Hi Brian. I didn't check how old this thread is, but if it is current... I am using some recycled cedar (of British origin I presume) and I find it difficult enough to work with, especially when it comes to cleaning out the doves and tails after initial cutting. Cedar (British) is very brittle apparently, and I have confirmed this as I lost a tail on my first joint for the project; just snapped off with no sign of a knot or a crack. I wouldn't say don't use it unless it's Canadian cedar, but just be careful. Even when it is wood "just lying around" we still paid for it or won it from a skip or somewhere else, so just as precious if not more so!
Dovetails in softwood
- Thread starter brianhabby
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Jacob
What goes around comes around.
Two essentials (amongst others);
1 Make deep cut knife lines for the shoulders, both sides both pieces. You chisel back to the line without going a gnats over. Aim at undercutting the shoulders very slightly so they are a tight fit where visible.
2 Overcut with the DT saw very slightly on both pinholes and tails. This makes it much easier to cut out the waste as the corners then take care of themselves.
3 Have a look at some old hand done DTs if you have some old drawers on hand. They almost always show the knife lines and the over cutting - sometimes excessive!
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It is 13 years old and you'd have found it easier/faster to check than to write the caveat above ...
Nothing wrong with adding to an existing thread but sometimes a question is well past it's sell by date.
Yes indeed! The start of a long and opinion-laden post! 
1) Absolutely purchase, convert (a pin gauge), or fabricate a slitting gauge! You will find it makes very crisp knife lines in most situations. On the same note, get accustomed to using a marking knife to mark out lines. Save your pencils for writing letters!
Knife lines will immediately improve your skills and results! Guaranteed! You will then have a dead-accurate line for your saw and/or chisel to follow.
2) Absolutely knife deep lines all around. Yes, most vintage hand-cut dovetails had knife-lines visible. Then cut down to, or slightly below the knife line. Then saw-out (coping saw), or my preferred method, chop-out the waste with a chisel. You must decide which method works best for you.
When you start to chop out the waste, stay a healthy distance away from the knife line... say up to 1/8" (that may seem excessive, but closer may crush the end grain and destroy the crispness of your knife-line). Many will argue that distance; some prefer closer, say 1/16 inch. The goal of the knife line is to have something to register your chisel, ensuring a straight baseline for your joint.
3) Absolutely always start your saw cuts from the outside of the joint. Always saw from the outside to the inside of the joint. Does that make sense? It may when you consider that you should saw an almost imperceptible taper to the inside of the joint. The dovetails will then enter the joint more easily, and close tightly when fully-seated.
4) Absolutely sharpen your chisels to a 20 degree primary bevel and hone to 25 degrees. It cuts softwoods much more cleanly, and usually eliminates the tear-out of end-grain common to cutting dovetails in softwoods. I have found that it works better in hardwoods as well. In this situation, you are chopping/penetrating more that slicing wood. The less-steep angle penetrates far better and more cleanly. Try it!
5) Finally, always consider the wood you are using. Dovetails in softwoods are a different animal than those cut in hardwoods. Softwoods compress/give more than hardwoods, and in many ways are more forgiving of inaccuracies in sawing the joint, perhaps resulting in tighter dovetail joints, assuming they were well-cut. I prefer to use a combination of a nice hardwood and a softer secondary wood for dovetail joints. Just turns out better in general.
1) Absolutely purchase, convert (a pin gauge), or fabricate a slitting gauge! You will find it makes very crisp knife lines in most situations. On the same note, get accustomed to using a marking knife to mark out lines. Save your pencils for writing letters!
Knife lines will immediately improve your skills and results! Guaranteed! You will then have a dead-accurate line for your saw and/or chisel to follow. 2) Absolutely knife deep lines all around. Yes, most vintage hand-cut dovetails had knife-lines visible. Then cut down to, or slightly below the knife line. Then saw-out (coping saw), or my preferred method, chop-out the waste with a chisel. You must decide which method works best for you.
When you start to chop out the waste, stay a healthy distance away from the knife line... say up to 1/8" (that may seem excessive, but closer may crush the end grain and destroy the crispness of your knife-line). Many will argue that distance; some prefer closer, say 1/16 inch. The goal of the knife line is to have something to register your chisel, ensuring a straight baseline for your joint.
3) Absolutely always start your saw cuts from the outside of the joint. Always saw from the outside to the inside of the joint. Does that make sense? It may when you consider that you should saw an almost imperceptible taper to the inside of the joint. The dovetails will then enter the joint more easily, and close tightly when fully-seated.
4) Absolutely sharpen your chisels to a 20 degree primary bevel and hone to 25 degrees. It cuts softwoods much more cleanly, and usually eliminates the tear-out of end-grain common to cutting dovetails in softwoods. I have found that it works better in hardwoods as well. In this situation, you are chopping/penetrating more that slicing wood. The less-steep angle penetrates far better and more cleanly. Try it!
5) Finally, always consider the wood you are using. Dovetails in softwoods are a different animal than those cut in hardwoods. Softwoods compress/give more than hardwoods, and in many ways are more forgiving of inaccuracies in sawing the joint, perhaps resulting in tighter dovetail joints, assuming they were well-cut. I prefer to use a combination of a nice hardwood and a softer secondary wood for dovetail joints. Just turns out better in general.
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Cutting gauges are best for cross grain, but they're also good for cutting uniform strips of veneer to be used for stringing.
