At the class on Handcut Dovetails that I attended at Northwest Woodworking Studio, for the first half of a day, we used a simple technique to practice cutting dovetails. Gary, the instructor, used the analogy of a muscisian or a runner warming up and I think that fits well.
All that is needed is blocks of wood that are dimmensioned to 2 1/2 to 3″ by 3-4″. 3/4″ is probably as good as any to work with on thickness. Gary also suggested practicing with a soft wood and a harder wood.
I went to the local borg warehouse store and bought a stick of poplar and oak which were 3″ wide and 3/4″ thick. I will use my hand saws to cut off practice boards from each of these. This will give me some sawing practice. I will need to ensure squareness so my shooting board will get a bit of work too. Once I’ve made a bunch of practice samples, I will then get to work.
The purpose is not to cut a zillion dovetails in each board but rather practicing cutting to the line (splitting the line so to minimize or eliminate cleanup at the end), cutting square to the board, marking boards correctly. 2 1/2″ is really enough to have one dovetail in this case though 3″ might allow you to try cutting 2 at a time.
The goal is that from the cut to the fit is all you need. Cleanup should be minimized or eliminated. I’ve seen references to a notion that it takes 10,000 hours of doing something before you can consider yourself competent at it. I think that this is true for most woodworking techniques whether they require hand tools or power tools. There really are no short cuts though I’m betting the gains at near the end of the 10,000 hours are not as significant as the beginning.
So I hope to have a bunch of samples and get working on my 10,000 hours.
