Personally Owen, I'd just get a couple of short, three or four inch
wide boards and actually give it a try before you run out and buy
fancy dovetail guides.
Don't be afraid of screwing it up, cause that is how you learn and
worse comes to worse your going to lose what... an hour of your time.
Go online or get a library book, there are plenty of resources to
explain how you layout a dovetail "and the various styles of dovetail"
follow the directions. Learn how to lay it out, mark the sections
your going to remove, do your cutting and pairing and see what works
and what doesn't.
Regardless of whether you use an inexpensive saw or a $200 saw, or a
LV dovetail guide or a bevel guage or some other marking tool to lay
it out, dovetails "When you first start" are not perfect one cut
wonders. They need to be refined and played with. You only get
that from experience of actually trying it.
If that's not to your liking..
Like I wrote before take the course at LV. It's a fraction of the
cost of their guides, but at least you will get some instruction, and
you will get to use their guides and saws, and that will give you some
experience with the tools and technique, which you can take and adapt
to you, meaning "Do I really need to buy the $200 saw or do I like the
$30 Japanese Dozuki. Do I need the LV dovetail guide or can I
accomplish the same task using a homemade jig".
I've made three dovetail joints to date. The first was close and a
good first attempt. The other two worked, cause I could see what I
did wrong the first time. What did it cost - that $12 dollar Bucky
Brothers back saw. I already had my chisels.
Before I tried it - I was going to buy the LV guide and saw combo.
Now that cash will be put towards something else.
Pat
On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 22:27:44 -0400, "Owen Lawrence"
wrote:
You know what? That's an EXcellent suggestion! I drive by Lee Valley a
couple of times a week--it's hard to keep going past, but I'm going to where
I get the money that I'll eventually leave at Lee Valley. (The dovetail
guides are stylish and won't drain my bank account; I've had my eye on them
for awhile anyway. But I don't "need" them so I haven't bought them.)
From what Mr. Dingley said, it sounds like if your saw meets the minimum
standard of fine teeth (how fine?) and stiffness, you can turn it into a
dovetail saw. I've never changed the set of teeth before, so we're
introducing another educational variable here. I might be better off either
being shown exactly what to do (i.e. in a course), or buying the "right
saw", because I know I'll just get frustrated if I unknowingly screw up the
first step and then have trouble with the second.
- Owen -
"SawDust" wrote in message
.. .
Hi Owen,
See your in the neighborhood...
I'm not a believer that it take's an expensive tool to do an
acceptable job. Find a saw you "like" to use and then learn to use
it and that means "Patience".
I cut my first dovetail with a $12 Bucky Brothers back saw purchased
at Home Depot. Recently I bought a stanley mitre box and saw for
$29. Both saw's work quite well.
I'd like to try out a japanese saw, but I haven't had the opportunity.
Next thing you need is a nice sharp set of chisels.
Just a suggestion and I'll probably be attending in the near future.
Lee Valley "417 to Pinecrest/Greenbank, then one block south to
Morrison drive" they run day courses for hand cut dovetails and a
number of other wood related seminars. There is a small fee, but they
feed you a lite sandwich lunch too. Check out their website for
course details.
Obviously they will be pushing their Veritas Dovetail guides and
matching Japanese style dovetail saw. Eitherway, the technique is
still the same.
Pat
On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 16:10:17 -0400, "Owen Lawrence"
wrote:
What do you mean by "the right saw"? I've been to the Wood Show in
Ottawa
for many years straight. There's a guy who gives a terrific seminar on
making dovetails, but he also insists that you've got to buy an excellent
saw, like the one he is selling for, I don't know, $200+ (Cnd). I'll
tell
you though, after twenty minutes or so, and a few zings with a good block
plane, his dovetail joint is a beautiful work of art! (Hmmm. Next month
I
think I'll ask him to give me one, to keep as inspiration in my
workshop.)
My own "dovetail saw" is just one of those stupid flush cutting saws that
you can swing the handle around. I think I paid $7 for it. I know it's
no
good for cutting dovetails--I've tried. If everyone here tells me I've
got
to spend really good coin on a hand saw, I'll accept it. But I won't
accept
what a single salesman has to say without checking it out, first.
I'm also willing to practice--I don't expect results like he got; he does
hundreds, if not thousands of dovetail joints a year, and he's been doing
it
for a long time. I like the idea of practicing on shop cabinetry, where
the
only people allowed to criticize my work are other practicing craftsmen.
But I would like to get good enough to move the work upstairs. I like
the
idea of learning to do it by hand for the same or lower price than a jig.
I'm in no particular hurry.
- Owen -
"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 20:17:41 -0500, "D. J. Dorn"
wrote:
Cutting by hand isn't
really an option because chisel work hasn't been a real strong suit
Hand dovetails are sawn, not chiselled. The trick to doing them is to
always do them _fast_ and "right first time" - not to faff about with
a chisel afterwards, trying vainly to adjust the fit. Then work on
getting your accuracy better, with practice. Your first batch _will_
be bad - but persevere.
If you can afford the time, make yourself a workshop cabinet with
dovetailed drawers. Get the right saw, then cut them by hand. By the
time you've built a few drawers that way, then you'll be knocking them
out in no time and you'll have lost your fear of the hand-cut
dovetail.
--
Smert' spamionam
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