Dovetail

Wood Joints: Which Woodworking Joints Should You Use?

April 10, 2017 By Editor & filed under Blog, Joinery, Skill Building.

There are various woodworking joints in use. Some are stronger than others are. Let’s discuss the more popular joints, so you know which to use for your projects.

Porter Cable Omnijig Review

July 10, 2013 By Paul Mayer & filed under Buying Advice, Product Review.

Although I normally cut dovetails with a Japanese saw and a set of quality chisels, I talk to a lot of woodworkers and I realize that the tedium of chopping dovetails by hand is not for everyone, particular those who have a large volume to cut with a deadline to meet. So I wanted to…

Use a Machinists Vise for Cutting Dovetails

February 22, 2011 By David Munkittrick & filed under Shop Tips, Skill Building.

I love my machinist vise for cutting dovetails in drawer parts. To keep from marring the stock, I replace the iron jaw inserts with wood ones. The beauty of a machinist vise over my bench vise is that it holds the drawer parts up high at elbow level; the perfect position for accurate sawing. Related…

Making Sliding Dovetails

January 11, 2011 By George Vondriska & filed under Joinery, Skill Building.

Looking for a rock solid way to join drawers that doesn’t require a dovetail jig? If you’ve got a router table, you can easily make a sliding dovetail and get many of the strength advantages a half-blind or through dovetail would provide. You’ll only be able to use sliding dovetails for drawers on which the…

Routed Half-Blind Dovetail Drawers: Part 2

December 27, 2010 By Bruce Kieffer & filed under Cabinet Making, Furniture Making, Skill Building.

In part one of this article I showed you how a half-blind router dovetail jig works, and how to size your drawer parts for routing in the jig. In this final installment, I will explain using the jig to rout the joints, and then how to assemble the drawers. Boards must be correctly oriented and…

Routed Half-Blind Dovetail Drawers: Part 1

November 30, 2010 By Bruce Kieffer & filed under Furniture Making, Skill Building.

This is a two-part story. The focus is on drawers with mechanical slides. In this installment I will explain how a half-blind dovetail router jig works, calculating drawer parts sizes, and where to locate drawer bottoms for drawers with side-mount slides or undermount slides. Part two will be about using a dovetail router jig, and…

Veritas 14-tpi Dovetail Saw

October 20, 2009 By Bruce Kieffer & filed under Buying Advice, Product Review.

I must be honest; I don’t hand cut dovetails, but I do use a dovetail saw to make fine, straight, and very accurate cuts on other types of woodworking joints. For those cuts, nothing but a quality dovetail saw will suffice. And as long as I’m being honest, I’ll admit one more thing; this saw…