Sliding Dovetails

[andrewm]

I would use a dovetail bit in a router but if you are a true neanderthal how do you cut a sliding dovetail (say 600mm long) with hand tools?

 

[Scrit]

The dovetail housing is cut with a back saw held at an angle on one side and vertical on the other (use a guide block to act as a guide if needs be). The waste is removed with a combination of router plane and chisels. In other words pretty much how you'd do things to produce a stopped housing by hand. Normally only one side of the groove would be dovetailed. The corresponding end of the shelf is sawn to the shoulder from the surface and the waste is chiselled out, although the Germans do actually have a dovetail plane to make this cut.

Scrit

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Hi Andrew

Scan down the page in my review of the Veritas router plane for a pictorial essay: http://www.wkfinetools.com/contrib/dCohen/LVRouterPlane/lvRouter2.asp

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[andrewm]

Hi Andrew

Scan down the page in my review of the Veritas router plane for a pictorial essay: http://www.wkfinetools.com/contrib/dCohen/LVRouterPlane/lvRouter2.asp

Regards from Perth

Derek

Ooooh, lots more tools bo buy Or maybe I should stick to my router.

Andrew

 

[JesseM]

I recently made some of these. They were a little loose nothing like Derek's or Jake's, but functional. I used a #46 with a modified fence to cut the male part. Because it leans inward instead of staying straight it screws up the shoulder. Which can be somewhat fixed with a chisel. I am gonna build one of Jake's modified DT planes soon. The female part you mark out and I found it goes rather quickly if you take a tenon saw and establish the kerf and then just cut on the line to the desired depth. Use a chisel and pare out the waste. Once the female part is cleaned up and is as good as can be, use the DT plane to fit the male part to the female part. This is my newbie take on cutting sliding DTs. Hopefully I'll get better at them after doing more.

 

[Scrit]

Hi Derek

The one thing I'd say about doing a double dovetail sided housing as opposed to a single sided one is that it would make accurate positioning of shelves in a bookcase very difficult to achieve, which is why the upper edge of a dovetail housing was cut straight and just the lower one dovetailed and tapered. The self-same technique is also used in traditional staircase making.

Scrit

 

[Paul Chapman]

Hi Andrew,

Some very interesting stuff in this thread by Jake Darvall http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au ... hp?t=33429

It might help you :wink:

Paul

 

[bugbear]

Hi Andrew

Scan down the page in my review of the Veritas router plane for a pictorial essay: http://www.wkfinetools.com/contrib/dCohen/LVRouterPlane/lvRouter2.asp

Derek

Derek neglected to show the details of his fine dovetail plane.

Let me help:

http://nika.frontier.iarc.uaf.edu/~cswi ... =1#message
http://nika.frontier.iarc.uaf.edu/~cswi ... =1#message

Mucho Kudos, Mr Cohen!

BugBear

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

The one thing I'd say about doing a double dovetail sided housing as opposed to a single sided one is that it would make accurate positioning of shelves in a bookcase very difficult to achieve

Hi Scrit

I cannot say that I have difficulty positioning a double-sided sliding dovetail. One is still positioning the square sides of a shelf or stretcher and marking from this. I cut the male section first, then scribe from it.

Derek neglected to show the details of his fine dovetail plane.

Thanks for the kind words BB.

I had forgotten about that thread. Here is an easier, more recent write up: http://www.wkfinetools.com/tMaking/dovPlane/index.asp

Regards from Perth

Derek