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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2020
    Location
    Wollongong
    Posts
    2

    Default Dovetail practice

    Hi all,

    I'm looking for recommendations on affordable (cheap?) wood to practice cutting dovetails in. Pine is too soft, I've been using free meranti that i had laying around but noticed that chiseling the waste often crushes the fibers.

    Anyone have recommendations? Thank you

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Melbourne
    Age
    34
    Posts
    108

    Default

    Standard hardware store hardwood (vic ash/tas oak) should do.

    If you're crushing the fibres it might be time for a sharpen. Taking shallower cuts will also help, as will using a slicing action instead of a chopping action where possible.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Perth WA Australia
    Posts
    95

    Default

    I find pine to be perfect for practicing on. As getting good dovetails requires good sawing technique. Ie ability to saw to a line, wood species is irrelevant when learning this.

    Second Elanjacobs comments, if you're crushing fibres you need a sharper chisel or take off smaller slivers. Which is also why sawing to a line is important, as it means less cleanup after.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2020
    Location
    Wollongong
    Posts
    2

    Default

    I thought I had replied to this.

    Thanks for the tips. Smaller slivers (~0.5mm) did indeed make a difference.

    I have some 63x19mm tassie oak left over so ill play with that as well. Doing my first dovetails in 42x8mm meranti probably wasn't the best shot at a good result, but a real project is always more exciting.

    And tonzeyd, you're right, my sawing leaves a lot to be desired. For some reason i thought the Irwin dovetail saw from bunnings would be good to practice with, but its limitations are its tiny size. It's difficult to ensure vertical and square. I'm looking at a Gyokucho 372 or 311 as my next purchase.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    United States Of America
    Posts
    2

    Default

    A local cabinet shop has a dumpster full of free scrap wood. Make a few phone calls.

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