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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
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    Auburn, ME
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    749

    Dovetails.

    I asked a while back about a good dovetail jig and how to connect drawers. Mike Henderson suggested that I cut them by hand. Well I have finally gotten to the point that everything is ready and I cut my first half-blind tonight.

    I don't have a super workbench so I have had to make up my own little dovetail setup. Seemed to work ok for the first one tonight.

    DSC02162.jpg

    Here is a picture of my first half-blind cut by hand.

    DSC02163.jpg

    I am using hickory for the front, back and sides. I figure that I am just as well to start off with working on the back sides which won't be visible. It took me about 1.5 hours to do this first one and I figure that it will get a bit quicker, well hopefully it will, and also I can make them tighter the further along I get. As I have heard before the 2nd is better than the 1st and the 4th is better than the 2nd.

    Anywho it is enjoyable to work with the hand tools but much different than working with motors all the time.

    Greg

  2. #2
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    Greg, I went through the DT learning curve a couple of years ago. You are off to a good start!
    Please help support the Creek.


    "It's paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn't appeal to anyone."
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  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
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    Practice & practice before too long it will be a second nature as a Guinness after a perfect down hill run.
    You could start on a shorter drawer box , but you are getting it!
    "... for when we become in heart completely poor, we at once are the treasurers & disbursers of enormous riches."
    WQJudge

  4. #4
    Greg,
    1) Normally, the back isn't blind DT'd, though I understand you are wisely using it for practice.
    2) It's a lot easier to get a gap-free fit if the sides are a more "compressible" wood. A bit of an inside secret. Poplar and Mahogany are two common choices.
    3) Hickory is a bear to chop and to mark ( the open grain breaks pencil points and can wreck a marking knife tip ).
    4) The proportions of your tails and pins look great.
    5) I admire your courage in taking this on. It will sort itself out after a half dozen, so this is more in the spirit of tough love than a negative comment...just offering some firm direction: Those gaps need to be much smaller---even though it's very challenging to get a perfect no-gap joint with hickory on hickory, as I said above. Is it possible you've sawed the pins on the wrong side of the line?
    6) Finally, If this is your first DT, I'd encourage you to do a couple plain-old through dovetails. Take the pressure off yourself and make 3 or four practice joints that you throw away when you're done. After that you'll be better prepared to create a finished piece; you'll already have dispensed with most of the beginner's DT mistakes.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2005
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    walnut creek, california
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    greg, nice job especially considering half-blind dovetails are a lot harder! you are in a for a treat if you do the regular through dovetails as russell mentioned AND if you use pine that's planed to 1/2". a lot of people cheat on half blinds by gluing another piece of wood on top of the drawer front. don't give up trying because you'll soon be chuckling silently whenever you see people whining about how they can't vary the spacing on the router driven router jigs

  6. #6
    Join Date
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    You jumped in the deep end and did a great job for a first try (or even a 5 or 6th try)!
    Of all the laws Brandolini's may be the most universally true.

    Deep thought for the day:

    Your bandsaw weighs more when you leave the spring compressed instead of relieving the tension.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Auburn, ME
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    Russell I agree with just about all your points. I was going to do the back with a full dovetail but decided it was worth the practice and wouldn't hurt anything. Again agree that if the sides were a soft wood it might be a little easier but the hickory is what I got for a good deal and already have that milled down to size. I will second that hickory is a bear to work with and very difficult to chop. Thank you about the proportions. I may need to make an adjustment so that it is easier to cut because i couldn't fit my chisel into one of the boards becasue the tails were so small. I do agree that the gaps need to tighten up and you are probably right that i cut on the wrong side of the line but it is a learning curve and hopefully i will get better by the time i do the front of the drawers.

    Thanks for all the other comments. i'll get back at it tonight and try again.

    BTW I do see the draw to hand tools now more than before. it is very relaxing to just work the wood by hand.

    Greg

  8. #8
    Join Date
    May 2005
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    if you do get into hand tools, i would caution you against doing mortise and tenons by hand as i've found that they are much trickier even though you'd think they'd be simpler than dovetails. don't go crazy buying hand planes especially the LN/LV brands and please don't give up using an automated jointer/planer unless you have a lot of time on your hands

  9. #9
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    Dec 2006
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    Frank, Thanks for the words of advice. Don't think I will take it that far as I do enjoy using the power tools just that the hand tools are a nice distraction right now.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    May 2005
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    whenever i'm dovetailing by hand i just think how pleasant it is not to have to wear those annoying ear muffs that otherwise accompany every single machining process... i might go back to trying to raise panels by hand once i get my bench vise installed again. the reason for my warning is that almost every woodworker goes through a power tool/hand tool acquisition phase and i'd like to spare you of all the reselling i had to do once my fascination in hand tools started waning!

  11. #11
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Boston
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    A few tips. Its all about the pins which you cut 1st. Once the pins are all set then you cut the tails to the pins. As you know make the pins wider so there easier to chop out. Saw out the pins, then pare them so they are straight. Take your combo sq apart and pit the ruler against the pins so the ruler is up and down then use the sq across the top of the pins and put it against the ruler, it will be on an angle. The sq should sit flush against the rule. You can pare as need be so the pins are flat and straight. Next pare the shoulders so they are flat. Put the sq together and put it into the shoulder like you would check the top of the board for square. Once that done the pins are ready to go.

    The tails can be measured off the pins. 1st pare the shoulder on each end so they are square. If the shoulders are off you will see it. Then sq the rest of the tails and the shoulder between them. Fit the pieces and pare the tails to fit. The pins should not be touched. Make the tails fit the pins.

    Hope this helps.
    Don

  12. #12
    Join Date
    May 2005
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    walnut creek, california
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    have you watched frank klausz's dovetail a drawer dvd? i love his method of laying out the pins - no calipers needed!

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
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    Quote Originally Posted by frank shic View Post
    whenever i'm dovetailing by hand i just think how pleasant it is not to have to wear those annoying ear muffs that otherwise accompany every single machining process... i might go back to trying to raise panels by hand once i get my bench vise installed again. the reason for my warning is that almost every woodworker goes through a power tool/hand tool acquisition phase and i'd like to spare you of all the reselling i had to do once my fascination in hand tools started waning!

    Who sells tools? Isn't the goal to collect?

  14. #14
    Kudos, Greg. Handcut dovetails is like learning to play an instrument. There's no way around sheer practice. More than any skill, I'm in awe of handcut dt's; it's the one technique that's dependent on the operator - not the quality of the tool.

    In fact, (and I say this not bkz I can do it - but bkz I've seen it) the more expert people get, the less relevant the marking technique or saw type is.

    Keep going!!!

  15. #15
    Join Date
    May 2009
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    Boston
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    I'll try to snap a few photos on what I'm talking about with the combo sq. I'm currently taking a workshop at the North Bennett St School and we are curently going over dovetails so the info is fresh in my mind. They like the pins 1st so its the pins.
    Don

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