Cutting dovetails
#31
Items that are all in a straight line are collinear.

Any two lines that intersect are coplanar.

Any two lines that are parallel are also coplanar.
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#32
coplanar
kəʊˈpleɪnə/
adjective
GEOMETRY

  1. in the same plane.
    "coplanar orbits"


British Dictionary definitions for coplanarExpand

coplanar
/kəʊˈpleɪnə/
adjective
1.
lying in the same plane: coplanar lines
Derived Forms
coplanarity, noun




Regards from Perth

Derek
Articles on furniture building, shop made tools and tool reviews at www.inthewoodshop.com
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#33
British Dictionary definition for collinear:

1. lying on the same straight line.

2. having a common line.

Apparently British English is the same as American English in this regard. You might brush up on your geometry.
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#34
(03-04-2017, 07:27 AM)Derek Cohen Wrote: coplanar
kəʊˈpleɪnə/
adjective
GEOMETRY

  1. in the same plane.
    "coplanar orbits"


British Dictionary definitions for coplanarExpand

coplanar
/kəʊˈpleɪnə/
adjective
1.
lying in the same plane: coplanar lines
Derived Forms
coplanarity, noun




Regards from Perth

Derek

Yeah, this is the definition I had in my head, too.

As an aside, when you referred to "the baseline" being coplanar, I was confused, because it has to be coplanar with something. When you said "baselineS" it made sense.

Thanks.
If you're gonna be one, be a Big Red One.
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#35
I have been cutting away, and today just finished my 3rd set of through dovetails. The gaps are getting smaller, but I'm still having trouble cutting the pins after the transfer from the tails. However the set I just finished today were considerably better than the last ones. I'm just going to keep practicing, but I'm having fun?.
Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there!!

Scott
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#36
Hey Scott, you might be making very small errors when transferring your marks. I was having the same problem because I wasn't holding the board steady enough. I saw a David Barron video where he makes a dovetail alignment board and it really helped me transfer my marks b more accurately. It was also fun to make. Happy Father's Day to you, too.
Currently a smarta$$ but hoping to one day graduate to wisea$$
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#37
I am with cputman on this one: great input from all, but its all about being able to cut a plumb line consistently.
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#38
Scott,

You have gotten some great advice here, but I'm surprised no one has mentioned your choice of wood. Southern yellow pine is miserable wood to work with hand tools - or most any other kind of tools for that matter. The difference in hardness between the early wood and the late wood makes it inordinately difficult to work with hand tools. Your saw will tend to follow the soft wood and shy away form the hard late wood, so straight cuts in SYP is difficult at best. Same with chiseling. After working with SYP, walnut, maple and cherry will seem like pieces of cake. Don't be discouraged if your dovetails don't turn out perfect. SYP is a difficult wood.

The one piece of advice I can give you is to make sure you have a good saw. I struggled with dovetails for a couple of years until I finally got my hands on a quality saw. It was a revelation. Straight cuts and following the line was much easier with a good saw than I had ever imagined with my crummy first saw. In my view any sharp chisel will work well , but a good saw is a must.

Once you get the hang of hand cut dovetails, you'll find they're not nearly as difficult as you thought. Good luck.

Hank
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#39
Also agree that SYP in one of the worse woods to cut dovetails in....

would also recommend you watch Rob Cosman's dovetail videos, if you follow the process there is no test fits because they fit right off the saw...

Just cut a few hundred dovetails in SYP myself using Rob's method and highly recommend it.


Andy


-- mos maiorum
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#40
(02-28-2017, 02:43 PM)elinourrumming Wrote: My best advice is stolen from Schwarz: Cut a DT corner every day for month. On day 2, examine the "problems" from day 1, and try to correct them. On day 3, examine the day 2 joint and so on. After 30 days, you'll be quite good. (It's how I train any PW staff members who want to learn hand-cut DTs – fun lunch breaks, eh?)
http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodwo...tail-a-day


Smartest thing Schwarz ever said
Wink

You can do a lot of different exercises, but nothing beats just cutting DTs.
Worst thing they can do is cook ya and eat ya

GW
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