Your technique please.

[xy mosian]

For an up and coming project I need to be able to make lapped dovetails for drawers. I have never made a great number of these and as I cannot remember when I last made any I thought I should practise.
Practicing would also give me the opportunity of trying to overcome snags before the 'heat' of battle. Here is my first lapped dovetail joint.



Not too bad I think.
Right so:- My recently sharpened Spear & Jackson brass backed saw worked very well, no problem there. Holding the sliding bevel to mark the timber was fiddly, so I made a small dovetail template. While I was at it I added a 'square' template, always going to need that. The template is in Box and brazilian Rosewood (that has been in my scrap bin 30 years) and measures about 60mm overall. I really enjoyed making that.



The one area I think could cause problems, and the one I would like your advice on is marking out. I marked and cut the tails first, then I marked the pins from the tails. Now the problem area, I think, is going to be holding the tails in the correct position while scribing the pins. Do any of you have a favorite method of doing this? Do you have a method you think is foolproof?
I don't mind making the odd jig but I rather it was speedy in use.

xy

 

[Calpol]

I really fancy the #140 trick

Cuts a small rebate on the tailboard which allows you to butt the two together and mark away

 

[xy mosian]

Thanks Calpol, I'd thought of that. For some reason I have a number of rebate planes. Non as pretty as that one though. Perhaps I'll dig out the '78. I was rather hoping for something a little less refined but equally as effective.

xy

 

[OPJ]

I've been taught to make the length of the tails equal to 'two-thirds' the thickness of the pin board. So, in your case, they'd need to be slightly longer; 12mm leaving 6mm from an 18mm thick pin board, for example.

 

[xy mosian]

Thanks Olly, I'd not come across that one, I'll certainly bare it in mind.

xy

 

[MikeG.]

I sometimes clamp an offcut in place on the tail-board to help locate it against the other piece for marking-out purposes, but if you really want the full "how to do dovetails" instructions, here is a link to one I did a few months ago......


https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=32266&highlight=tutorial

Mike

 

[woodbloke]

I've been taught to make the length of the tails equal to 'two-thirds' the thickness of the pin board. So, in your case, they'd need to be slightly longer; 12mm leaving 6mm from an 18mm thick pin board, for example.

Olly's correct...I just line up the tails on top of the pin board, check everything's square and use a knife to do the marking. The tricky part is removing the waste - Rob

 

[OPJ]

It's also very important to mark directly from your pins. If you use your sliding bevel to set the angle on the tails and your pins weren't cut perfectly at 1:8 then, you're going to end up with gaps, unfortunately. :?

 

[Philly]

XY
I use a pair of cheapo corner clamps - keeps everything solid while I mark.

Hope this helps
Philly

 

[xy mosian]

Hi all,
Thanks for your advice, much appreciated.
At the moment I am cutting the tails, to scribed lines from my template, offering the tails up to the pin board and scribing lines from them.
My particular concern is the possibility of slippage between the two parts while doing this scribing.
The suggestions so far:-
Calpol, rebate the tail board
Mike, clamped offcut, I suppose forming temporary rebate.
Philly, a pair of corner clamps

I can see all of them working very well.
I suppose in the end, as in most woodworking, it comes down to personal preference and 'Whatever works for you'.

Thanks again,
xy

 

[xy mosian]

I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier. My excuse, who needs books when you have the internet?

However when I look at Haywards - Woodwork Joints(p.111) his advice is:-

'The piece to have the pins is fixed in the vice, the upper end being level with a jack plane (wooden of course, xy) rested on its side on the bench. The piece having the dovetails is positioned a shown, (bridging the plane body and the tailboard, xy), and it will be found that it can be firmly held in this position while the sockets are being marked out.'

Now that sounds like a plan, it is certain to take away some of the possible wiggle when scribing for the pins.

Oh Dear! does it mean I have to buy a wooden jack plane?

xy

 

[wizer]

Have you not seen the Cosman Video? That's exactly how he does it.

 

[xy mosian]

Wizer, thanks that's just the method I gleaned from Hayward. Cosman isn't using a wooden jack though :lol: Do I now have to buy a POSH plane?

Thanks again.

xy

 

[matthewwh]

Another handy hint for doing these is to saw the sides of the sockets as far as you can (45 degrees) then gently bang the corner of a cabinet scraper into the saw kerf to square up the bottom of the cut. The sawn kerf acts as a guide to keep the scraper on line and it makes chiselling out the waste a lot easier.

 

[xy mosian]

Thanks Matthew, that is a very useful tip, you've obviousley done a few of these.

xy

 

[woodbloke]

Another handy hint for doing these is to saw the sides of the sockets as far as you can (45 degrees) then gently bang the corner of a cabinet scraper into the saw kerf to square up the bottom of the cut. The sawn kerf acts as a guide to keep the scraper on line and it makes chiselling out the waste a lot easier.

...which is what I do as well Matthew, but not the cabinet scraper bit. Would that work on something hard like maple? - Rob

 

[xy mosian]

Perhaps another use for a piece of dissused hard point saw blade.
'Ultra fine chisel'

xy

 

[matthewwh]

Hi Rob,

I've not tried maple specifically but it works fine in oak, iroko, jarrah etc so I wouldn't think maple would present a problem. Even if you can only get part of the way down into the corner it still makes chopping the waste out much easier.

 

[ivan]

Bob Wearing always reccomended* knocking up a little jig to hold the boards like Philly's cheapo cramps or Crossman's plane. Two flat boards joined at 90 deg, like a corner of a drawer (chance to do another d/t) with a triangular brace at the back. Vice, quick action cramp, etc hold everything fast.

*
"Making Aids", and "Resourceful Woodworker" books, and 100's of Woodworker magazine articles.

 

[xy mosian]

Thanks Ivan, another useful tip to store. I think I'll try out the 'plane on side (dead plane) trick' to start with, but as I don't have any corner clamps your tip is next in line.

xy