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Richard Prima's avatar

Thank you for another great bit of instruction! Do you think making a small knife cut is useful - like a half V (with the angled portion in the waste of course) would be a good practice? I've taken to doing that with larger saws in typical stock prep. Also, re your preference for minimal set - I certainly agree and would consider a light stoning (per "Set & File") to help with the break-in process - any thoughts on that?

Megan Fitzpatrick's avatar

It doesn't hurt – but I don't usually bother for dovetails. Takes extra time! But yes, for a 4 tpi saw or what have you, I find a V-cut (2nd-class saw cut is what Wearing calls it) helpful.

James Owen's avatar

..."Do you think making a small knife cut is useful - like a half V (with the angled portion in the waste of course) would be a good practice?"

Depends.

I don't find it useful for dovetails, but for tenon shoulders and the cuts for forming the tenon cheeks, a half-V-groove can be very useful for helping you get the cut started, as well as guiding you to a more accurate cut.

My experience, particularly for tenon shoulders, is that a half-V-groove makes it much easier to cut a straight shoulder with minimal or no unsightly gaps when the joint is assembled.

YMMV....

Michael (Mikael) Fischer's avatar

Great point and awesome tips for cutting dovetails. Thanks for another great video. 👍👍👍👍👍

Michael O’Brien's avatar

Thank you Megan for your most useful sawing starting tips.

Cheers,

Michael