How much practice for dovetails cut like Rob?

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Create a practice dovetail joint each day for 30 days.

Create a practice setup with a soft wood such as Poplar (I have also used Cherry scrap). I try to avoid pine for dovetails if I can.

If your boards are not uniform, square, etc, then you will have poor results.

At least when you start, test your cuts to see if they are perpendicular to the face.

It is easier to cut a dovetail in 1/2 inch wood than in 1 inch wood (since if your angles are off a bit, the difference is greater with 1 inch wood).

I was feeling pretty good about my dovetails after creating some nice looking dovetails in cherry (kind of soft), and then I created a dovetailed Tansu for my wife made out of some very hard wood (hickory??). Wood that does compress is not forgiving. Ouch! Goodbye ego!

[gary Zimmel]

I practice with soft woods as I think it is harder to get a real nice joint. Soft woods are prone to tearout with a chisel unless it is real sharp. For soft woods I have chisel set ground down to 17 degrees.
Practice does make one better but I found a little instruction really goes a long way.
It's ones sawing technique that make or breaks a nice fitting dovetail. So that's what one should concentrate on.
As for a saw I have more than a few of them.....
The one with the "plastic handle" has been my go to dovetail saw for the last few years....
A LN saw was what I first used and was real nice to work with.

A bunch of years ago I went to a class put on by Rob.
Never made a hand cut dovetail before the class but came out being able to do this consistently.

finished 1.jpg

Thanks again Mr. Cosman.....
The trickery that you taught me seems to make my projects look better.


.

[Thomas Schneider]

Hi Gene,

I wouldn't recommend a Japanese saw to start off with. They cut on the pull stroke and that can take some getting used to! Why add another wrinkle to the processes (Unless you already know how to use one). Like others have stated don't practice with pine, try poplar or cherry if you have it. I know the Lowes near me sells soft maple project boards that are inexpensive and good to practice with. I think people tend to place too much importance on the brand of dovetail saw. Don't get me wrong, I would love to own some of the hand made boutique saws that are out there! But as you stated, your a power tool woodworker and after some trial and error might find hand tool woodworking just isn't your thing. The last thing you need is to drop $200 + on a saw that's just going to sit on a shelf. All a dovetail saw NEEDS to be is sharp, straight and set correctly so it tracks straight. If you have a woodworking club in your area maybe someone could lend you a couple of saws to try out. If your on Long Island I could lend you a few. The bottom line is practice. Start out practicing cutting a straight line. I started out by marking straight lines every 1/4" on the end of a 1/2" thick poplar board and just worked at sawing to the waste side of the line. The closer you can cut to the line the less correcting you will have to do with the chisel and that's always a good thing! There are lots of different techniques on how to cut dovetails and all of them work. Try a few and pick one you like and then just keep practicing till you get the results that make you happy.

Good luck!
Tom.