Cutting Dovetails on a wide board by hand

[Chris Knight]

The post on a marking jig prompts this question.

What do you use to clamp the board to your bench if cutting dovetails in a wide board ( > 12 inches, say)? I find that unless clamped securely, vibrations in the board make it hard to saw accurately.

My current set up puts the left side of the board in my face vice with a handscrew holding the RHS - and the handscrew clamped itself with a Bessey to the bench top. It looks a bit Heath Robinson but works fairly well. Just well enough to stop me (ie I'm too lazy) adding a face vice to my bench on bench like Alf's.

 

[Scott]

Similar thing here Chris. LHS clamped to the apron. Not ideal when sawing in the middle though. I was thinking maybe a radiused caul type arrangement clamped across the board and holding it to the apron next time :?

Hopefully someone will have a much better idea!

Cheers

 

[Alf]

Not sure my bench-on-bench can take much wider than 12" anyway But I do the face vice thing for one side and a bar/F- or whatever clamp long enough to span the bench top and hooked on the front edge of the tool tray. Pre-supposes I can access that area of bench top of course, but a tidy up mid project is no bad thing... I've seen some organised folks with T-nuts or whathaveyou in the front apron of their benches to take an additional jaw to make a twin thread vice. Or a hold fast in the apron's a good one, if you have the right sort of apron. Not sure one of those cheap cotton one's would work...

Cheers, Alf

 

[Ian Dalziel]

Hopefully someone will have a much better idea!

yeah...get a leigh or rat :roll: :lol:

Kidding aside Chris... what about the veritas wonder dogs and pups and/ or axminsters new hold down clamps similar to the old marples holdfasts

depends really if you want to put more holes in your bench.


I

 

[MikeW]

Double vise ala Derek with a plank across in the two vises squeezing the plank against the front of the bench is a good method--if one has two face vises.

A shoulder vise can be made to work well.

Else, I drilled some holdfast holes in the edge of my bench top so one side of the board is held in the vise and the holdfasts hold the other. This for me is the best way with a single face vise.

I have also used one of those edge clamps, one side of the board held in the vise, the edge clamp fastened to the benchtop and the center screw holding a small board that sets on the edge of the board not in the vise and goes a little past the edge clamp. The center screw then bows the small piece of wood and can really hold the board well--just make sure not to dent the edge of the board you are working on...

Take care, Mike

 

[Chris Knight]

I have used a Veritas holdfast but on the whole have found it preferable to use the method I mentioned above - partly because bits and pieces under my bench top preclude spacing holes for the holdfast in the "right places"