In this work, I attempt to share with the reader the accumulation ofmy experience on the subject of hand cutting through dovetails. This isnot intended to be "scratch and sniff" type article but rather an in-depthstudy of all aspects of the process including the tools used.
Most of this in my work and thoughts (especially the strong opinions expressed aout certian tiools ;-) though, in later discussions w/Jeff Gorman there was more added from the . Over the years I forgot who said what, SO I'll justsay, one of them added some of this.
Ohh yeah, One other thing! I am a highly opinionated SOB, and it showsin my writing style. If I offend anybody, too bad. They are my feet andI'll stick them in my mouth if I want to... so there!
In the discussions on tools, I might sound like a Shill for certainpeople. let me assure you this is NOT the case. I receive NO compensations(financial or otherwise) for my recommendations. Being very frustratedby the quality (or lack there of) of a lot of tools I have purchased, Ihave learned what are good tools and what are bad tools. My recommendationsare just that. and are made in an effort to save the beginner the frustrationsI experienced when I started out. The tools and sources I have listed arenot he only ones that can do the job, but they are the best _I_ have found.
A small, sharp, thin kerf, back saw. (AKA a "Dovetail Saw")
A good dovetail saw is paramount to your ease of success and enjoymentof the process. With only two exceptions all the saw's marketed today arepure _junk_, IMO and not suited for the task what-so-ever. Don't believeme? go to the local woodworking store and pick up one of their so-calledDovetail saw's, take a look t the teeth. 99% of the saw's I have seen,have had their teeth set way too wide and are filed for Cross-Cut. _hello_,last time I checked, all the dovetails I ever made were cut into the endgrain.Thus, you want a RIP saw. There have been many articles written on howto make a store bought saw perform well, al of them instruct on removingmost of the set and re-filing the teeth correctly. Bologna! if I buy anew tool, I expect it to work well at it's intended purpose or it is goingstraight back to where it came from.
That being said, there are two folks out there making truly phenomenalsaws, and are worthy of your consideration.
The first being Mr. Pete Taran of IndependenceTools. This is truly a first rate saw. I own one of the first oneshe ever made (Serial # 14) and I can recommend it whole-heartedly. It isa bit pricey, but I found out (the hard way) that in-expensive (cheap)tools end up costing you more in the long run.
I love my IT saw, There, I said it. I love it so much that it NEVEReven leaves my shop, and when it is not in use it is kept wrapped in oiledmuslin and stored in it's drawer.
However, there is a very good alternative being made by Eddie Sirotichof Adria Tools. His sawis very similar to the IT and for the price you would be a fool NOT tobuy it, if you cannot afford one from Independence Tools.
When I travel around the country teaching woodworking courses, thisis the saw that travels with me. It is just as nice in use as the IT saw,but I am so over protective of my IT that I would never consider trustingit to the airline-baggage-handlers, no matter how well packed and insured.
If the price still seems steep, there is still hope, last I knew Eddiewas offering a DIY Kit to make your own saw's. I have two of these kitsand I was very impressed w/ the completeness of them. all you need to dois cut a kerf in the handle to receive the blade, insert the screws throughthe handle to hold it, set the brass back on, then set and file the teeth...it will take about as much time to make this saw kit as if you bought oneof those pieces of junk from the woodworker supply store and followed theinstructions in one of the many published articles on making it work correctly.
A marking gauge and a scribe.
Hmm... what can I say about marking gauges Well If My name were RalphBrendler(which it is not:-) I'm sure he'd have a lot to say, but I do not.He has an entire web page devoted to thestudy, collection and use of marking gauges . I suggest you visit hispage for a more in depth discussion on this matter. He also hosts a web-pagewhich contains a veritable treasure trove of worthy information concerningwoodworkingusing hand-tools.
What I will say, is that I have tried lots of gauges and I reallylike the Veritas(r)WheelMarking Gauge. Actually I have two of them. one for marking insidecuts and another for marking outside cuts. All I did was take the cutterwheel off one of them and flip it around.
One other thing should be said about them..... there is a slightdesign flaw! The screw that holds the cutter in place can loosen, and ifit does, if you are making a long cut, the cutter can wander and wobble,which is really bad, but also the screw can/will continue to loosen tillit falls right out. The screw is really tough to find if it falls in toa pile of shavings and if you drop the cutter, just forget-about-it .
I solved this by placing a drop of blue Loctite on the threads and tightenedthe screw. I called Lee Valley's Customer Service Department and advisedthem of the problem and they agreed that this was a adequate temporarysolution to it.... and they would "look into the problem further".
Whatever you do, please do not lay out your dovetails using apencil! pencil lines are too inaccurate.... What? You don't believeme!?!?! try tis...
take a freshly sharpened pencil and using a straight-edge draw a line12" long on a piece of wood see how nice and fine of a line you have atthe beginning and how fat and fuzzy of a line it is near the end of theline? that is what happens as the lead wears. Also, if you scribe yourlines, it will give you a nice place to reference you chisel cuts and helpyou get your saw on the right track.
