scribe line and it was done. The pareing pass removed so little wood that there was no danger of extending the cut past the scribe line.