Dovetail Sawing Question

[harry strasil]

Does anyone else use a mirror propped up on the back side when sawing dovetails to see how close you are getting to the depth line on the backside?

Just curious!

[Mark Stutz]

No, but I never thought of it. Hmmm. May have to try that one.

Mark

[Bob Oehler]

No but that is a great idea. I am cutting some this weekend and I will try that out.

thanks for the idea
Bob Oehler

[Dan Racette]

Smoke and mirrors, and you will have a magic show.

Harry, I think it makes perfect sense to me, as long as the reverse reflection doesn't mess you up, which it shouldn't since you are only looking at the vertical.

You are a smart dog!

dan

[Jason Beam]

I won't do it.... no way no how ...

I'm way too good looking and I'd be so distracted admiring myself that I'd just keep on sawing right through the bench. At which time the mirror would fall away and I'd return to reality. The reality being a broken mirror and 7 years bad luck. A good lookin' guy like me don't need bad luck!

[Jim Becker]

Umm...excellent idea. I may have to try that the next time I try to hand-cut them! I always worry about keeping things in line and currently, that means stopping to look, rather than making a clean cut with little delay.

[harry strasil]

I must confess, it was not an original idea on my part, it was taught to me by my mentor who also used it on his tablesaw when making box joints and such. He even had a magnet on the bottom of it.

Another use is when planing to a line for thicknessing or shooting an edge, just some scantling that is about right for a prop.

[John Guarino]

The mirror helps, but the underlying issue is seeing what you are doing.

I found that good lighting makes a big difference, especially when working darker woods. I set the lighting to come from different angles and suddenly I was much better at sawing...

and chiseling...

and finish planing...

[Jim Koepke]

Yes, I have used a mirror. Also a good shiney saw blade hanging behind the bench or laying on the bench.
Lots of ways to do the same thing.

Jim

I couldn't wait for success, so I went ahead without it.
– Jonathan Winters

[Tony Zaffuto]

I subscribe (somewhat loosely) to the Ian Kirby methods: Kirby places a great of stress on proper cutting stance. Year or two (or ??) I combined Kirby's stance and saw methods (and not some of his marking out idiosyncrasies) and Chris Schwartz's "dovetail a day for a month", and at the end of the month, my dovetails were very respectable. with that said, with my saw methods of a slight, up ward tilt to the saw, bring the saw to the line and level out has resulted in nearly always sawing right to the line on the opposite side. If I were to "break" my stance by looking up at a mirror, I would probably cause myself to make some other error.

I can't remember which of the prominent woodworkers preached using a mirror, and I would feel if it works for you then do it! In the end, what it comes down to is repetitive practice of what you are trying to achieve in order to achieve it! As a "post script" Ian Kirby's book "The Complete Dovetail" is a great primer on dovetails. Very reasonable cost too ($9.00 IIRC).

T.Z.

[Michael Fross]

I've seen Frank Klausz do this when he is sharpening saws. it helps keep the file level. It's on his "Making a Dovetail Drawer" DVD.

Never really thought about it for DTs.... Interesting!

Michael

[Bob Glenn]

I use two mirrors and two bevel gauges when I drill the leg holes in a seat for a Windsor chair. If both the splay and rake angles aren't the same for the legs, they end up looking all wonky.

[Steve Beadle]

Yes, I routinely use a mirror when sawing dovetails and have done so for years--but I don't remember where I picked up the suggestion. Works great for me!

[harry strasil]

Bob, a very close friend of mine was making a set of 4 chairs for his mother and father. The father was a very shall we say super particular finish carpenter, the one thing he had never been able to accomplish was get every leg the same angle when making chairs, I mean we are talking a very slim margin. So my friend in order to impress his father asked me to help him drill the holes in the seat.

No problem, I just got out my Beam borer that is adjustable. we set the angle made a paper template of the seat bottoms and drew in the location for the borer base, put the right bit in and I let him crank away. I can safely say he did it all himself, with a little supervision. Then when his father saw them, lo and behold, he was not impressed, but got rather irate when his son wouldn't tell him how he did it. LOL

PS, I love old tool technology.

[Jim Dunn]

Um Harry, that is not a question it's a great idea who's ever it is. Thanks for the brain/mind bump.