Keith’s Note: I’m sorry to say that that video is not currently available.

Keith’s Note: That’s a future topic. It’s not available right now. Thanks for asking.

Keith’s Note: Good questions. Your tear-out issue is not uncommon, especially when learning to dovetail using pine or other very soft wood. Practicing on pine raises the difficulty level a good deal. It’s almost like trying the cut a dovetail into a sponge. There just isn’t enough support in the wood fibers to give you the density you need to cut into the grain. So if your chisels aren’t razor sharp and your technique perfected, you’ll get tearout with pine. My suggestion is to practice using soft maple, which is generally easy to find and is forgiving to work with. (Or if you have some scrap genuine mahogany, it’s even easier to get great results.)

On the matter of how many dovetails per foot of joinery… We could probably write a book on how to layout dovetails :-), but in general, design is often a matter of aesthetics as much as structural integrity. You may have seen the many varied patterns and layouts on traditional/historic drawers and casework. Technically, an engineer could probably calculate the optimum number and shape for the tails and pins on any given job for a given wood species, but in practice, most artisans just go with their gut. Dovetails are such a strong joint that you can get away with a less than optimum structural design. For starters, consider one dovetail per 1″ or 1.5″.

Keith’s Note: To save some steps, perhaps you might add a PC to your required shop tools. It seems we are all headed that way aren’t we :-). Regarding the green circle — without more careful investigation, I’d say it is probably the benchmaker’s mark.

Mike

Keith’s Note: Craig made the marking gauge show in the video. Nice isn’t it?

Keith’s Note: Craig uses a metal hammer. His interest in the Japanese approach may influence that choice. From my view, it seems Craig’s metal mallet is smaller and perhaps more accurate, more delicate than many wooden mallets. Craig’s is made for use with a chisel. In a pinch you can use any old metal hammer but if your chisel handles are wood, you might more easily damage/splinter a wooden handle, especially if the chisel is made from cheap materials and inferior wood. Craig works with precision and care. He doesn’t force things. So metal hammer works for him and is matched to the chisel. In the end, I can’t say one way is better than the other. What do you like? .

Thanks