Can't work out where I am going wrong
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Busy practicing dovetails on the joiners tool box. Being very careful when measuring, marking out and cutting but I always end up with my tails being below the surface of the sides by about 1/16th …
being very careful as I mark the width of the boards and my knife wall, being gentle as I tap down my sharpened chisel, no breakout or belly on the cut out tails … so where am I going wrong?Any help would be appreciated as you can probably work out from this I am not greatly experienced in woodworking..
27 January 2015 at 1:38 pm #123946You are mostly probably using softwood like pine stay in from the knife line atleast a 32nd as you tap that will bring you to the knife line.
[quote quote=123946]You are mostly probably using softwood like pine stay in from the knife line atleast a 32nd as you tap that will bring you to the knife line.[/quote]
Yes I am using softwood. Do you mean outside of the knife line (in the waste area) … wouldn’t this make the tail even shorter and the gap bigger?
27 January 2015 at 4:30 pm #123948It’s hard to describe dovetails where they’re going wrong.
Are you trying to say the pins are proud of the long grain of the tail piece? If so, Salko’s suggestion will make your recess for the tail more shallow, allowing the tail to sit “higher” and the pins less proud. This is what it sounds like you are trying to describe.
If you’re trying to say that your tails are NOT proud of the long grain of the pin piece but are sitting inside the recess for the tail, try giving yourself just a hair less on the shoulder line of the tail when you’re marking with the knife.
It’s better to aim to have the tails and pins just a smidge proud, so you can plane and shave them down perfect when you’re done, like Paul does.
Thanks for your help. The problem was my tails were too short ( slightly under a 1/16). So they did not reach the end of the long grain but still under. I think this was because I was trying to do the knife wall to tight. I have added about 2/32 before I do the knife wall and this seems to work out better. Once again my thanks
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