I know how to cut dovetails by hand…It is not some super power.  It comes from just wanting to, and exercising the 4Ps. Practice, Patience, Precision, and Practice.

I am always practicing.  Almost every two pieces of scrap wood in my shop are joined in a dovetail before they are thrown out.  Every once in a while I just need to move the goal posts to mix it up a little. This is how the “Dovetails with a” series came about.  

The first time, it was with the Ridgid Octane Brushless Recip saw.  With that one I cheated a little bit by using a chisel to establish the baseline, but that is cheating.  This time around I used ONLY the 5amp Dremel MultiMax with a straight wood blade. It was not going to be my prettiest set of tails and pins, but I wanted to give it the old college try.  

If you want to see the full video of my experience, check it out on my Instagram feed.

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

I’m at it again…cutting dovetails with things they ought not be cut with. This time it’s the 6amp @dremel multi max. This post is part of a paid partnership with #homedepot and the #thsprospective I am reviewing a bunch of tools on my website. Did I mention I have a new website? Check it out woodworklife.com (link in Bio) The Dremel was a beast going through the walnut and was smooth enough to handle and get relatively straight cuts. The only issue it had was when the whole blade was buried. The smoke was not from a dull blade or too much pressure. Just a hit blade and the pitch of the wood. I also used the @woodpeckers_tools Mini square (Soo cute.) And @jimmydiresta Icepick for marking out the joints. . #woodworking #dovetails #joinery #handtoolwoodworking #cabinetmaker #box #furnituremaker #experiment #tools #technique #woodworklife

A post shared by Rick – WoodWorkLIFE (@thewoodworklife) on Oct 17, 2018 at 6:01am PDT

Impressions

So the whole idea with this series is to cut precision joinery with imprecise tools.  As antequated of technology as a chisel is, they are VERY precise. The Dremel MulitMax sits somewhere between a chisel and a bone saw.  It is not a completely precision tool, but it is not a precision tool. It does leave a kerf, it does have tearout, and it vibrates a lot (that is kind of the point.)  Overall though, the joint wasn’t terrible. Structurally it was great, you could park a car on that bad boy.

The nice thing about the Dremel MultiMax is I could switch to the sanding pad to clean up the joint with the came tool.  Can’t do that with a chisel…Well, you can but.

This process really challenges the capability of the Dremel MultiMax to remove material in tight spaces.  I did overcut the pins…alot. The MultiMax does cut in super tight spaces, but not tight enough to replace a coping or fret saw. (which you would normally use to remove waste from a pin board.)  The edges were smooth, the corners were tight, but with all of the vibrations of the tool it was IMPOSSIBLE to hit my scribe lines. I cut off off my lines, which just made it even harder to cut to the lines.

BUT WHY?  

 

IT WAS FUN! It was like putting myself 10 years back before I ever cut a side of tails.  It was kind of like a skill building exercise, using a non standard tool forces you to really think about the key elements of cutting the joint.

     WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO MARK UP THE JOINT?

     WHICH SIDE OF THE LINE DO I CUT ON AGAIN?

     HOW DO I CUT A SQUARE CUT WITH THIS TOOL?

     WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO POSITION MY BODY TO GET CONSISTENT RESULTS?

This is the second installment of “dovetails with a __ Series”

It is nice to just get into your shop and just mess around sometimes.

You can buy the Dremel MultiMax at HomeDepot at the links below

5 amp Dremel MultiMax $129

 

Checkout the other “Dovetails with a _____” Series

Dovetails with the RIDGID Octane Brushless Reciprocating Saw

Rick

WoodWorkLIFE