First dovetails

[Aaron Conway]

Nothing spectacular but my first set of dovetails cut by hand...

2015-10-19 20.06.57.jpg

It's going to take a lot more practice before I'm ready to use this in a project.

Cheers,

Aaron

[David Eisenhauer]

Had to start sometime and the learning curve for dovetails is not that bad. It's more sawing practice than anything. Looks good from here.

[Brian Holcombe]

Aaron, they look pretty good, nicely done.

Couple suggestions. You can layout tails with a pencil, but transfer them to the pin board with a knife. Don't cut the knife line, cut so that the saw brushes up against the knife life.

[ken hatch]

Arron,

I agree with Brian, for a first go they are not bad. Your 1/2 pins look pretty good. Your center pin looks like you sawed on the line or even on the "save" side with a little "opps" on one side. Just remember the pin "line", pencil, pen, or knife line, it makes no never mind the line is in the "save" area and you need to saw on the waste side of the line.

ken

[Jim Koepke]

They look better than many of my early dovetails.

Keep practicing and the advice above is good.

jtk

[Aaron Conway]

Thanks guys. I marked everything out with the knife then went over the line with a pencil so I could see better. I'll be sure to "save" the line next time. Fairly happy with my saw cuts but need a lot more practice with my chisel work. Hoping to take another run at it tonight.

Aaron

[Aaron Conway]

PS: Do you guys use a low angle block plane or #4 for smoothing the joint once assembled?

Thanks,

Aaron

[ken hatch]

Aaron,

First let me state the "As with all things wood....YMMV". In your photo I see what appears to be a marking knife with a short, stiff, spear point blade. I expect others find that style of marking knife the bee's knees but I've had trouble getting good consistent tail transfer with that type of marking knife as my pins become smaller. Again see first statement, what works better is a marking knife with a longer thin flexible blade. My favorite is a pfeil Swiss made Chip Carving Knife #13 but for a spear point the Lee Valley Veritas Workshop Striking Knife for less than $11 USD is one of the best. Sometimes cheap is better .

Just read your question: I seldom use a block plane for anything so take that into consideration, depending on the size of the box, cabinet or whatever and what plane is at hand could be #3. #4, or a #5.


ken

[Matt Bainton]

Great job Aaron! I did my first tails this weekend and ran out of time for the pins. I've got the same Veritas saw - such a good value.

[Brian Holcombe]

Thanks guys. I marked everything out with the knife then went over the line with a pencil so I could see better. I'll be sure to "save" the line next time. Fairly happy with my saw cuts but need a lot more practice with my chisel work. Hoping to take another run at it tonight.

Aaron

Apologies, I managed to miss your marking knife when looking over everything.

After marking with the knife I will make a notch in the inside corner of the 'waste' side of the line and I find that helps let the saw fall beside the line rather then fall into the line. The difference can often be the difference between a hand tight fit (literally able to press it together by hand) which will still glue up tight and what I prefer which is a slightly friction fit, requiring just some light taps to assemble.

You wont want a heavy friction fit in my opinion since it will often risk cracking the board (DAMHIKT).

I use a #4 to smooth the assembly. Put a light miter on outside corners to prevent blowing out the end grain when you plane over it.

[Matt Bainton]

Put a light miter on outside corners to prevent blowing out the end grain when you plane over it.

Brian, can you illustrate this? I've been having terrible blow out when crossing end grain with my #4.

[Prashun Patel]

Your FIRST looks great. You'll be surprised how good they'll look once they're glued and (gasp alert) sanded. When practicing, I'd go that extra mile and actually glue up your test boards so you can see how it'll really look.

I will offer some contradictory advice to what I believed when starting. Don't over-analyze it. Mark tight and clean, saw straight and flush, and pare minimally with sharp chisels. I am finding dovetail fitting (and tenon fitting for that matter) to be like bike riding. It's more a function of practice than analysis.

[Aaron Conway]

Thanks all for the great feedback. I'll echo Matt's comment and ask Brian to give a little more detail on how he prevents blowout.

Another question while I'm at it. To remove major waste between pins/tails are you using a fret saw, coping saw or drilling out? I've seen all done.

Brian...yes, that saw is a great value. Never really appreciated a hand saw until using that Veritas. Look forward to seeing your results.

Thanks,

Aaron

[Brian Holcombe]

A sharp blade helps the most, but this helps as well;

[Jim Koepke]

Do you guys use a low angle block plane or #4 for smoothing the joint once assembled?

Either work for me. A low angle block plane tends to make a smoother cut on the end grain. Working from the outside going over the end grain first helps to avoid and blowout of the end grain.

To remove major waste between pins/tails are you using a fret saw, coping saw or drilling out?

For me this has changed over time. My early work was all chopping out the waste with chisels. Over time my skill with a fret saw has improved. A fret saw is my preference as it has a thinner blade. A coping saw is fine. They also tend to have a deeper throat.

For me the most difficult part of creating a dovetail joint was the relationship between the marking and the sawing. In the example of cutting tails first, The line transfered from the tail to the pin board is all in an area that needs to be saved. With a pencil, there may be a small gap between the edge of the tail guiding the pencil and where the actual pencil line is marked. This area is also to be saved. The same marking/sawing relationship occurs when pins are cut first.

When you get that bit sorted, your dovetails will start fitting together much better.

jtk