DT materials.

[art3427]

I've been getting the hang of hand-cut DTs lately. I have made them in SYP, cypress and western cedar because this was what I've had laying around the shop. The problem I've been having relates to the pith in these woods. It seems not matter how sharp the chisel, the pith wants to roll out of the wood rather than yield a clean cut. Kinda' like trying to cut styrofoam with a pocket knife.

What woods do you guys usually prefer for cutting DTs? What gives a clean cut? I'm only using DTs in drawer box construction.

art

[Beamer]

Dang near any hardwood's gonna behave better'n those softwoods you've been working with, I would say.

I find hand working cherry to be my favorite.

Poplar can be done, but it's real stringy stuff and can peel out weirdly.

Maple (soft maple's easiest) behaves pretty dang well, too.

Walnut's nice - though it dulls my chisels a bit sooner because of whatever stuff's in it - silica or something? It also can be a bit brittle sometimes and chip out some.

I don't like oak for hand work - it tends to be more brittle and chips out on me.

The current brand of Mahogany I can get is real real brittle. Chips nearly crumble into powder on me most of the time. I'm especially not a fan of that.

[Leo Voisine]

I will second what Beamer said.

It is a bit of a misnomer to use a cheap softwood to practice on.

Softwoods really don't "CUT" very well. They are just too soft.

Hardwoods "cut" better. They hold their form and don't "give".

Getting used to cutting the hardwood is really on us, aquiring the skill. However, once you get used to cutting hardwood, somehow it just seems natural.

Try some poplar of soft maple. Walnut is really not all that hard, and neither is Cherry.

[JBark]

The poplar I get seems to work well, which is good because it is a popular choice for drawers in this area. I'm guessing you are looking for a practice wood? Poplar is perfect for that because you can find it anywhere and cheaply do a series of DT's for practice without dropping a lot of $.

Agree with what's been said, the hardwoods are far better and though I've dovetailed pine I would rather not.

John