Dovetail Practice Wood?

Tom Blank

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71
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Great Pacific Northwest
I think my project this Spring will be boxes for the grandkids. Not especially fancy boxes, but ones for their miscellaneous treasures. I would like to try dovetail joints, either through or half blind, maybe some of each; maybe some with finger joints. The designs are still fluid.

This will be a first for me making dovetail/finger joints and will also be learning how to operate with an Incra Positioner. I expect a fairly steep learning curve. Before I mess up a bunch of nice hardwood, I thought I'd first try the Incra set-up and practice on something less expensive.

What's a reasonable wood for practicing?

Thanks,

Tom
 
Poplar. Inexpensive, stable, and stains and finishes nicely for when it comes out nicer than you thought. :)

Once had a student who insisted on poplar for a nice chest with drawers. In the end, he put a walnut stain on it and it was hard to tell it wasn't walnut. He did a nice job with a secondary wood and enjoyed the learning process and was rewarded with a very nice project successfully done.
 
I've had an Incra LS system for many years and have made literally thousands of half-blind DTs with it. If you have the auto-centering scale, it will help on the initial setup; between it and the bit height, you'll be in business. I used whatever scrap I had when I first got my system - poplar, pine, mdf. When I was satisfied with the fit, I ran a series of pieces to make a small box as a further test.

I have my system set up on my router table, of course. But, I also placed threaded inserts to the right of my table saw so I can use the LS for repeatable cuts for specialty pieces.
 
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