On 23 Jan 2006 05:58:17 -0800, "jtpr" wrote:

OK, I have decided to try my hand at dovetails for a jewelry box I am
making for my wife. For some reason I would like to learn to do it by
hand. I have an appropriate saw, but I wanted to use a marking knife
to make the lines. They have one at Lee Valley for $22. Of course,
while on their site, I looked around. Why do I do this???? Anyway,
they have a dovetail cutting aid that sells for about $50, or they have
marking guides for $20 (2, one for hardwood, one for soft), or another
set of guides for $10, not sure yet of the benefits of the more
expensive ones, have to look at that.

My point is, am I silly to be spending money on this stuff? I mean,
for a few dollars more I could get the dovetail jig on sale at Rockler
for $59. I don't do things at a production level though, so do I
really need something like this. Is it really that hard to manually
cut dovetails? From reading it sounds like the holy grail of joinery.

Thanks,
-Jim


Jim, You don't need a lot of things to handcut dovetails, just some
time. I don't use a template at all. Here's what I use:

Bevel gauge
Marking gauge
Various chisels, skewed chisel for half blind dovetails
Small knife
Dovetail saw
Small mirror on adjustable stand (use this to check the opposite side
as you cut)
Pencil and pencil sharpener
Good lighting

The money spent on these items is not wasted at all, as you'll use
these tools for other operations. Handcut dovetails are easy to do
after several quiet hours of practice. A bandsaw could be used to cut
the tails.