A very small dovetailing aid

[Derek Cohen]

I am nearing halfway of eight drawers for my chest. It occurred that one of the little aids I use when dovetailing may be helpful for others.



It came time to transfer the tails to the pin board ...



What you see here is a bow drawer front which will have half-blind sockets (the area in blue). The remainder will be sawn away (into a bow front) once the dovetails have been completed. This is done later, rather than earlier, so as to retain a reference side.

The issue here is to ensure that the drawer sides are square with the drawer front.

All one needs is a simple rectangle that is about 3/4" high. It must be square on the inside.



It is even easier to use when joining through dovetails.

Once done, use the square as a rest for your chisels ...



Regards from Perth

Derek

[Brian Holcombe]

Cool square!

Im curious as to why you chose to use so many chisels rather than say, one fishtail shaped chisel that can be used for chopping?

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Brian

The 3/16" chisel was for the tails. I use the 1" bench chisel for splitting out the waste from the pins (it is used with a small mallet), after the baseline has been drilled. The slick is for paring the waste remaining. The fishtail is only used in the corners (that keeps it sharp for when it is needed).

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Brian Holcombe]

Ah, makes sense since you drill the baseline. I have not chopped jarrah, but I assume it's not so enjoyable.

I switched from using a fishtail pared in the corners to fishtail bench chisels for the entire process (on the pin board). It's increased the speed significantly, but I chop.

[Jim Koepke]

All one needs is a simple rectangle that is about 3/4" high. It must be square on the inside.

The purpose made square/rectangle is likely better, for me a framing square does the job:

Square to Tail Board.jpg

What ever works.

jtk

[Derek Cohen]

Tried that, Jim. A framing square is too large and too skinny. Even with small squares they are too low to create decent reference sides.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jim Koepke]

Tried that, Jim. A framing square is too large and too skinny. Even with small squares they are too low to create decent reference sides.

Regards from Perth

Derek

If you look close at the picture you can see the square is setting on some scrap and a second piece being used as a reference surface against the tail board.

Yours is an elegant solution, mine is rigged up on the fly.

jtk

[ken hatch]

Thanks Derek,

I made a copy of your dovetail square last night. This morning I made a test set of dovetails. The base alignment was dead nuts on, I could not feel any misalignment. It is a useful addition to my shop.



ken

[Daniel Rode]

Thanks Derek!

I'd been using a scrap to align the reference sides and then sighting the baseline gap. While this works pretty well, your square is a step above. I'll be making one of these soon.

[Derek Cohen]

Just for good measure, here is a through dovetail I did today ...



As you can see, it is not the easiest shape to align ..



Rear of drawers ..



Regards from Perth

Derek

[Prashun Patel]

Thanks for another technique, Derek. Question: do you rabbet your tail boards? If one does, then as long as the reference faces are flush at the intersection, wouldn't they be square too?

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Prashun

I do not rebate the tail board. It is just one more thing to do. And even if one does, it only takes a very small deviation to cause the boards to end up poorly aligned.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Prashun Patel]

I hadn't considered squaring up the boards when marking. I am embarking on 8 drawers, so I will do this. Thanks!