Pine board composition.

[u/CtrayX]

Learning to hand cut dovetails. Been a long week. Why are the insides of some of these big box pine boards like this? Some are solid and compact like the bottom board with the tails. Some are loose and falling apart like the top board with the pins. Why is this happening? Is it the board or me?

[u/No_BetterName]

I’ll add that it’s not your technique. As others have said, pine sometimes tears easier than it cuts. Chisels have to be razor sharp to minimize tear out and some woodworkers even have a set of chisels with a 17 degree bevel angle for softwoods like this. The lower bevel angle helps but doesn’t always eliminate it completely. Less chopping work and more slicing “handwork” with the chisel in narrow passes as you approach your line also helps. Good luck.

[u/CtrayX → u/No_BetterName]

Thank you. I watched Paul Sellers chisel sharpening and got a 3 step stone set from DMT. Based on some of the triage I did on my hand this morning, I think they're sharp. Theyre 25 degrees... I did not know there was another angle to consider. I wanted cheap material to learn to do this by hand but maybe this is too soft as others have said. And I do realize that this is all hidden but did not want to set up the joint for long term structural failure. I considered that maybe this ends up being helpful for glue to settle into and I shouldn't really be that concerned.

[u/Fastco → u/CtrayX]

I think it's great to learn on pine personally as you can really see the deficits in your technique. You will figure out sharpening in time just keep at it and remember that shaving sharp is really like the minimum of sharpness you should be aiming for but don't get to caught up in it. It will come in time. Taking smaller passes as you approach your layout line will help too. That said, that tearing doesn't really matter as long as the edges are crisp.

[u/CtrayX → u/Fastco]

I am chopping straight down into these. I should not be doing that. I dont know why im doing that? I did not watch a video on this first. Conceptually I get this. It worked out.

[u/Fastco → u/CtrayX]

Awesome, looks great! You mean chopping straight from the layout line? A chisel tends to move torward the back side when chopping so if you start removing waste right on the line you generally end up undercutting or damaging the edge. It's best to chop heavily to remove the waste a mm ish away from the line then chop or pare to your line after if you want really nice end grain on the inside of your joint and a crisp edge.

[u/CtrayX → u/Fastco]

I am making a small chop at the line to guide where I should stop the saw. Then I am going back directly to that chop line and hammering straight down. Going to change this technique. Thank you!

[u/Fl48Special → u/CtrayX]

25 is fine for this, I do a lot of pine