Project Information
I've been wanting to try out some of the more traditional joinery methods since I've been perusing this site daily and checking out more advanced skills here and elsewhere on the web. I've been reading a lot (and I mean a lot) about dovetails, box/finger joints, mortises & tenons, etc. online and in woodworking books for the last several weeks but I kept putting off trying any because I knew I wouldn't do well and the joints would look like junk. Today, I stumbled across this site which inspired me to jump in. Basically, it says that yes, your first dovetails will look like junk, the second will look better and so on. After reading that, I cut me up some scrap pine, gathered my tools, took a deep breath, and plunged in.
The joints don't look very good at all, as I expected, but I was excited to see that the tails and pins slid together on the first try (with minimal assistance from a mallet). I learned several things as I worked:
Pic 2, Joint A: Steer clear of knots.
Pic 3, Joint B: I really need a 1/4" chisel to get in between the pins/tails without chipping the wood I want to keep. 1/2" is just too wide
Pic 4, Joint C: (1) Layout lines need to be pretty perfect, (2) Tails might need to be a hair longer than the pin board is wide
Pic 5, Joint D: This is the best joint, purely by luck, but still. I need a saw with more TPI. I used a backsaw from my mitre box, which is all I had.
Pic 6 shows what end result I'm after once I practice a little (a lot?) more. Suggestions are most definitely welcome.
The joints don't look very good at all, as I expected, but I was excited to see that the tails and pins slid together on the first try (with minimal assistance from a mallet). I learned several things as I worked:
Pic 2, Joint A: Steer clear of knots.
Pic 3, Joint B: I really need a 1/4" chisel to get in between the pins/tails without chipping the wood I want to keep. 1/2" is just too wide
Pic 4, Joint C: (1) Layout lines need to be pretty perfect, (2) Tails might need to be a hair longer than the pin board is wide
Pic 5, Joint D: This is the best joint, purely by luck, but still. I need a saw with more TPI. I used a backsaw from my mitre box, which is all I had.
Pic 6 shows what end result I'm after once I practice a little (a lot?) more. Suggestions are most definitely welcome.