Replies

1. 
   oak | Jul 16, 2005 07:45pm | #1

   im a newbie to all this, but you can try a few different things...

   1. search the archives, there has been a ton of dovetail talk in the past

   2. search google, i recall seeing several tutorials out there with pictures...

   3. buy a movie... tage frid has a movie on dovetails, can be picked up pretty cheap on ebay

   4. buy a book.. tage frid's book on joinery, ian kirby's complete dovetail, nick engler's book on joinery are all good places to start

   lots of info out there, you just gotta be willing to look for it..

   as for tools, these can all be used
   - sharp bevel edged chisels
   - marking knife
   - dovetail saw
   - wooden mallet
   - sliding bevel

   as for wood
   - hard wood works best

   like i said, im just a newby, but all the stuff i mentioned above is stuff i have picked up reading this site, and others like it.

   good luck

   oak

   
   

   ---

   Edited 7/16/2005 12:49 pm ET by oak

1. 
   89Degrees | Jul 18, 2005 12:08am | #3

   Thanks.  Guess I need togetover my fear of butchering a nice piece of wood and figure it's the cost of experience.  Thanks again.

1. 
   Rich14 | Jul 18, 2005 01:05am | #4

   89,Dovetail making has to be the most often repeated type of article that has occupied spaci in FWW magazine over the years. Every author and respected craftsman in the FWW fold has written how-to articles. Taunton also has a least a dozen books on the subject. If you do a search of the magazine index, or got to the Taunton book store, you will be overwhelmed by the selection.Try this link. At $9.95 this book has all the information that you need to get started and to become an expert in the techniquehttp://www.taunton.com/store/pages/070032.aspI also recommend FWW #152 for Steve Latta's article on table saw method (excellent article and excellent method).There must be 20 FWW issues that describe the technique to the last detail.The "bible," of course is Tage Frid's teaching woodworking series.Dovetail making has acquired a mystique as a difficult and mysterious skill that's very hard to master. Nothing could be further from the truth. It's a basic skill that anyone can learn and do very well. Anyone can make them, the thing that separates the men from the boys is the ability to lay them out in a manner that is pleasing to the eye, elegant, strong and not just mechanical looking.And just to add a bit of controversy - stay away from router dovetail jigs. (They are an abomination and the work of the devil - there how's that for an opinion!) The table saw and bandsaw methods are infinitely more flexible, and elegant and are really power tool extensions of the hand-made method.Learn to make them by hand, until you're proud of your work, then decide if you want the speed and flexibility that power tool methods give you.Rich

   Edited 7/17/2005 9:59 pm ET by Rich14

2. 
   CharlieD | Jul 17, 2005 06:33am | #2

   Hi,

   There are a lot of steps, but no particular step is really very difficult. You can use any old wood to practice, but it needs to be falt and true, as well as square across the ends to get decent results. You will also need a good saw, and SHARP chisels. Yoiu should get a book or a magazine article, and work from the steps (and photos) listed there; too many for one of us to list. It's really doable though, and well worth learning.

   Good luck,

   Charlie

   A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher
   a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts,
   build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders,
   cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure,
   program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.
   Specialization is for insects.
   - Robert A. Heinlein
3. 
   lwj2 | Jul 18, 2005 02:44am | #5

   Make bookends out of something cheap, pine, poplar, scraps.

   Gives you practise on dovetails and something for Christmas and birthday gifts.

   If you blow it, you whack the ends off on a tablesaw, start over.

   Good luck,

   Leon Jester