This is a post regarding the way I create dovetail joints. Please don’t get the idea that I created it because I believe my way of doing this deed is the be-all and end-all way of creating dovetails. It is so far from that, you can’t imagine.
I started to search out ways of creating dovetails about four years ago. I paid a years membership at Fine Woodworking just so I could view the dovetailing demonstrations given by Steve Scott, Gary Rogowski, Christian Becksvoort, Matt Kenney and Andy Rae, to name but a few. I probably watched the videos Keith Cruickshank shot of Craig Vandall Stevens demonstrating his way of producing dovetails fifty times if I watched them once. You also can’t mention dovetailing demonstrations without putting Chris Schwarz in the same sentence and I have jumped on anything and everything he has ever had to say on the subject.
I tried them all and always found a problem in my results. I then analyzed each step in their different approaches and took what best worked for me. I then started to analyze what didn’t work well for me as well, looking for the areas that seem to get me into trouble.
I mainly came up with one major problem following the way of each master and that problem can be summed up in the name of one tool – the mallet.
No matter what I did or how I did it, when I whacked the chisel with a mallet, lightly, heavily, quickly, or using slow motion, something moved. Most often it was the guide board, which quickly threw my alignment out. One day I had had enough and I left my mallet in the cabinet, going at it with just raw muscle power. Once I did that, I had the thing beat, or at least I think I might have it beat.
Which brings me to this post.
If this post helps someone, it’s a bonus, as I enjoy nothing more than helping someone else (I’m going to post about this one day). My reason for creating it, though, is through pure selfishness. I honestly don’t know if I’m missing something or if I could do something better at this point. It is one of those, "Can't see the forest for the trees", deals. I am hoping that one or more of you knowledgeable gents or ladies will spare me a moment of your time and comment on where you think things could be improved. It would be something I would be truly grateful for.
The image below is just a link. Click on it and download a PDF file that displays text and images of the step-by-step process I use for producing dovetails.
Have a run through and let me know what you think.
Peace,
Mitchell
Jim Kingshot did it the same way as you. He just pared away the waste and never touched a mallet. At one point in his video he says that it should go slow because it is a nice and quiet job. I tend to agree with him.
ReplyDeleteIf you still want to use the guide board for chopping, James Krenov mentions in one fo his books that he would glue a piece of sandpaper on the bottom of the guide board so that it would grab better on to the workpiece.
Practice chopping without a guide board until you have confidence you don't need it. Chop partway from one side, then flip over and chop from the other side.
ReplyDeleteMitchell,
ReplyDeleteI would get rid of the guide board. You should have a scribed base line for your pins and tails the is clean and sharp. A sharp chisel can find this line in the dark. It will lock in there like a screwdriver in a slot. Stay in about 1/16th from this base line until your final cut on that side. When chopping the waste chop a bit over 1/2 way through removing wedge shaped pieces to give your chisel clearance to go deeper, leave wood at the very end of the waste piece as it supports the waste when you flip the board over and chop from the other side. Repeat from other side. Try to saw your joints accurately enough so you do not need to pare anything off of side of the pins or tails.
Here is a url
http://schoolofwood.com/node/55
to my blog where you can watch Frank Klaus and I race through this. I had never studied Frank's method very closely but see how similarly we do the task. Motice we are both using mallets!
Mike Siemsen
First, you aren't sawing straight across the board on your dovetails. Practice, practice until you can saw this line straight. It's ok if it's a little off to pare it square but be careful to not make it worse. Second, lose the guide board. Third, the mallet only strikes the chisel so if you're not getting good results you may not be placing the chisel in the proper position or holding it properly. Don't attempt to chop with the chisel in the guide lines. Don't use a pencil for laying out the pins--use a fine marking knife. Once you've chopped out the tails you need to start the process of fitting the dovetails to the tails. Sorry, I don't agree with Rob Cosman that you should strive to drive the joint together without fitting. I find the easiest way to begin fitting is to try fitting by hand and noting where the dovetail rubs against the tail (it flattens it a bit). Pare this off and keep fitting. At some point it is helpful to rub a lead pencil against the inside of the socket and see where if fits too tightly on the corresponding tail. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, learning to produce dovetails efficiently takes time. Just keep at it and it will finally all come together for you and it'll be something that you can take great pride in. Good luck,
ReplyDeleteMark Salomon
Good blog poost
ReplyDelete