# Do You Dry-Fit Hand-Cut Dovetail Joints Before Glue-up?



## lumbermeister (Dec 24, 2012)

My first dovetail project - hand cut. I'm tempted to not do a complete dry fit (only partially insert tails to pins to assure against major flaws), as I am afraid of compressing the fibers and compromising final fit and, also, potential breakage when separating the pin and tail boards.

What is your experience/advice? Anyone go straight to glue-up without dry fit? Thanks.


----------



## woodchuckerNJ (Dec 4, 2013)

I always dry fit. But to take it apart, I hit it with a mallet , with a piece of scrap covering the wood so as not to dent it.
When you hammer it out straight, you don't compress the fibers. If you wiggle it you do.

Hand cut or machine cut?


----------



## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

Well I machine cut mine, so your experience may vary, however I always dry fit dovetails. The trick is to cut them with an easy friction fit so they aren't damaged during the dry fitting process.


----------



## dawsonbob (Aug 5, 2013)

I can't imagine not dry fitting. When you have the glue on is not the time to find out that it won't fit together.


----------



## Airframer (Jan 19, 2013)

If you find the fibers have compressed slightly after dry fit you can always lightly tap the pins/tails what have you with the ball end of a ball peen hammer and it will spread them back out and fill any gaps that may be present.

That said I always dry fit as well… like has been said.. you don't want to have an oh shi%$ moment AFTER glue is applied.


----------



## Loren (May 30, 2008)

I've not had a problem dry fitting dovetails except it's important
to take them apart carefully.

After glue up, the corner can be burnished with a screwdriver
shank to mash down little gaps.


----------



## davegutz (Oct 16, 2012)

Often I find with dry fit that I had not cleaned the bottoms of the pins perfectly square and when assembled they will not seat properly leaving a gap that looks terrible. I make sure I always dry fit. Whatever compression there is inside the joint gets filled, perhaps even better, with glue.


----------



## WoodAndShop (Apr 8, 2014)

Dry fitting is essential. If you're afraid that it'll compress fibers, then your joints are too tight. If it's too tight, then you need to trim. Last year I took a 5 day class with Roy Underhill & Bill Anderson, and I just got around to making a video series of what I learned about cutting dovetails by hand. Here's the link to video 1/15. Let me know if this helps!


----------



## lumbermeister (Dec 24, 2012)

Thanks everyone for your input. Its not often that I see complete unanimity here on Lumberjocks, but its very clear that, on this item, the smart money is doing a dry fit. With that, (and my curiosity re. my dovetails - too impatient to wait until glue-up to see how they fit) - I dry-fitted my work. Glad I did, and I am satisfied with it. I believe it is ready for glue.

Appreciate all your feedback.


----------

