Carpentry and Woodworking - Easiest Wood for Making Dove Tail Joints?

I was wondering if someone can tell me what kinds of of wood is best for making dovetail joints? I want something to work with that is strong but reasonably spongy, so it won't crack or split when I'm making dove tail joints with chisel and hand saw. The wood will be used to make furniture that will be used inside and will be supporting 21-30 kgs objects max.

Its actually the other way around, a spongy softwoood is really easy to over work with one slip. If you want to make furnature try and "salvage" some old oak skids.

Great question and this is one that often confuses people, I think. It turns out that softwoods are generally more difficult to work with when cutting dovetails. The fibers tend to be easily crushed rather than sheared and it's difficult to fashion sharply defined edges with softwoods. Pear is a great choice for cutting dovetails, or perhaps walnut or maple too. If you have the interest, here is a great video on how to cut dovetails by a true master artisan: Video: How to Hand Cut Dovetails: Part 1 of 2 -- from Woodtreks (http://woodtreks.com/how-to-hand-cut-precision-dovetails-%E2%80%94-part-one-the-pins/75/)

Good luck and I think it's fantastic that you are interested in learning this skill. It's something that many woodworkers can master if they try. --Keith

Thanks for you help clawfirst and bigaqua. :)