Cutting Dovetails In 8/4 Stock

Dovetails can be cut by hand or by machine. Hand cut dovetails have the potential for a much greater ascetic quality because you can cut a much thinner neck on the pins than you can with a router dovetail jig and you can also vary the spacing with unlimited options.

A good quality dovetail saw works well for one inch stock or less but when it comes to thicker stock I find that the bandsaw is an excellent choice because it increases speed and accuracy. As always, stock preparation is critical. For this Egyptian inspired bench I’ve selected claro walnut and eastern maple that are both 2 inches thick in the rough. After jointing and planing the stock is netting one and three quarters of an inch thick. It is essential that the stock is flat and the edges are 90 degrees. Next up is the layout process which is very important. I like to use a cabinet maker’s scribe set to the same thickness as the stock to scribe a line on the ends of the boards. I add 1/32 of an inch to the setting, so that the joinery will protrude. This makes it easier to level the joints later. Scribing scores the fibers of the wood giving you a precise cut line. Some craftsmen prefer to cut the tails first and then the pins and others do just the opposite. I’m in the opposite camp, maybe because I’m left handed .Some people have commented that I do things backwards, and I say it’s all a matter of your perspective .It doesn’t really matter as long as the results are good. I begin by laying out half pins on the end grain at both ends of the board. I use an adjustable bevel gauge that I’ve set at a 12 degree angle which works well. I like to play with the pattern so that it isn’t so predictable which means I vary the spacing. In this case I placed one pin in the middle and one close to each half pin towards the ends of my 11 inch wide stock. My intention is to keep the neck of the pins narrow so I’m laying them out at 1/8 inch thick. Next take a square and draw the lines from the end grain down to the scribe lines and mark x’s where you will be removing the stock Don’t skip this step; it will help to avoid confusion later. Now set the table of your bandsaw to 12 degrees and cut one side of the pins, than set it to 12 degrees in the opposite tilt direction and cut the other side. Next set the table back to zero and flip the stock over so that the wide side of the pins are facing up and carefully make cuts to remove the waste in between them. This area is referred to as the sockets and I finish these off with sharp Japanese chisels. I prefer to clamp a guide block to the scribe line which insures a straight line. Once you have chiseled half way down, flip the stock and finish it off from the other side. With the pins complete I clamp a guide block to the scribe line of the tail stock and than clamp the pin stock standing up in place exactly in the relationship that I want .Now I can take a sharp knife and scribe the lines which later I will darken in with a pencil. Now it’s back to the bandsaw to cut out the tails with the table set at 90 degrees. Remember to use a sharp blade with 6 teeth per inch. The less set there is to the teeth the faster it will dull but the trade off is a smoother cut with less paring from the chisels. Speaking off chisels, after you have cleaned up the tails and you are testing the fit, try rubbing some pencil graphite onto the walls of the tail sockets. .As you test fit the pieces the graphite will rub off onto the pins showing the areas that need paring for that perfect fit.