I am making my first dovetail drawers. I have been working wood for over 20 years but only set up my own small and simple cabinet shop in the past year. I am using Baltic birch, 1/2″ for the drawer sides and I cannot seem to get a clean dovetail cut using my Porter Cable router and dovetail jig. All the tools are new, I have verified set up dimensions, the router just tears out the top layer or two of the plywood on every third or forth cut. I have tried direction and speed changes without success. Should I be using a different wood? Is there another tool I should consider? Help?!
Jim
Replies
Hi Jim,
Even with good-quality Baltic Birch and sharp router bits (and a 3.5 hp PC 7518 router and a Leigh jig) I've never gotten clean cuts...the layers of "real wood" in the Baltic Birch are just too thin and fragile.
If looks and clean joints are important, use solid wood. If budget is an issue, use Poplar or even a softwood.
Good luck.
Larry
Thanks guys for all the feedback. I have thought about using poplar but I did not want the drawers to be quite that thick. I have looked at other drawers that are made of what I think is Baltic Birch and they are not torn out. I am going to try using a scarificial piece of wood, but I am thinking I will need 4 pieces each drawer and I have about 15 drawers. If you think of anything else, let me know, otherwise I'll let you know how it turns out.
Thanks again!
Jim
I just did some drawers in baltic birch with a Keller dovetail jig and a sacrificial backing board. No tearout. I reused a single sacrificial board over and over.
Jim,
You might consider HSS cutters rather than carbide. While they dull faster, they are easy to quickly sharpen and provide a better cut due to their higher rake. Carbide is not as sharp and tends to tear more, particularily when working end grains. Combine the low angle of cut of carbide, thin layers of material with the Baltic birch and end grain, and you get some idea of the problem. One other technique I have found helps reduce the tear-out is to make my first past a very shallow one along the entire width of the material and then finish is a series of passes rather than plowing through in a single motion. I always use a scrificial piece behind the material. I have also found that using ply or other composite materials for the backing piece dulls the cutters sooner due to the glue in the ply.
Doug
I ended up just biting the bullet and going with poplar. It was certainly more costly, but the result is really much better. Since the Blum drawer glides I am using only tolerate a maximum of 5/8" thickness for the sides of the drawer, I had to surface plane 1/8" off all the wood, but an hour and a half later I was ready to start cutting and the dovetails looked a lot nicer in the solid wood.
I started with a HSS (I assume this means high speed steel) cutter, but the tear out was the same and as I am not very good at sharpening, I need the longest lasting tools I can find.
Thanks again to you all for the help
Jim
Hello Jim,
I have a Incra Ultra Jig. I use it on a table I made using a Porter Cable 7539. I also used 1/2" Baltic Birch for 3 drawers I made. It was an experiment. They turned out great. Yes there was tear out, but I quickly learned to use backer boards, both front and back. The joints turned out real tight. I cut the backer boards long and then trimmed them for the next cut. It worked great.
Alex
Jim,
Make sure the cutter's sharp and if you're still gtting tearout, you may need to score the final line to give the wood a point to break at.
Cheers,
eddie
edit: Also feed the router in slowly at high speed - aim is to remove the wood before it gets too much of a 'bite' to rip pieces out. You may end up with burning - look to feed speed as well as router speed to ensure you get there - ie: fiddle with both and see if you can find a fix.
Edited 7/30/2003 5:07:09 PM ET by eddie (aust)
In addition to the other suggestions, you could put a piece of sacrificial wood on either side. That will prevent tearout.
The other option is to cut both sides at once and then put the outer pieces when cut (i.e., the ones with tearout) towards the inside when assembling the drawer. That way, the torn up face of the tails will be one of the glue surfaces.
Jim,
I don't work with dovetail jigs so this may not be a practical solution, but you can eliminate tear out in this type of set up by clamping a sacrifice piece of material to the face of the stock you are cutting. In this case I'd try a piece of 1/4 inch plywood.
The analysis offered in an earlier reply, that the thin plys of the plywood are fragile is accurate.
John W.
try using appleply???? I read something about this in an american woodworking mag last night. the guy was having the same problem. Or maybe use finnish birch.
derek
Jim
If you sandwich the birch ply with some cheap 1/8 or 1/4" hardboard you will have enough support to end the tearout problem. Hope this helps.
jb
Jim.
Keep cutting by hand and you will get better and better at it to where it will take you less time to hand cut a drawer then to set up and use those jigs. When you do get good, which it sounds like you are about there, you will have better dovetails besides.
Ken
Jim,
I've cut dozen of drawers with through and half blind (into a solid front) dovetails using the leigh jig and 1/2 in BB ply. The sacrifical backer is essential. You don't need to change it out every time you change make a set of cuts, just make sure it's lined up. I'll also use one on the frontside too. The entire cut is sandwiched and they turn out perfect. Good luck.
I cut all my dovetails by hand and use either 1/2" pine or poplar for the sides and back. I just clamp them up outside under a Sugar Maple tree and work away. It is so relaxing to me just to sit there and cut dovetails. The 1/2" poplar is avaible at Home Depot and Lowes but the 1/2" pine I get from Lowes. I got a few lumber yards around me but the cost is a killer at these places compared to HD and Lowes.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled