Hand cutting dovetails #2: My Technique

My dad tells me my great grandfather, finish carpenter by day, furniture builder by night, could cut the joints for a drawer in about 30 min. Thats all four corners. I am like you, about :45 to an hour per joint. Keep up the practice, its the only way to get better and faster. I sure wish there was just a pill you could take.

-- Jimmy, Oklahoma "It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I'm wearing milkbone underwear!"

Your work is very clean. Looks real nice

Hi Drew. Very impressive first attempt at hand-cut dovetails! Also, nice post in terms of showing what you did and how you did it. The end result looks great. I hope you don’t take offense at this question but are you certain that is oak? It doesn’t have the appearance of oak grain to me. Of course, I am here and you had the wood in your hands so it could just be that the pieces are so short they are from a section that doesn’t display the typical open grain found in oak. At any rate, again, great execution of the dovetails.

-- On the eighth day God was back in His woodworking shop! Lenny, East Providence, RI

Thanks guys. Lenny, I think its oak could be wrong I recycled it from a old built-in bookshelf.

-- Drew, Delaware

You got it perfect now. dam now if i could only get mine this good or even half that.

-- Ike, Big Daddies Woodshop, http://www.icombadaniels@yahoo.com

Excellent skill although it took you 1 hour to complete, your time will be greatly less with more practice. I never did that with a coping saw but I tried to use a small Japanese hand saw to put butterflies in a piece of Black Walnut. What a nightmare that was. Now I use a router, it is much quicker. Anyway when you are ready to purchase a jig you will say WOW what a time saver. Once again nice job!

-- One Time Tree Man

Nice start on the dovetails.

-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker

Just keep doing it, your skills will develop in accuracy and speed.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://americancraftsmanworkshop.com

Good job Drew. Improvement is more important than the results and the results aren’t bad. I too think you got a hold of something besides oak, maybe some pine but harder than the new stuff. I also noticed that yesterday you let the pins take the outside position and today you let the tails occupy the outside edges. Was that a design decision?

-- Jim

Good job! I will copy this method for my next try!

-- I still have all my fingers

This is one of the things I want to learn to do. Great job Drew. This is an art. Keep practicing

-- Gary, Little River,SC I've Learned that the Lord didn't do it all in one day and neither can I

You did a great job explaining each step so clearly. I have no excuse now for not trying this.

I’m particularly impressed that you did such a good job with pretty basic tools.

-- Rich, Cedar Rapids, IA - I'm a woodworker. I don't create beauty, I reveal it.

OutPutter, It really wasnt a design change I didnt put much effort into planning the layout and this is how they just happened to turn out this time. Rich, give it a try I found it to fun and somewhat relaxing to just sit down and handcut dovetails. Thanks again.

-- Drew, Delaware

Great Job Drew! It just goes to show that it does not require fancy tools or jigs to make a well crafted piece. It is better to learn by doing things the old fashion way than it is to learn by relying on a jig or fixture that may not be available when you need it.

-- "if you can't set a good example, at least serve as a horrible warning"

nice technique, simple, and productive

-- ㊍ When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.