This is not the fastest way to cut dovetails by hand, but it is accurate, due in part to the use of a guide block. Read the write-up at villagecarpenter.blogspot.com
Handcut Dovetails HD
Written by Tools on August 31st, 2010 in Hand Tools.
Tags: Dovetails, Handcut
@VillageCarpenter
wow Lee Valley expensive tools… thank you sis. i hope you can make more videos…
@Gubazgu The handsaw is a Lie-Nielsen dovetail saw; the jeweler’s saw is a cheap one I picked up somewhere; the block plane is a low angle one from Lee Valley; the chisels are Japanese from the Woodcraft Store; the dovetail marker is from Lee Valley; and the 1.5″ engineer’s square is Starrett. Let me know if I missed any.
can you write down your tools name? specially hand planer
great video!
@24071980 I do use a marker, but you can calculate the ratio by laying two rulers on a flat surface at a right angle. Take your bevel gauge and lay the blade so it connects the 1″ mark on one of the rulers to the 8″ mark on the other ruler. Hope that makes sense.
Great video!! Very tidy job. How do u caculate the 1:8 measurement If u don’t have a marker?
@michaelcooper8904 That’s awesome.
(Now, make sure you go back and tell your instructor that your “buddy” is female. ; )
buddy this is unbelievable..i’m in a program for general carpentry and we’re doing dove tails and I was using what you did instead of the instructor who has been doing it for like fifty years..he looks at me and was impressed he even tried it~~!!!!
@michaelcooper8904 The two songs are: Morrison’s Jig and The Butterfly, by the Irish Experience. Glad you liked the video!
this is unbelieveable! what song is this by the way?? I love this song? Does anybdoy know the artist?
Obrigao pela resposta. Seus videos sao muito bons. Abraco do Brazil.
@elsapodoido The folded paper offsets the marking gauge a little bit, so the pins and tails will be slightly proud of the joint when it’s glued up. That way, you have some material to plane away so the joint is flush with the sides of the box. If you don’t cut the pins and tails a little long, it’s possible that sometimes they are a little too short. When that happens, you have to plane the sides of the piece (and remove a lot more material) in order for the joint to be flush.
very informative video – well done. Thanks
this video answers a couple questions and issues i had. Thank you very much.
Ola, quando faz a marca com o mark-gauge utiliza uma lixa dobrada, por que isso. No mas muito bom o video. Felicidades.
@femsh761 I’ve never used a Dozuki to cut dovetails, but lots of people do. My preference is western saws for no particular reason. I love L-N, but other saws work just as well.
@femsh761 If you cut the tails first, the angle is not all that important, so if you don’t cut right on the line, it’s not big deal. Where you really have to be careful is when you cut the pins to match the angle of the tails. If your saw is continually listing to one side, then the teeth are set more aggressively on that side. You can lay your blade on a flat surface and lightly drag a sharpening stone along the teeth to reduce set. The coping saw is a cheapie–it’s awful.
Excellent video! I’m trying to learn this technique to finish my workbench (one from FWW a few years ago that has handcut dovetails). The hardest part so far has been cutting along the line at the right angle for the tails. Any tricks for this, or is it just practice? I’m using a dozuki pull saw – do you think the Lie-Nielson is more managable? Also, what kind of coping saw are you using? Thanks!
Excellent video! I’m trying to learn this technique to finish my workbench (one from FWW a few years ago that has handcut dovetails). The hardest part so far has been cutting along the line at the right angle for the tails. Any tricks for this, or is it just practice? I’m using a dozuki pull saw – do you think the Lie-Nielson is more managable? Also, what kind of coping saw are you using? Thanks!
@vt9205 I did speed up the video. I’m not nearly as fast as it looks. But yes, with practice you do get faster and you do not need to look at both sides of the board when cutting. If you follow the marks you made on the endgrain and face, your saw will cut straight. There’s no need to even mark the other side of the board (other than the depth of cut). You can do it!
)
@PuddelUndercover I usually handplane all surfaces after glue up, so the lines disappear. Some people like to keep them, though, so it shows they cut them by hand. But I agree that it’s a personal preference sort of thing.
)
that´s quite phenomenal :l one thing i dont get is how do you manage to saw so straight so fast and without eyeballing the blade from both sides of the board to be sure it follows the line. something you just eventually learn?
Beautiful result!
one thing, wouldn’t it be prettier if you just pencil the line instead of scribing it? Of course you loose the clever reference groove to put your plane blade in when you pare out the waste wood, but i personally think that the end result would be a little more complete.. Guess that is personal taste 
But thank you for the video, now i just want to make dovetails on everything!
Are you making a box to hide your leprechaun?
wow thank you so very much! i was always wanting to try dovetails but was worried that it would be really difficult your video has given me the confidence to have ago on my next project, this is gonna give the drawers in my future engineers cabinet that little bit of extra quality. keep up the good work.
wonderful to watch, educational and inspiring. Thanks.
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