Before you start
Veritas suggests practising on scraps of a harder, even-grained wood — it names poplar, walnut and cherry — rather than very soft wood, whose fibres compress more, and keeping the number of tails small at first, since each one is another chance for the joint to bind. Size tails and spaces to a chisel you own so the waste is easy to clear. The boards must be flat, of even thickness and square on the ends; everything after depends on it. The types of dovetail and the slope ratios are in dovetail joints, and when a dovetail is the right joint in choosing a wood joint.
| Tool | Job | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Fine saw that tracks straight | Sawing tails and pins | Backsaws, Japanese saws |
| Marking gauge | Striking the baseline | Marking gauges |
| Sliding bevel or dovetail marker | Laying out the slope | Dovetail marker project |
| Square and marking knife | Squaring across the end; transferring tails to pins | Squares, measuring and marking |
| Bevel-edge chisels and a mallet | Chopping and paring the waste | Chisels, using a chisel |
| Vise or clamps | Holding the board so both hands are free | Clamps |
The list is Veritas's, less its own saw guides. OSHA's guidance for hand tools is to secure the work so both hands are free for the tool.
Cut the tails
The tail board
Gauge the baseline
Pinch the tail board between the gauge's cutter and fence to set it to the board's thickness, then strike the line around all four surfaces of the tail board and across both faces of the pin board. Veritas works with boards of one thickness; with different thicknesses, gauge each from its mate.
Lay out the tails
Set the bevel to your slope and mark the tails on the face with a pencil, leaving at least 1/4 in at each edge for the half-pins so the board does not split in assembly. Square the lines across the end and mark every waste area with an X.
Saw on the waste side
Start with light strokes, then use the full length of the blade, keeping the kerf on the waste side of each line and the saw level as it reaches the baseline. Let the saw do the work.
Remove the end waste
Saw off the half-pin waste at each edge with a square cut down to the baseline, without cutting into the tails.
Chop the waste
With the board flat on the bench, pare the waste in small bites, starting about 1/16 in ahead of the baseline — never on it, or the chisel nicks the edge. Then set the chisel in the gauge line and angle it so the middle is lower than the edges, work to half the thickness, turn the board over and finish from the other face.
Mark and cut the pins
The pin board
Set up the transfer
Clamp the pin board upright in the vise, outer face toward you, and prop the tail board level on a scrap or a plane on its side so it lies flat across the pin board's end with its edges aligned.
Knife the tails
Hold the tail board still and trace the tails onto the end with a knife, in several light cuts. Mark the waste immediately: sawing on the wrong side of a pin line gives a loose joint.
Saw the pins
Saw down to the baseline on the waste side of every line, keeping the saw level at the bottom of the cut.
Chop the waste
Pare the sockets the same way as the tails, from both faces, taking care not to bruise the angled faces of the pins.
Fit and glue
Clean every socket so its corners are crisp and its base slightly undercut, then try the joint. Veritas says it should go together with very little effort; the pins and tails stand slightly proud of the faces, which is intended. If it binds, pare a little from the faces that rub and try again rather than forcing it: Veritas leaves at least 1/4 in for each half-pin precisely so the boards do not split as they are knocked together. To glue, Veritas spreads PVA in the pin sockets, slides the tail board home and, if it needs persuading, taps it with a hammer on a scrap block, never on the work. Once the glue is dry, plane or sand the proud ends flush. Fitting, test assembly and clamping for every joint are in wood joint techniques; a project to use the joint on is the dovetailed box.
Fitting a dovetail
- Every saw cut on the waste side, down to the baseline
- Sockets clean, corners crisp, bases lightly undercut
- A dry fit that goes together with very little effort
- Binding spots pared, not forced
- Glue in the pin sockets; a scrap block under any hammer
- Proud ends planed or sanded flush once dry
Sources
The steps follow Veritas's instructions for its dovetail saw guides; the method itself does not need the guides, which Veritas sells to help keep the saw on its angle. Veritas notes that there are as many ways of cutting dovetails as there are practitioners; cutting the pins first is the usual alternative, and this page follows the tails-first method.
- 1.
Dovetail Saw Guides — instructions (INS-622_B). Veritas Tools Inc. (Lee Valley), 2018.
Used for: The tails-first method: boards dressed flat, to thickness and with square ends; the socket depth taken by pinching the tail board between a marking gauge's cutter and fence; baselines struck on all four surfaces of the tail board and both faces of the pin board; a bevel set from the guide; half-pins of at least 1/4 in; tails sized to a chisel; lines squared across the end and waste marked with an X; sawing on the waste side to the baseline, keeping the saw level; end waste removed with a square cut; waste pared from about 1/16 in ahead of the line, then from the line, angled so the middle is lower, to half the thickness and then from the other face; the tails knifed onto the pin board with several light cuts and the waste marked at once; pins sawn and pared the same way; sockets cleaned and lightly undercut; a fit with very little effort; PVA glue on the pin sockets, a scrap block under any hammer blows, and the proud ends planed or sanded flush; harder woods such as poplar, walnut or cherry easier to learn on than very soft wood; few tails at first.
- 2.
Hand and Power Tools (OSHA 3080). Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 2002.
Used for: Securing work with clamps or a vise so both hands are free to operate the tool.
About this guide
Written by BenchRoot Editorial. How BenchRoot sources, checks and corrects its pages is set out in the Editorial Policy. If something here is wrong or unclear, the contact page explains how to tell us.