Thread: FWW article on cutting half-blind dovetails - the hardcore Dark-Side way

Hmm; why didn't I think of cutting tails simultaneously on the table saw? That would have saved me lots of time. It would probably have been easy enough to cut four drawer sides at once. As it is I have finished the through dovetails for six drawers, and I am in the process of glueing them up. Tomorrow I will add false drawer fronts. Thanks for the tip, Apricotripper.

Rocker

Rocker - cutting the two sides of drawers simultaneously is a very old cabinetmakers' trick! You only need to mark out out one set of tails, saving time. You can probably only do two at once comfortably with a handsaw, but as I said earlier, in the vast majority of cases I rarely do more than one drawer of the same size for a given piece of furniture. It's actually easier than sawing single sides on thin stock, because the extra width helps keep the saw square.

But if you're doing lots of identical sides with the tablesaw, you could clamp a dozen together. A similar advantage applies as for hand sawing - instead of using the mitre gauge to run them through, use the greater length of "side" to register against the fence. If your tails are symmetrical, you can flip the ends after each pass and saw the matching cuts for the opposite slope.

Hmm, that's enough - if you learn too many more shortcuts, you might get to beat me on the first set, after all!!
Cheers,

That's the problem with the pins first method - you can only do one at a time. However, I find it easier to do it pins first because you can mark the shape of the pin on the face of the tail board which is easier to see than marking the end grain of the pin board, and then it's very easy to cut the tails on the bandsaw.

Originally Posted by silentC

That's the problem with the pins first method - you can only do one at a time. However, I find it easier to do it pins first because you can mark the shape of the pin on the face of the tail board which is easier to see than marking the end grain of the pin board, and then it's very easy to cut the tails on the bandsaw.

Eh Silent?? I'm a bit cold and slow this morning, but it seems to me you have to see the marks no matter which order you do it in!??

I'm not advocating either method as 'best' - I do tails first because that's the way we were taught, and after almost 50 yrs of doing it that way, I don't think I could change if I wanted to!

It's always hard to see fine lines on end grain, so when I mark the pins off the tails, I use a long, finely tapered, but not-too-sharp awl, which leaves a mark somewhere between .3 to .4 of a mm - much wider than a marking knife leaves, but about right for my chronologically-challenged looking-gear. I then cut right on the waste edge of the mark. This is the method advocated by said crusty old cabinetmaker mentioned previously. On a good day, they go together straight off the saw, with watertight joins. If the wood is inclined to be a bit splitty, like Northern Silky Oak, I pare a bee's whisker off each outer pin - nothing more upsetting than seeing the outer pin crack away as you thump the tails home!

Just one question for the pins-first set. How do you mark the tails accurately from the pins for small, half-lap d'tails? :confused:

Cheers,

Yes you need to see the marks but it seems easier to me to see the marks when they are on long grain. Doing tails last means you can lay the board down flat and feed it into the bandsaw and it's very easy to follow the line, rather than having to scribe your lines down the face of the pin board and follow them whilst also cutting at the appropriate angle. I use a felt tip pen because it's very easy to see and it doesn't matter how thick the line is because you remove it with the cut.

I would not advocate this method for half blinds. I always do them tails first.

Originally Posted by silentC

I would not advocate this method for half blinds. I always do them tails first.

That means you're ambidextrous!
As I said, it's mostly habit, but I do find marking tails off pins awkward - which I do on occasion when repairing an old piece (though it's mostly pins that get broken, of course).

As for sawing the tails, it's such second-nature now that I almost forget how I struggled to do it well when I started serious w'working. I used to stick each piece in the vice at an angle, so that the cut would be vertical, then change it for the opposite slope cuts. Now I just cut each side in turn, as advocated by Frid.

Like any procedure, the more you do it, the better you get. I suggest it's helpful to concentrate on keeping the ends square, that's the critical bit, and don't worry about the slope too much - minor variations won't be detected, and you will be marking the pins from them, anyway. The best 'trick' I learnt was sawing the tails for both sides at once. Most drawers I do have sides 15mm or less thick, so besides speeding the process, doubling them makes a much better sight-line to start the saw square. Once it's started square, you can shift your main attention to following the sloped line in front, and only need to check the back at the end to make sure the cut has reached the gauge line.

It helps an awful lot to have a really nice little well-balanced, well-sharpened d'tail saw, too. There'll be another two generations worth in mine after I'm done with it, but that won't be for a few more years yet, I hope!

I do find marking tails off pins awkward

I make that easier by clamping the other tailboard on top of the one I'm marking so that it sits flush with the baseline scribed on the board. This gives me a fence that I can rest the pinboard against while I transfer the shape of the pins. You do have to be careful not to let it move, which is just that little bit harder when you have the pin board vertical and waving about, and so I can see how tails first would be easier from that point of view.

Ambidextrous implies that I'm dextrous at all with either method, which is not the case!

Oi, Silent - I'm struggling with a timetable/course profile here! Stop distracting me with all this wood talk!