Metalworker Mike wrote:
> paul womack wrote:
>> A slim knife with a steep bevel does it well enough.
> 
>   The problem with a knife is that you can trim a sliver (or chunk) off 
> of the tails in the process.  Also, the endgrain needs to be pretty 
> smooth for even a heavy knife-mark to be nicely visible.  If you're 
> going to plane the ends of the tails after the fact, then it seems 
> wasted effort to agonize over the ends of the boards before cutting the 
> joint.

Yes - but I follow Kirby in this regard. The ends
of both work pieces are short to length and square.
Final finish is by planing the faces, not the tails.

This is the only accurate way to make a dovetailed
item of a known finished exterior size.

Hence my endgrain is planed, and ready for marking.

I guess this also demonstrates that many working
practice decisions cannot be taken in isolation.

   BugBear
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