Hand cut dovetails: getting worse not better

[Brian Knodel]

Thank you kindly gentlemen for your advice, if its one thing I have learned is that practice makes perfect so I’ll try some different methods and keep practicing. One thing though, with all this practicing, I’ve gone through my meager scrap wood pile and now have to cut up good lumber to practice on …. Oh well.

Brian

[lowell holmes]

I've found that the women in my family and their circle of friends love the Shaker candle boxes I've made for practice. You can drive little wedges in open joints that occur and they will never show after being finished and aged a bit. The boxes can be made from pine, oak, or a favorite mine, soft maple. The maple can be stained with a die stain and a couple of coats of a wipe on finish, and you have a box they will cherish.
I made a box of red oak for my LN 140 plane and my wife took it for her sewing sissors and I didn't think the box was that good. My plane is till in the box it came in.

[James Mittlefehldt]

One thing you might want to try is a method I read about in one of LEE Valley's historic reprints, originally published years ago, not sure how many years, but lots.

In this book they advise saw the lines for the tails first, no big deal there, then BEFORE you chop out the waste, carefully align the tail board with the pin board oriented the way it would be when put together. Then saw down through the established kerfs with your saw and establish the lines for your pin board that way.

I tried it on some scrap and it seemed promising, then I tried again only instead of using the dovetail saw I used a very fine kerfed saw and they did not line up so well. If your experimenting anyway try that.

[Don Bullock]

I think that they look great, especially for someone who hasn't cut very many. Rob Cosman makes it look easy in his video. He's been cutting dovetails for a long time.

So you think I’m my own worse critic?

Yes!!!

[Brian Knodel]

I started many years ago on my Neander Woodworking and no decent knives were available commercially. I therefore made 3 of my own, two from the blade of a two man saw, the two on the outside in the picture, the left one being an old design I came across in an old WW book. They were both a little thick for marking pins so I made the middle one from a piece of old handsaw blade and sharpened it from only one side, I call it my Swallow Tail Dovetail Marking Knife, it works just perfect for me for marking dovetails.

Oh yes, I don't care for the itty bitty pins, so I have never cut them, they just don't look strong enough to me. LOL

I respect what you are telling me Harry about the thin pins, but for me being rather new to this had cut dovetail thing I thought it might be something to strive for as in trying to make sure your dovetail are distinguishable from machine made. I always thought thin pins more desirable but that’s just me and my opinion only. Just like some folks think that the scribe line should be left on as a signature of a hand cut dovetail, I think they are fine in drawers but in small boxes they should be taken off, but again that’s just me. I mostly build small boxes so strength I’m hoping is not a big issue.

By the way … today I ground down an old kitchen knife (at least I hope it was an old one … we will soon find out) and sharpened it and made it look like the middle one you posted. I haven’t had a chance to try it yet but thanks for the great idea.


Brian

[Derek Cohen]

Brian

Your practice dovetails are truly excellent. A sharp knifed line will make life easier, but not necessarily improve on what you've done.

I use a knifed line when cutting the Tails (which I do first), just knifing across the top of the board - because the vital part of a dovetail is this straight, square line. The angles are less important. Marking the Pins from the Tails it is helpful to use a thin-bladded, flat-backed knife, especially if the pins are skinny (particularly if they are just a kerf thick).

Chisel a fence against the line so as to remove the Pin waste cleanly. This is also vital for a tight fit. Without this there is the danger that you will cut too far into the line and the joint will be sloppy.

Here is my tutorial to make your own dovetail knife:

http://www.wkfinetools.com/tMaking/a...rkingKnife.asp

It could look like this ... Jarrah and Olive wood ....



.... and one of my 1:7 markers .... in Tasmanian Blackwood and brass ...



Regards from Perth

Derek

[Brian Knodel]

Clearly your hand tools are in a league of their own, really impressive. Thanks for the links … some rather interesting information from all over. Nice to learn a little bit more about some recognized names such Mark Singer.

Brian

[Jim Becker]

Brian, your dovetails look great. And if I may, I'll suggest that in the odd chance that you haven't picked up on it yet, you can make dovetails with slight gaps appear completely perfect with a little bit of finagling with slivers of wood from the same stock you are working with. I really mean that any gaps will completely disappear. This even works with bigger boo-boos...re-cut the line with the two pieces assembled together and glue in a small (and I do mean small--the thickness of the saw kerf) piece of stock at a 45 degree angle to the joint to fill it up. I used this technique on my first "visible" hand-cut dovetails a couple years ago when I did a mantle cap for our large, walk-in fireplace. The reason I mention this is that most mere humans will have extreme difficulty in making a "perfect" joint every time. Something I've learned is that true craftspeople are not perfect, either...but they know how to fix things efficiently so that "perfection" is possible to achieve.

[Mark Singer]

Most issues are related to scribing or sawing. A good light source is eally helpful. It should be adjusted to show the scribe clearly. Scribing should be done only once and carefully. Sawing acurately in both planes is hard for many people and improves with time. They relly look pretty decent especially considering you are learning