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30K views 85 replies 27 participants last post by  timjr 
#1 ·
four corners and planed in 10 minutes (1 of 4)

Hi Everyone,

Well, I promised that I would do this. Here is a video I did at the castle last night. The woods are mahogany and poplar. I believe that this is a realistic way to make dovetails for a quick box or drawer. I always take a bit more time and care on finer projects.

Hope you enjoy!

 
#5 ·
Nice, I have to try this one day to see how I do. I'm sure I wont get the same results.

Question, I see you like to cut your tails first, do you ever cut two tail boards at the same time, clamped together?

Thanks for posting!
 
#6 ·
Thanks, everyone.

Really enjoyed this.I do cut my tails first and I never gang them up because, though marginally faster, they never quite seem to seat right somehow.I have method that guarantees all the dovetails can be inter-fitted to any of the tail recesses though. If I have to make twenty drawers I can use this system and cut the dovetails in short order with perfectly pristine results every time.
 
#9 ·
Yep, amaziingly quick, and the way you keep track of the parts is slick (I'd have to mark everything with "top, out, left, right", etc). But I'd still like to see a closeup of those joints. I can't help but see tearout, not-quite-straight coping saw cuts and other schmutz in there. If they look good enough for kitchen drawers, I will cheerfully admit it. In any case, they fit better than mine, no matter how long I take.
 
#10 ·
You can see the box on my blog at www.paulsellers.com .Please remember that this is presented as a rough cut and not suited for a museum piece. If I make a tool tote or a beehive then its suited to the task and economical in time. I made pieces for the White House three years ago and I would never have made the dovetails this way. I am simply showing practical applications that beat machines hands down in terms of following the Real Woodworking Campaign. I have three others I will be posting as I have time. The most perfected will be last. here is an example of a hounds tooth dovetail but I'm not certain I can get it in the 10 min max on YouTube yet
Brown Wood Flooring Floor Wood stain
 

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#12 ·
That's what I want for you and everyone. Not perfected pristine dovetails but well-fitting ones. Climb over the excuses and the opinions and the assumptions and the expectations of others and say to yourself "Let me at it!"
 
#14 ·
Thanks for this video. I enjoy making practical items, so this gave me a few shortcuts I had not thought of before.

A few questions. Can I see a shot of your vise from the other side? do you know of a good maker of coping saw these days? I understand if you don't want to endorse anyone on the second question.
 
#15 ·
Okay, I've looked at the enlarged picture on your blog, and it's pretty good. There's a little gap at the center pin on the near corner, and at the left corner, where the contrast between the box and the background is high, you can see that they seat just a little shallow, but for an 8-minute utility grade piece, it looks better than utility grade.
 
#16 ·
Most of us do worse with using marking guage, bevel guage, and square.

I cant wait to try this for a little tool box, I need one for my brace auger bits. I just dont know if I can get my coping saw to do that, I will probably use a marking guage for the base line until I figure it out.
 
#17 ·
Will post pics of the finished box shortly. So you can all pick more holes in my 8 minute dovetails and the close ups will be very close up.
Of course, as I said somewhere earlier, my goal was to challenge the status quo, which I did and did it successfully. It's not the definitive way and I use this method for beehives, rougher tool boxes for outdoors and so on. I posted a picture above of the work I do normally. Funny that now one commented on that.

best for now
 
#18 ·
Will post pictures of my vise later. Eclipse, an English maker, has always made the best coping saws and they take the USA made blades just the same. They are still made but you may need t get one online. They are worth getting because of the truly sprung steel frame. Lots of strength and memory in the steel.
 
#19 ·
Paul, in watching the video, the dovetails will not be perfect BUT as you point out, they are fast. When I do my dovetails, I take a lot longer marking them and usually chisel the waste out instead of the coping saw.

For production work for non mass produced furniture, hand dovetails are a viable method.
 
#23 ·
I guarantee if we took a survey of fellow members we would find that 98% of them have never mass manufactured a dovetail for any mass-manufacturing situation and that's my point. Professionals are machinist only in general these days. It's impractical to compete with the big boys by hand, but my customers would no more shop in IKEA or Walmart than fly to the moon. I don't mind that. In fact I quite like the fact that neither of these giants can compete with me!
 
#25 ·
Here is the picture of my vise. It's an old Woden; not made any more. Quick release with a jaw like a pit bull. Opens to 13" in one pull and closes the same speed of lightening. I have an old Record too, before Record sold out to India. That's in the US. Best vises of all are these two 80-year old vises.
 
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