Soft maple, or red maple, can be a great wood to practice dovetails on. It has very tight and closed grain making it a joy to saw, chisel, and pare.
What is the best wood for a dovetail box?
If the box is utilitarian, you could use plywood, poplar, or cedar and then finish with oil or paint. If the box is more decorative I usually use red oak as there always seems to be some good left-over stock from my other projects.
Can you cut dovetails in pine?
Pine is definitely an option, but you’re more likely to struggle with chipping and tearout. Just know that the harder the wood, the harder cutting dovetails will be.
Can you cut dovetails in plywood?
A wide variety of methods can be used to make dovetail plywood drawer boxes. They are generally considered by the woodworking industry as time-consuming and difficult to make. The dovetails can be cut by hand with a dovetailing saw and chisel or you can use a dovetail jig and router.
Which hand saw is best suited to making a dovetail joint?
Tenon Saw. The blade is rigid on a tenon saw allowing full control over your sawing, and they feature a higher TPI (teeth per inch) which provides a tidier finish than other blades. A tenon saw is ideal for woodwork that requires a neat appearance such as dovetail joints.
Are dovetail joints hard to make?
Hand-cutting a dovetail joint is kind of a woodworking high-wire act; one slip of the saw or chisel and the joint either won’t fit together or will look sloppy. It takes a lot of time to master the ability to cut dovetails quickly and well (by hand or machine), without a lot of fussing around.
Can you cut dovetails with a jigsaw?
If you have a jigsaw table, a few simple angle jigs can help you create fast, precise and repeatable dovetails.
Can you use a tenon saw for dovetails?
I find I have greater control with say a ten inch tenon saw and this just happens to be the ideal saw for dovetails too and so I keep my so-called dovetail saw close to hand for the shoulder-cutting aspect of cutting tenons.
How tight should a dovetail joint be?
If you can use your fist as a hammer to nudge them together, they’re just right. By the way, when you realize they will fit nice and snug, (hopefully by the time they are less than half way down) take them apart and don’t put them together again until you glue them.
Can you cut dovetails on a table saw?
With a minimum of fuss–you don’t even need some special jig–you can use your tablesaw to quickly and efficiently cut through dovetails that are indistinguishable from hand-cut.
Can you cut dovetails with a router?
Mount a dovetail bit in your router, making sure it is the correct size for your layout. Choose a straight bit or a dovetail bit with a bearing, depending on the jig you’re using. Adjust the depth of the cut by turning the router’s depth adjustment knob.
Can you dovetail Baltic birch?
Sure…just back up the board to prevent blow-out if using a router to cut the dovetails or finger joints. In fact, if using a router, and depending on the jig you are using, you might consider sandwiching the birch between two boards to make sure you don’t yank off the veneer on either side.
What is the strongest wood joint for a box?
Mortise and tenon joints are widely regarded as one of the strongest and most reliable woodworking joints. They involve creating a mortise, or a hole, in one piece of wood and a tenon on the end of the other piece, which fits into the mortise.
What is the best material for dovetail drawers?
Dovetail drawers are typically made of solid wood or plywood. Solid wood is the traditional material for dovetail drawers, but plywood is becoming more popular because it is more stable and less likely to warp.
What wood should I use to make a box?
If you are using a face-frame construction, it should be of hardwood matching the veneer. This might be oak, maple, cherry or others. Drawers often are made of soft maple or poplar boxes.
What wood is best for making a box?
Hardwoods are the best choice of wood for drawer boxes, with oak being a popular choice at present but Walnut, Maple, Ash, Birch, Beech, Cherry, Tulipwood (Poplar) and Cedar are all great choices.
Can you cut dovetails with a jigsaw?
If you have a jigsaw table, a few simple angle jigs can help you create fast, precise and repeatable dovetails.
Which part of a dovetail do you cut first?
Cutting the dovetail pins first makes sense. It’s easier to hold the pin board in place to mark the tails than it is to hold the tail board against the end of what will be the pin board. Also, the walls of the pins provide a good surface for the awl as you mark the tails.1 Feb 1996
What is the best dovetail angle?
Which wood joint is the easiest to make?
A butt joint is the easiest of all simple wood joints, but also is the weakest. The cut end of one board butts up against the edge of another piece at a right angle. The key to every type of wood joint is having smooth, square cuts on the boards, and the butt joint is no exception.
What are the easiest wood joints?
Butt joints are one of the simplest woodworking joints to make and are commonly used where much strength in the joint isn’t required. It’s usually made by gluing one end grain piece and one long grain piece together.
What is the weakness of dovetail joint?
The disadvantages of dovetail joints are that they can be fairly difficult to mark out and cut, and if they are made badly these joints lose the advantages listed above. Depending on the project, function, and design, there are a number of different types of dovetail joints to choose from.
What type of chisel is best for dovetails?
The triangular cross-section of these chisels make them ideal for paring and chopping away the waste on dovetail joinery. Suitable for other joinery tasks, these affordable chisels are a nice complement to standard bench chisels for creating and fine-tuning joinery.
What is a gentleman saw?
The “Gentleman’s Saw” is a western type back saw. It was generally of a smaller size and features a simple turned handle. A Gent’s saw cuts on the push stroke and has a brass spine to keep the blade straight and stiff.
How long should a dovetail saw be?
Overall length (Toe to Handle tip): 15 – 1/8 inches. Blade length (Toe to heal): 10 inches. Depth of plate under the back: 1 – 5/8 inches.
