dovetails...

[Greg Cuetara]

I am currently in the process of making 2 dressers. The first has 9 drawers and the second has 6 drawers. I want to use half-blind dovetails but am unsure how to proceed right now. I do not have a jig but do have a few routers.

I saw this article a few years back.

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/te...l_jig#comments

it talks about using a router to cut the pins and then cut the tails either with a bandsaw or by hand. My bandsaw is currently out of commission so I was thinking that I could use my router to cut the pins as described and then go out and buy a dovetail saw to cut the tails by hand. Am I crazy to think that I could pull this off?

I saw a few jigs for the router, the stots jig, where you actually use their jig to make your own jig or the ez pro at home deposit. Not really looking for a $500 production dovetail jig, although it would be nice.

Thanks for any advice.
Greg

[Derek Gilmer]

I've got the PC 4212 ($150ish) and it does half blind dovetails. The bit that comes with it might be a little large. How thick are the sides of the drawers?

[Greg Cuetara]

Fronts are going to be 3/4" and sides 1/2". I am going to be using solid hickory for the fronts, sides and back as that was the cheapest material i could find and i am using it for the rest of the dresser. For the second dresser i am using 3/4" cherry fronts with 1/2" hard maple sides and backs. I found a pc 4212 for $65 on CL but was too late to the party so now trying to find another solution. don't really have the $$ for that jig new right now.

[Charles Lent]

There's one thing about cutting half blind dovetails with a router.....precision is everything. For good results you need a jig that will give you precise cuts or you will be unhappy with the results. I've owned 3 different dovetail jigs and have been unhappy with the results that I was able to achieve with the first 2. My first was a Wolfcraft and I don't remember the name of the second one. My third is a Leigh D4R and I'm finally happy it and the dovetails that I can cut with it. The D4R has the flexibility and precision that I was hoping to get from the cheaper jigs. I should have bought it in the first place. The Porter Cable jigs weren't available when I bought my D4R jig so I haven't tried them. There may be other good jigs out there too. I stopped looking after I bought the D4R.

Charley

[Greg Cuetara]

Charley, Thanks for the thoughts. The article I linked to above has you cut the half-blind part with the router and then cut the mating piece by hand or with a bandsaw so it is a half router half hand cut method.

Greg

[Derek Gilmer]

Fronts are going to be 3/4" and sides 1/2". I am going to be using solid hickory for the fronts, sides and back as that was the cheapest material i could find and i am using it for the rest of the dresser. For the second dresser i am using 3/4" cherry fronts with 1/2" hard maple sides and backs. I found a pc 4212 for $65 on CL but was too late to the party so now trying to find another solution. don't really have the $$ for that jig new right now.

The article you linked looks like it should work with some practice then.

The biggest problem with mixing router with hand saws is the the rounded hole in the front board. YOu'll either be rounding over all your tails to fit or have a half circle at the base of the pins showing in the drawer.

[Mike Henderson]

Cut them by hand. It's not that hard and doesn't require much equipment. There are plenty of tutorials on the web, one of which is here.

Mike

[Lee Schierer]

You are making enough drawers to justify a jig. I would suggest the Rockler Jig which retails for about $120. It is an adequate jig and makes excellent half blind dovetails with a little bit of practice and set up.22224-01-200.jpg PM me and I can tell you how to get free shipping on this.

Hand cutting is also a good way to go if you have the time to learn and practice. You will also need to buy some tools for this.

[Larry Fox]

Cut them by hand. It's not that hard and doesn't require much equipment. There are plenty of tutorials on the web, one of which is here.

Mike

+1 to what Mike says here.

[Greg Cuetara]

Mike you make it look very easy and now I want to try that just concerned that it will take me 40 hours to do one joint...

one question that i have is what is the best type of hand saw to get. I do not have anything that would work reasonably well right now. I saw a cheaper saw a home deposit...i think it was an irwin with 14tpi.

http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hardw...atalogId=10053

if i try to do this by hand definately do not want to spend a lot just yet. one big question i have is the bandsaw or handsaw will leave rough edges but does that really matter since you are just going to glue it up anyways?

Thanks,
Greg

[Derek Gilmer]

Mike you make it look very easy and now I want to try that just concerned that it will take me 40 hours to do one joint...

one question that i have is what is the best type of hand saw to get. I do not have anything that would work reasonably well right now. I saw a cheaper saw a home deposit...i think it was an irwin with 14tpi.

http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hardw...atalogId=10053

if i try to do this by hand definately do not want to spend a lot just yet. one big question i have is the bandsaw or handsaw will leave rough edges but does that really matter since you are just going to glue it up anyways?

Thanks,
Greg

Veritas dovetail saws are about the cheapest "Good" dovetail saws around.

And my first half blind dovetail joints were about 30-40 minutes a corner (3 dovetails each corner) but I'm down to 10 or so now...

[Michael Peet]

Another +1 for doing them by hand. I have the Veritas saw; it works. Greg, practice one joint a day for 3 or 4 weeks and you will have it down.

Mike

[Albert T. Tappman]

I saw a cheaper saw a home deposit...i think it was an irwin with 14tpi.

http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hardw...atalogId=10053

That Irwin saw is definitely not adequate for cutting dovetails. If you try to use it for that you'll get very frustrated. About the only ultra-cheap saw that might be adequate is a Zona dovetail saw. I have that Irwin saw and it's only barely usable for rough carpentry. I also have a Zona saw that I've used for making small cuts here and there, but never tried to cut dovetails with it. A good $15 dovetail saw just doesn't exist.

If you want to make dovetails by hand you'll have to spend the $65 to get a Veritas saw, at minimum. Anything less and you'll just give up. Even with a good saw, you might give up. It's not that hard after a lot of practice, but you might not want to spend the time it takes to get good at it.

For half-blind dovetails on drawers, I'd just get a Porter-Cable 4210. You can be making decent dovetails after a few trial runs, in an afternoon.

[Mike Henderson]

Mike you make it look very easy and now I want to try that just concerned that it will take me 40 hours to do one joint...

one question that i have is what is the best type of hand saw to get. I do not have anything that would work reasonably well right now. I saw a cheaper saw a home deposit...i think it was an irwin with 14tpi.

http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hardw...atalogId=10053

if i try to do this by hand definately do not want to spend a lot just yet. one big question i have is the bandsaw or handsaw will leave rough edges but does that really matter since you are just going to glue it up anyways?

Thanks,
Greg

I did a lot of dovetails with a medium sized Japanese saw. I think they go for about $35 -$40 but I haven't bought one in a while. The LV dovetail saw is a good one, also.

I often cut the tails with a bandsaw because it's fast and you're assured of getting a straight up and down cut (just don't wander on your cut). Unless your bandsaw makes a REALLY rough cut, it won't affect the look of the final joinery. You can always smooth the face with a chisel if you want to.

Machine made dovetails are the way to go when you have a lot to do. With bureau drawers, they're often different heights so you have to go through a set up for each size drawer so hand cut is not that slow compared to the machine made.

Also, half blind dovetails hide a lot of your mistakes because only one face is visible. Try doing them by hand. If you decide to go that way, you'll have bragging rights whenever you show someone the chests.

Mike

[Derek Gilmer]

I'm serious in this. If you want to borrow my 4212 you can pay shipping to and from your place. It just collects dust in my shop.

The Pax Gent's saw might work well, and is a bit cheaper: http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/pag...=1,42884,63338