How to Cut a DOVETAIL JOINT with Hand Tools (Quick Version)

in this video i'll show you my method for cutting a simple dovetail joint with woodworking hand tools [Music] the first thing i do when cutting dovetails by hand is to use a marking gauge to lay out a baseline i set my marking gauge cutter to just barely hang over the edge of the board i mark all ends of the boards i also use a fine tipped pencil to darken my cutting gauge lines so i can see them better [Music] next i place one of my boards in my workbench vise to lay out the tails there's no rule for how far in to measure your half pins but one easy method is to eyeball half the thickness of your board with a combination square or dividers and make a tick mark from each end of the board then i use a square to mark a line on each tick mark i use a pair of dividers to lay out the tails evenly in this case i try to adjust the dividers until i can take two steps between the lines because i want two tails and however far past the line i go is the size of my pin i push the dividers into the wood from both lines this method for laying out tails certainly isn't necessary you can just eyeball the placement then i take the square again and draw lines across each of the two divider points now i take a sliding bevel square to extend the angled lines contrary to popular belief the angle doesn't have to be a specific number just use an angle that looks good to you and isn't too vertical or overly angled again i use a fine pencil to draw these lines so that my cutting can be more accurate i then mark my waist so i don't accidentally saw into my tails the first thing i do is use my dovetail saw to cut in the waste area and ride up next to the line i try to leave just the pencil line no more just be careful to watch your lines all the time including your baseline so you don't cut over it you can see here how my saw cut is right up against the lines i have left the lines and no more [Music] now i grab a coping saw to cut out the waste wood as i'm sawing i slowly turn the saw inward toward the waist i saw down close to the baseline but i'm careful to not hit the baseline to cut the half pin waste off i first set the chisel into the marking gauge line with the bevel toward the waist i push down somewhat hard or take a couple of light taps on the chisel with a mallet then i turn the chisel at an angle and cut out a little notch like this this little notch will make it easier for my hand saw to track and not cut into the shoulder i then use a back saw with cross cut teeth to cut off the waist piece if you've only got a dovetail saw with ripped teeth that's all right too because the teeth are so small so you won't notice a big difference now i use a chisel to clean up the tails i make sure that the chisel is a bit narrower than the base of my tails i don't cut right up to the baseline yet otherwise it'll push all that waste past my baseline i try to remove about half of the waste and then if it's possible i try to remove half of the waste again once the remaining waste gets to be quite small then i drop my chisel right into the marking gauge line i take a couple of light taps and then i tip the chisel at a slight angle and use a wooden mount to chop down to about halfway through the board this angled undercut will make a slight valley so i don't have waste in the way when i'm fitting the joint together i then repeat the same process on the other side of the board you can see a slight valley that i created when i undercut with the chisel if you've cut further away from the pencil line that i have here now is a good time to use a chisel to remove the wood up to the line [Music] now that my tail board is finished i'll trace the pattern of the tails onto the pin board i grab a flashlight and set it under the joint like this and i grab something like a square or chisel to align the two boards together i also move the tail board back and forth until i can see light between the two boards but not direct light just opaque light through the wood fibers once the boards are lined up i use a sharp and thin marking knife to trace the tails onto the end grain of the pin board after i remove my tail board it's a bit tough to see the knife lines and they also follow the slight imperfection of my tails so i use a wider chisel to deepen these lines and like before i put the bevel into the waste area otherwise the bevel will prevent me from getting straight pins i'm careful to not push too hard because the board can split quite easily while doing this then to make my lines even more visible i use a fine tip pencil to darken these chisel lines i take a square and extend the line straight down the face of the board [Music] now i pick up the dovetail saw again and saw next to the pencil lines like before only this time i don't tilt the saw at an angle i just rotate my saw in a different way and cut straight down the board but as long as you're watching your layout lines and cut right next to them your cut will look great [Music] like before i use a coping saw to remove the waste from the pin board now i turn to using a chisel to chop out the remaining waste i also like to start with the board in this configuration which will make more sense in a minute and like before i try to remove half of the waste until i'm really close to the baseline again i lean the chisel back slightly and make an undercut to about halfway through the board then i flip the board over to the other side that requires an extra little step i do everything the same as on the first side but this time when i get down to the baseline i take a couple of taps with a chisel and then i not only lean the chisel back to make an undercut but i also tilt the chisel slightly to the side to avoid chopping down into the pins once the chopping is finished i use a smaller chisel to clean up the gunk inside the joint again i try to remove all the wood up to the pencil lines but i try not to go over the pencil lines you can also use a larger chisel to pair the rough sides of the pins and half pins down to the pencil lines [Music] now i try a test fit i do this with my hand so i don't force a joint together that is too tight most of the time i'm able to get the joint to fit together on the first try but occasionally i'll have to pull the joint apart and look for more gunk that needs to be removed at this point i'm pretty confident that i've removed all of the extra waste and i didn't see the joint splitting on the first fit so i feel better about using a rubber mallet to lightly tap the joint together and here you can see how nicely this joint fits together with no gaps and after a little hand planing the joint looks really great so that's how i cut dovetails with hand tools if you found this video to be helpful or interesting please subscribe to my channel below and click the notification bell so you'll be notified when my next video comes out if you have any questions or you want to share some of your own tips on dovetailing i'd love that please do so below this video and while you're down there i'd be grateful if you give this video a little thumbs up it only takes you a second and it really helps me out a lot so i'll see you next time here in my shop

Channel: Wood and Shop

Views: 138,958

Keywords: woodwork, woodworking, traditional woodworking, roy underhill, woodwright's shop, chris schwarz, lie-nielsen, hand planes, hand saws, chisels, workshop

Id: MOB3DyZp1yk

Length: 9min 43sec (583 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 16 2021