When cutting dovetails, do you prefer to saw out the waste then clean up with a chisel or chisel it all out start to finish ?
I only use a chisel
Saw first, then chisel to clean up
[OP]
Contributor
When cutting dovetails, do you prefer to saw out the waste then clean up with a chisel or chisel it all out start to finish ?
"The element of competition has never worried me, because from the start, I suppose I realized wood contains so much inspiration and beauty and rhythm that if used properly it would result in an individual and unique object." - James Krenov
What you do speaks so loud, I cannot hear what you say. -R. W. Emerson
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Having tried both ways, using a fret saw to clear most of the waste and then pare down what is left seems to not only be quicker, but in softer woods lowers the chances of blowout.
So put me down for sawing out the waste.
jim
Last edited by Jim Koepke; 08-21-2009 at 11:44 AM. Reason: used the wrong saw...
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
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Assuming you mean after sawing with a dovetail saw, I have just followed Frank Klausz' "Dovetail a Drawer" video and find that I usually do not have to cope out the waste first. That changes if the stock is more than 1/2" thick or if using brittle wood like white oak.
Veni Vidi Vendi Vente! I came, I saw, I bought a large coffee!
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put me down as chisel for clean up only.
Contributor
I am a Rob Cosman kind of guy, so my vote was for using a saw as much as possible. I enjoy paring with a chisel - not so much for the chopping!
Member
Same here I use the Cosman method. I fret saw saw out the waste.
Member
One more for the Cosman method here.
Cope saw to cut as much waste as posible
Member
I can't imagine doing dovetails with only a chisel; mortises, sure, if you choose to, but dovetails?
Member
What exactly is hard to imagine?
You need to saw pretty close to the base line, or you will have a lot of paring to do. With a chisel, you chop to arrive at (or very very close to) the baseline, and little or no paring to do.
I made a goofy one minute thirty second movie when I was making a drawer a few month back. I wasn't really trying to show how to make dovetails as much as goofing around with sound effects and just playing, but it shows me chopping (a la Tage Frid and others) if it helps you imagine it:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chevy_c...os/3496155520/
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+3 on the Cosman method. It doesn't get any easier than that. TAILS FIRST!!!Sorry, I didn't mean to start something
With skill and tool we put our trust and when that won't do then power we must.
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Sean,
If what we're talking about is no sawing at all, just chopping out dovetails (pins and tails) with a chisel, what I couldn't imagine is why anyone would want to do it in such an inefficient manner, but to each his or her own, I guess.
[OP]
Contributor
For me it depens on the tails but lately I've been noticing a better fit when using a chisel the entire process. Make a small relief cut towards the mark line then straight down with a sharp chisel.
"The element of competition has never worried me, because from the start, I suppose I realized wood contains so much inspiration and beauty and rhythm that if used properly it would result in an individual and unique object." - James Krenov
What you do speaks so loud, I cannot hear what you say. -R. W. Emerson
Member
Frank, I invite anyone to jump in here if I'm wrong, but as I read the original post in this thread we are talking about removing the waste once the tail or pin sides have been sawn. Some folks use a coping saw or jewlers saw to cut out the waste close to the baseline, while others, like me, prefer to chop it out.
Member
Just my view on this but I think the question is how do you remove the waste after the cuts with the dovetail saw.I use the coping saw to cut out as much waste as possible. Then hopefully not much paring needed.Clean out to your base line then you're done.Personally I find it faster and I have to admit everything I know about hand cut dovetails I learned from Rob Cosman video's.For sure I am tails first!!!!! When I make drawers I stake both sides and cut both sets of tails at once. A big time saver.Can't cut two sets of pins at once(at least I can't)To each your own I think as long as the end result is what you are after how you get there is what makes this a fun hobby for so many of us.
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I'm a chisel guy. I have tried using a coping saw and I can't say that I get better results either way. It just seems simpler and easier for me to make the cuts with the DT saw then use chisels for the rest. Less switching tools, and in most wood I can remove the waste faster with a chisel than with a saw.
I'm also a tails first kind of guy...mostly
"History is strewn with the wrecks of nations which have gained a little progressiveness at the cost of a great deal of hard manliness, and have thus prepared themselves for destruction as soon as the movements of the world gave a chance for it." -Walter Bagehot
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