Vecturo for dovetails?

[Mismarked]

Has anyone tried to use the vecturo to get rid of waste on dovetails and would it work?  I simply cannot stand either of my coping saws and don’t want to buy the knew concepts saw until someone reviews the new blue spruce coping saw. 
  Just trying to rough out the waste areas.  Not intending this as a substitute for chisels or for fine work. 

 

[ear3]

Hmmm.  Haven't tried it, but I would surmise that it wouldn't be worth it compared to what you could do with a combination of a dovetail saw and a coping saw, even a crappy one.  You would have to cut well short of the mark to be on the safe side, and even being careful, it's really easy to slip with the Vecturo and ruin the joint completely.

That said, if you have the plunging guide you might be able to increase your odds.

Has anyone tried to use the vecturo to get rid of waste on dovetails and would it work?  I simply cannot stand either of my coping saws and don’t want to buy the knew concepts saw until someone reviews the new blue spruce coping saw. 
  Just trying to rough out the waste areas.  Not intending this as a substitute for chisels or for fine work.

 

[Cheese]

I wouldn’t bother with the exercise unless you have a positive way to hold the Vecturo and a positive way to hold the material and an established method to introduce the material to the Vecturo in a linear fashion. Otherwise as Edward suggested, it’s really a monkey.............

The plunge base for the Vecturo is interesting, however it needs some proper form of stability or guidance, think router edge guide or track saw guide rail, before it becomes a viable precision tool. Right now if you can maintain a +/- .030” tolerance consider yourself lucky.

There was an earlier discussion on Fein producing a bench clamp for their Supercut which could indeed make the difference.

 

[ScotF]

I have never used a coping saw to make Dovetails - just a Dovetail saw and chisels a'la Frank Klausz's method. Rob Cosman does it the same way, I believe. So there are options sans coping saw.

 

[ChuckM]

Have you tried using a fret saw instead of a coping saw. Rob Cosman uses a fret saw in his 3-1/2 min. dovetail youtube video.

A fret saw is inexpensive, about $15 or so, suitable for stock thickness under 1".

 

[Birdhunter]

I have the Vecturo with the plunging base. I’ve used it in a similar manner to remove waste. I wasn’t too pleased with the tool used in this manner and would do so only as a last resort.  The plunge base lacks enough of a straight edge to permit reliable and repeatable alignment. It is extremely easy to over heat the blade. I found plunging a little and then retracting let the blade cool off.

I enjoy using the Vecturo as it is a well built tool, but I think a high grade purpose built saw would be a better choice.

 

[Cheese]

Hey Mismarked
Here's the recent discussion of mounting a Fein/Vecturo in a drill press for precision machining of parts.
http://festoolownersgroup.com/festo...igs-support-with-vecturo/msg534528/#msg534528

 

[Mismarked]

Thanks, and interesting post on the drill press. 
    Maybe I just need to practice with the coping saw and be more patient  I think I am trying to cut too fast, which is flexing the blade on the large saw and really bending the blade on the smaller saw. 
    Got the tails done, mostly with the chisels.
View attachment 1
    If using chisels, is there some reason not to use a mortise chisel to really whack out the majority of the waste between the tails, before going to a more delicate chisel/method when approaching the scribe line?

 

[rljatl]

Use whatever gives you the results you want.  Some people use a bandsaw to cut out the waste.

 

[Svar]

Finger joint with multi tool video (at 1:10). Its softwood though.

 

[semenza]

I don't think a Vecturo even with plunge base is going to be good for removing dovetail waste. If you are going to use a power tool to help with dovetails I suggest a router and dovetail jig.  [wink]

Seth

 

[Blackberry]

I use the knew concepts saw for waste removal and it works really well for me.  I don't always hand cut the dovetails but when I do it's because I don't want to use a power tool. I didn't know blue spruce had a fret or coping saw but if it's anything like their chisels or marking knifes I'm sure it's nice.

 

[LDBecker]

I did recently get the Knew Concepts 3" fret saw for just such a purpose - haven't used it for that yet, but for other things. It's a nice saw, though I did have issues with the blade clamps being able to hold the blade properly. They sent me another set and it seems ok now. I still end up using a hex wrench, though. I like the ability to change the angle of the blade. I probably should have bought the 5" version, but the 3" is ok.
I would think that a vibrating tool would bust a lot of your dovetail pins, especially in soft woods.