Being disgusted with modern marking knives I set about to design/makemy own. Three month later in a partnership with Mr.Ron Hock of Hock Tools, formerlyknown as Hock Handmade Knives ;-) we arrived at a suitable knife bladeit is called the "Hock Shiv" and can be ordered only from Ron, his part# is #MK075 and a sketch of it can be seen athere.
Our good friend Mr. Leach theproprietor of The Superior Works,then came along and provided an absolutely stunning piece that blew usall away....A perfect copy of an original that once belonged to a pipeorgan builder, C. Carlson, who was working in Worcester, Massachusettsduring the late 1800's to early 1900's. It can be seen at here.
A dovetail marking template and/or a bevel gauge.
My Dovetail Marking Template is a solid brass jobbie made my RichardKrell of England. I really like it a lot. I had to do a lot of searchingfor it but finally found it being offered by the RobertLarson Co.. Robert does not sell directly to the public but his WebPage will direct you to a distributor near you that you can order yoursfrom.
Alternately, you could use a bevel gauge set to the appropriate angle.Any decent sliding bevel gauge will do, but in keeping with my effort toyou want to point you to "the best of the best", I suggest you ContactMr. Patrick Leach , Proprietorof The Superior Works. and ask himabout his Reproduction of the St. Johnsbury Tool Co. SlidingBevel. It is simply fantastic.
I have one that was gifted to me by a group of folks down in New Orleansand it holds a very special place in my heart. Also it perfect matchesmy marking knife ;-)
A small Engineers Square.
This should be self explanatory. :-)
This is used _only_ for marking little "X's" to denote the waste areawhich will be removed. I have removed the "wrong" areas a few times andcut to the wrong side of the line. It is quite frustrating. My advice isto mark _everything_ and make triple-sure you are removing the right stuffbefore making any cut.
A few decent Paring Chisel.
Again, there are lots of impostors out there. I have found Marples "BlueChip" chisels to be a decent beginners chisels, though for a few dollarsmore each, you can get the Sorby, octagonal boxwood handled chisels, theyare very nice chisels, I have a the complete set and use them constantly.also while we are on the subject of chisels, Sorby puts our what they call"Pattern Makers' Chisels" they are very nice as well. Whatever you do,stay away from the yellow plastic handled Craftsman chisels, they are onlysuitable for prying the lids off of paint cans, and removing tile-grout!-)
Lots of scrap wood to practice on.
I would suggest using scrap pieces at first, but shy away from softPine as it has a tendency to be a pit too soft. some of my favorite woodsto cut dovetails in is Walnut, Basswood, and Maple. my absolute favoriteis Chestnut, but it is pricey and hard to find in decent sizes unless youhave a source for "recycled" lumber (reclaimed beams and joists in oldtimber framed construction and such.) .
Lay out (scribe) your baselines
Set your marking gauge to the thickness of the wood to be joined.
Note: When joining two pieces of wood that are not of equal thickness,be sure to set the gauge to the thicker board and use that setting to markthe thinner board. then set the gauge to the thickness of the thinner boardand scribe the thick board with that setting.
Take care to mark the face sides and face edges with their appropriatemarks, and be sure the FSs are flat and out-of-wind. (i.e. they are flat,and true)
If you are using a gauge across the show faces then the wood will needto be a little thicker than the intended finished size. i.e. to allow forcleaning up and removal of the gauge lines (except for drawer sides whenit seems to be a tradition in some quarters to leave them on).<
3) Scribe your layout lines for the tails.
I prefer to use a Layout Knife as described and brass template.
Alternately, A bevel gauge set to the appropriate angle (6:1) worksjust as well.
Note: I found it best to "X-out" the areas you are removing with a pencilas soon as you have scribed your lines
Use your Dovetail Saw to do this. Pay attention to which side of theline you are Cutting on. (The "X's" help here.)
Set your saw right in the scribed groove from the layout being sureto hold it peferctly straight and pull the saw back once or twice to "set"it. Then proceed with cutting to the scribed baselines, but no further.
I have seen many examples of dovetails wherein the maker slightly "over-shot"the scribed line on the inside (non-showing) face of the workplace. I havedone this myself and it does aid in initial cutting and the final fittingThis is kinda hard to explain in text, so I'll try to upload a pictureof it someday.
Using your layout knife deepen the scribed line(back cut) at the baseof the tails. On soft wood you can almost cut the tails out completely,using you layout knife, in harder woods you will need your chisels.
Pare out your tails.
When paring on the scribed base-line, hold the chisel slightly angledin. This will produce a slightly "dished" surface that is helpful in makinga tight fit later. Some people like to use a fretsaw or coping saw to removemost of the waste, then pare down to the line. I do not.
