# David Barron Tools Dovetail Guide



## affyx

good looking dovetails! I too find the LV jig clunk. David Barron's videos are great I wish he'd post more


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## hokieman

Here's a link to an article on how to make your own. I made several without the magnet. Works OK but for me, I actually seem to do better on my own and doing tails first. Yeah, the ole tails or pins first argument.
http://www.woodworkersinstitute.com/page.asp?p=1458

Hope the link works.


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## yellowtruck75

I was looking on his website and didn't see any place that you can order one of the guides. Is it possible to order one from the States?


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## rdwile

Because of shipping variations and I think the size of his operation, you can email him and he will confirm the total via email. Pretty sure Paypal is how I paid.


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## abie

Lee Valley has a similar device
I am not associated with them.
Bruce


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## thedude50

i ALWAYS CUT TAILS FIRST IT IS HOW i WAS TAUGHT SO IT MUST BE RIGHT ACTUALLY THERE ARE LOTS OF REASONS TAILS FIRST WORKS BEST BUT YOU CAN ASK ROY


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## iminmyshop

Nice looking dovetails. Is there some way to use this in the making of half blind dovetails?


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## Ollie

I have seen David demonstrating these at a show. The beauty of the it is in its simplicity. No clamping and you can place the saw on the line and slide the guide up to it. Much quicker than the Veritas clamping one.

He also makes a dovetail alignment board which makes it easier to transfer the lines from tails to pins (or vice versa if you are so inclined) . This was shown in an issue of Furniture and Cabinetmaker with instructions on how to build one.

Also I purchased a small ebony palm smoothing plane from David which is a beautiful tool to use and look at. He does a very nice range of wooden planes with lignum vitae soles.

Ollie


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## rdwile

iminmyshop,

You can only use this guide for the side pieces in half blind dovetails. You can use it to make some starting cuts on the blind tail side, but does not help much. I just use it for the tails and do the rest freehand.

Hi Ollie,

As I mentioned in the review, the Veritas dovetail guide is a challenge to use, getting it positioned for a cut takes some work. This guide is very slick to use. I made some drawers (draws to you) today, and all you need is a small mark on the side piece, drop the guide in place and start cutting, could not be much easier.

I also have one of David's small smoothing planes and it is always on my bench.

I have to make one of those alignment boards since David won't ship the one he makes, it can really help with ensuring the pieces are at 90 degrees when doing layout which is a challenge with long narrow pieces like drawer bits.

Rich


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## lj61673

Looks like a nice guide. I checked out his videos, very meticulous…and great results.


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## davebkenn

It sounds like this jig does whats it designed to do. I guess i'm in the minority, but I'm against using jigs for dovetails. Learning to saw to a line and fine tune a joint with a chisel, when necessary, are good woodworking skills to acquire. Those skills are transferable to other areas of woodworking. The dovetail is just the by-product in this example. I see the jigs more as "training wheels" that allow lesser skilled woodworkers to produce a nice joint. If that's the goal, then this jig is probably a good investment. I would rather take the time to learn the necessary skills. If you fail to develop essential woodworking skills, it will show up in other areas of you work. If i were to ask a craftsman to show me how to cut dovetails and he pulled out jig, I would be very disappointed.


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## Putttn

When you're 73 years old and eyesight and steadiness are not what they used to be having this device really helps in dialing in perfect cuts. Sometimes our skills we took so granted have a way of wandering off and leaving us to wonder where they went!!!


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