Constantly snapping handcut dovetail pins

[hackery]

Hi

I am hoping someone on here can help me as this problem is driving me crazy!!

I can cut and fit through dovetails in pine all day long with no real problems however I decided to try and make a little box from walnut and cherry and the walnut is giving me lots of trouble.

I start with the pins first method as I use a little brass dovetail marker gauge and that's how it lays them out. The shoulders are marked with a razor sharp marking knife so nice and deep(ish) ready to deepen with my chisel. I cut as much waste out that I can with a coping saw and then start the chisel work.... with the walnut no matter how delicate and I mean super delicate I am with the chisel and mallet (Thor soft faced rubber hammer) and ensuring that I am well between the saw kerfs one of my pins always snaps / pops off. I have cut at least 50 dovetail joints in pine the last few months and never had this happen but with the walnut it keeps happening and I don't know what I am doing wrong. The pins are actually pretty thick and way thicker than a lot of dovetails I have seen online and in books so I am pretty sure it's not a case of them being too skinny.

I even tried rotating the work as test in case it was something to do with cutting with the grain vs cross cutting but the same issue occurs. Walnut is ultra expensive here and literally only one place that sells hardwood in the whole of the country (Northern Ireland) and it's miles away so rather than continuing to waste wood not understanding what I am doing wrong I thought I would ask here for anyone that can shed some light on the problem.

Please save my sanity!

Thanks

Hackery

 

[MattRoberts]

My first thought was that you weren't cutting them in the end grain - a mistake I made before!

If that's not the case, are you using a solid back board behind the piece when chopping out the waste?

 

[rdesign]

Pictures wood help

I cut them first with a jap saw. Then use a coping saw to remove the waste leaving very little chisel work. is it cleaning the shoulders you break the pins or when doing final shavings to the scribe lines with a chisel?

Is the grain very curly? or straight grained?

Regards Richard

 

[Droogs]

if the grain is really gnarly/wild, try a very small amount of very thin CA on the pin walls (be careful not to use too much or get it on the faces) and then pare with a really sharp chisel without using a mallet. May mean you need to take 4/5 thin cuts but should help. Also Try using a guide block to make sure the chisel is at 90 deg to the shoulder as you may be twisting slightly as you hit the chisel with the mallet and transmitting the force of the blow torsionally through the wood. thus causing a shock break.



edit for typo

 

[Adam9453]

blunt chisel?

 

[dzj]

Perhaps it may be so brittle due to incorrect Kiln drying.