This back-cutting (or more aptly, under-cutting) _can_ cause problemswhen cleaning-up, especially if the wood is slightly thicker than the intendedfinished size. Since this is an end-grain to face-grain joint, the adhesivewill be fairly ineffectual, so some undercutting does little harm in thissituation. Why not start undercutting at about a quarter of the way inwards,i.e., the outermost area of the socket floors being at right-angles andonly the central half a little undercut? Of course there is some primitivesatisfaction in not undercutting at all, but then some people have to beable to find the wherewithal to put food on the table.
Now check that the pin sockets are parallel and at right angles to theface side. Rectify if not. It is vital that you get this part right atthis stage, since you have to use the wrong (from the point of view ofappearance when assembled) face of the job as template. To grasp this idea,consider what would happen if the pin sockets happened to be cut so thatthey got wider as they ran across the thickness towards the outer face.Pins marked from such tails would be too slender. If you are really craftyand in full control of the saw, one dodge is to introduce the slightesthint of the merest suspicion of taper in the other direction so that thepins tighten slightly as the joint closes. Easier said than done. Thisis playing with fire.
Use your tails to mark your pins.
Place the piece that will have the pins into a vice. Lay the tail pieceat a 90 Degrees. angle over the edge of the tail piece and use your tailsto lay out your pins, remember to use the Layout knife and NOT a pencil!Using a small engineer square transfer the layout lines from the top tothe sides Again, it is helpful at this point to "X-out" the portions tobe removed. I've screwed up and removed the wrong sections more than once.;-} Make _sure_ that the face side of this part faces the face side ofits mate. (been there, done that!-)
The alignment of the face-side is critical. It can help to lightly clampa rule against the face side of the pin-bearer, with its edge dead in linewith the tail socket floor, (or if you want to be really crafty, just amicro-whisker above them). This helps to stop it drifting. This is oneargument for cutting the pin's first, but no religious wars please!
Cut your pins
Cut dead to the waste side of the line. Courage mon vieux!
The saw is the best tool for the job and fiddling about with a chiselis harder than making a good saw cut in the first place.
Using the marking knife deepen the scribed base-line at the base ofsockets between the pins. Be careful not to go too deep when cutting the"fat side" of the pins.
I found it is best to pare the wide side first the narrow side. Thenarrow side will add support while paring the wide side. Again...When paringon the scribe line, hold the chisel slightly angled in. Again, this willproduce a slightly "dished" surface that is helpful in making a tight fitlater.
Test fit the joint.
It should be tight and the tails and pins should slightly extend overthe mating pieces face When the joint does not fit, trim the pins not thetails.
To figure out which pins to trim: slightly force the wood together.you will be left w/ an indentation in the wood that you can use a guidewhen you trim the pins.
If the joint is sloppy, which many of mine were in the early days, Heckthey still are sometimes ;-) Get a new piece of wood and practice somemore. But if you are like me, you started working a piece of "matched"wood and the project would look ugly if you did not use _that_ specificpiece of wood. So what _I_ do is to shim the gaps w/ shims made from planeshavings.)
It can help assembly if you make a small chamfer on the two slopinginside arises of the pin sockets (not on the socket floor arises).
The chamfer starts at zero width just below the top of the socket andincreases a little as it runs downwards. Don't get it wrong and do theother side! If the pins are accurately cut, and the only problem is generaltightness, try planing a whisker or two off the face side of the pin-bearer.
Use a hammer and batten to spread the force when closing the joint.If you just hammer, it is quite possible for the part under the hammerto move and the rest of the job stay where it is, the result being a split.You should not have to really whack it very hard at all.... Jut littletaps to help seat everything. if you find you are really smacking it, stopand inspect the joint to find where it is binding.
12) Glue the joint together if you wish.
It is amazing what the glue washing-off water can do for the final appearanceof a good joint. Unfortunately it will do little for a poor one.
There is one technique, somewhat more subtle than shaving shims or glueand dust mixtures or even veneer, involving the pane of a warrington hammer,sometimes referred to as "Bishoping". But one must not sully a pure-mindedgroup such as this with descriptions of such obscenities.
HR>
Sand the excess off even w/ the face of the boards.
Oh Golly Did I really say that?!?!?
If you are aiming at fine quality woodworking, this is where itwould be better to use a plane for cleaning up. Since this will be on thevisible faces of a job, a well-tuned smoother with a flat sole, fine mouthand very sharp blade /will/ be advisable unless you are working with avery docile and featureless wood. YB infills OK, (well good ones anyway)nice to use and look at, but not essential by any means.
If the wood is prepared a little oversize in thickness, you will needto clean up until the ends of the pins/tails are just touched. Workingthis way means that the ends of the pins and tails are sunken slightlybelow the surface, making clamping up a real job much easier than the alternativethat has the pins and tail-end projecting. However, you do need to be ableto start a saw confidently for this technique to work.