Cutting Through Dovetails

Yes, another dovetail video (although this is first on my channel). I debated posting this, but it was requested in a comment. I created the video for my students soon after the initial Covid shutdown in March 2020. The day before spring break we were informed that we wouldn’t be coming back to school. We could only deliver instruction remotely, so my colleagues and I (mostly I) started creating online content. Seems like forever ago now.

We were with students in the lab the following year (2020/2021), but could still only deliver instruction online. Students could work in the lab, but teachers couldn’t teach. That 2020 spring-break break began my video creation journey, during which I created over 200 videos between then and May 2021 when I retired.

Dovetails…the hallmark of fine woodworking according to some. It took me a long time to become proficient at them, but it was worth the effort. It’s all about sawing to a line. If you can do that you’re golden. So, like I told my students, practice sawing, then practice some more. If you can saw vertically to a line you will quickly become adept at creating dovetails. And that is why I prefer the tails-first method. If you miss your line when cutting the tails (assuming your cut is square to the face of the board), you can correct for it when sawing the pins. You just need to match the line on the end of the board and saw vertically.

If you have to pare much, you need to saw better. There’s no getting around it. That should be your goal. The paring in the video is about as much as I ever do. I’m not talking about the base of the pins and tails; when I say paring I mean trimming the sides of the pins and tails.

Practice on a wood that cuts easily and cleanly. Poplar is great, soft enough to cut easily, hard enough to cut cleanly, inexpensive, and light in color, making it easy to see your lines. It’s also soft enough to give a little if things are a bit tight. Soft maple is good too, but there aren’t many others that fit the bill. Good luck!

Watch the video here.