Working to QSWO

[Ken Shoemaker]

I been trying to cut dovetails for some small boxes with a PC4212 Dovetail jig. The wood is very tough and brittle. I'm pretty sure my bits/blades are sharp, but I'm getting an unacceptable amount of tear out. Backer boards aren't helping. I've even resorted to dampening the wood hoping the fibers would cut cleanly.

Would you share your experience/tricks with me to get me back on track???

Thanks In Advance.... Ken

[Jim Foster]

I'm doing a lot of work w/QSWO lately what I have is brittle also. Is there any way you can hog most of the pins & tails out and then use the dovetail jig for a final pass?

[Kent A Bathurst]

Use it a lot - I mean a LOT - right now in a 42" x 84" dining table top w/ breadboard end out of $$$/bf book-matched 5/4 gorgeous stuff.

It is what it is - nature of the beast. Very hard. "Brittle" is an apt-enough description. Jim might be onto something. Dunno how this would work with a router jig: define the shoulders with a chisel, then route. But - you need to define the visible lines somehow before you start chippping away at it, IMO.

[Frank Drew]

I like quartered oak for hand-cut drawer side dovetails but have never used a router jig with it; I'm not surprised you're getting tearout, though, since for at least half of each cut you're likely going against the grain. But when you assemble the joint, is the tearout hidden?

[David Hawxhurst]

i usually just use a knife to mark out the shoulder, but using a chisel might be a better idea as it will cut deeper than a knife. this method has worked for well for me to avoid tear out in harder woods like qswo, wenge, purple heart, etc.

[Neil Brooks]

Some good tips can be found here (http://www.thewoodshop.20m.com/kellerp3.htm#tearout).

Good luck. Frustrating issue !

[Kent A Bathurst]

i usually just use a knife to mark out the shoulder, but using a chisel might be a better idea as it will cut deeper than a knife. this method has worked for well for me to avoid tear out in harder woods like qswo, wenge, purple heart, etc.

David - yeah, I'd think that multiple light passes with a sharp-sharp marking knife would get a deep enough score to stop the tearout.

The times I've used my PC jig with QSWO, it's only been for half-blinds in drawer fronts......the rest has been other woods, and through dovetails in the backs - handcut, because I find that is just as easy as the jig. No real tearout in the QSWO on halfblind faces - your cut isn't exiting through a long-grain face, and the problematic end of the cut is buried [or at least, on the inside of the drawer].