redwood

Re: redwood

It's incredibly soft and don't finish it with oil. Oil makes it very dark in my experience.

Re: redwood

No reason not to dovetail it.  The only thing to be aware of is the wood’s softness, especially under the chisel. You don’t want to crush the wood.  So very thin sides, like under 1/4”, might deform a bit under the chisel, unless it’s a thin grind, like 30 degrees or less.  Or when lifting layer by layer out of half-blind sockets (I seem to recall you fretsaw thru dovetails), you might want to take 1/8” layers rather than heavier cuts.

But even the above is kinda precious, because if it does crush a bit, all you have to do is leave a damp rag on it, and level will be restored in 1/2 hour max.

The color can be great!

Wiley

Re: redwood

I have made stuff from eastern white pine and western cedar.  I don't see these woods being any different to work by hand tools than redwood.  As others have said, extra care is necessary when working to prevent denting and scratching.  A close to the wood finish like a thin coat of shellac will be attractive.  

Re: redwood

I have some salvaged from an old picnic set. The wood is old-growth. It is soft, tougher than old-growth WRC; and tends to crumble when worked with edge tools. Mine turns nearly black under any finish. Throw water on yours to get a good idea. Unlike cedars Redwood has no--or, very little--scent.

Re: redwood

I didn't know it was that soft. You suggest something like 30 degrees or less for the chisel bevel. I recently just happened across a video by Rob Coseman in which , for soft woods. he advocates a bevel of 17 degrees. Have you had experience with anything that acute? I recently got a set of Blue Spruce chisels that I haven't used yet; but I'm not about to regrind any of them. I suppose I could regrind a few of the chisels that I have lying around , if 17 degrees is a good idea. What do you think?

As for fret sawing the socket waste, I am flattered that you have the idea that I am known for doing dovetails is some particular way. The truth is that I have cut very few dovetails by hand, and although I have cut a few using a fret saw, I'm not particularly good at it. I know lots of woodworkers ( including our own Derek Cohen) advocate using some sort of cutting action to remove most of the waste, but someone as good as Paul Sellers doesn't bother.  And I purchased a particularly fine Blue Spruce fret saw to learn how to do it better. But the more I think about it, the less I see the need for one. I'm going to do it both ways to see for myself.

Re: redwood

Eliot......Rob Cosman has a dedicated chisel that he keeps ground at 17* for the sole purpose of dovetailing soft woods......so, an old chisel of some sort would be the smart way to approach this.....

Re: redwood

Hi Eliot,

My mention of chisel bevel angles was only to give you a tangible idea of what to look for.  Use the Blue Spruce chisels you just bought!  Just be aware of the softness as you work.  Actually, if you do a practice set of dovetails in the redwood you have, you’ll be an expert on the subject!

Don’t want to overstate things—you’ll be fine after a quick trial run.  Even if you get a little crushing at a scribe line here or there, lay a moist rag or paper towel on it, and the fibers will raise back up in short order.

Bill T. raises an actual problem:  It is so-o-o-o easy to score this wood along the grain.  Even setting a stick down on a stray brad can mark it.  Again, though, you can moisten the wood to reduce the depth of the mark.

Wiley

Re: redwood

My thoughts exactly; although I really want to try out my brand new BS chisels.