hello, i am called john bullari am going to show you how to cut dovetail joints this is the wood from which i will make the tails - i check that it is square and from this i make the pins that go between the tails. for marking i use a marking gauge, fine knife and a pencil take the marking gauge, then set it to the thickness of the pins
old woodworking measuring tools, and use that setting to mark the shoulder lines for both sides of the tails. now clamp it in the vice so you can just see the shoulder line then mark with a pencil the positions of the sockets between the tails
take a dovetail saw and position it on the pencil mark tilt it over slightly and start to cut ... saw the one side of every tail first, and keep the saw tilted to the same angle each time then tilt the saw the other way to saw the opposite side of every tail. the best angle for hardwood dovetails is about 1:8 but if it looks right you dont need to measure it i have sawn the sides of six dovetails in hardwood
take the wood out of the vice and use a chisel to chop out the sockets betwwn the tails hold the chisel vertical so the base of the socket is square. align the chisel sideways so you can check it stays vertical turn the wood over to chop from the other side there we have it - a set of six hardwood dovetails at this stage, the shape and size of the tails doesnt matter much, but the pins that go between them have to be an exact fit now take the tails and adjust the marking gage
to the exact depth of them to make a shoulder line for the pins now i clamp the wood for the pins in the vice and place the tails on top take a fine-tipped knife use the tails as a template to mark the size and position of each pin and again take the dovetail saw this time with the blade vertical
keep the saw blade vertical turn it the other way to cut the other sides of the pins that is the sides cut off the pins now i am going to use the coping saw to cut out the sockets between the pins this is the last one - socket number four now i turn the pins on their sides and use the dovetail saw to cut their shoulders
making a socket to take dovetail number five we are nearly there now the coping saw does not get quite to the bottom of the sockets so i am using a chisel to pare them down all we have to do now is knock the pins between the dovetails they should be tight, but not too tight thank you for watching this video about dovetailing i am called john bullar. there is a lot more about furniture making
in my book 'cabinetmaking - a foundation course' published in usa as 'furniture making - a foundation course'�
