Removing material on hand cut dovetails

[samson]

When you remove material after making your cuts, do you use a coping saw, a (sharp) chisel, or some combination of both?

Thanks,

S.

[Chris]

Use a very sharp chisel and go slow.

Chris

[Tom Veatch]

Combination. Coping saw to get the biggest chunk of waste out of the way staying well clear of the line, then a sharp chisel to pare to the line.

Tom Veatch Wichita, KS USA

[Norman Billingham]

Why blunt a chisel taking out wood which can be removed in a lump? I use a jewellers piercing saw to cut back to about 2mm from the line then finish with a chisel. The piercing saw has a much finer blade than a coping saw and fits easily into the thin cuts made by a good dovetail saw.

[Michael Faurot]

Chisels only.

[Bored Borg]

On Tue, 16 Sep 2008 05:44:38 +0100, samson wrote (in article ):

I just finished watching the "Dovetail A Drawer" video about 30 minutes ago.

Definitely chisel only. Across the pins/tails "baseline" then into the face of the waste - NOT the endgrain - cutting back toward the line you just cut starting maybe 1/4 in from the end, leaving the endmost piece "fat." Flip the stock over and repeat from the other side. The fat piece left between the ends of the pins or tails supports the waste until the cuts meet and the waste drops out of the way.

[charlieb]

Using a jeweler's saw rather than a coping saw is a good idea since a normal coping saw blade is wider than the kerf of either a japanese dovetail or "push saw" dovetail saw and even a "coarse" jeweler's saw has a thinner kerf than any dovetail saw.

And just for clarification - you don't "chop out" the waste in the sockets - most of the material work is "split out"

- which isn't hard on sharp edges.

OH - and "leave the line". If you cut "on the line" you lose where you should be stopping.