Project 1: a 1:6 and 1:8 dovetail marker
| Part | Qty | Size | Material |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fence | 1 | 3/4 × 1 × 3 in | Hardwood, straight-grained |
| Plate | 1 | 1/4 × 2-1/2 × 3 in | Hardwood |
Tools: a square, a fine saw, a block plane or file, glue and a clamp.
Making the marker
Square the fence
Plane the fence straight and its ends square; its inside face is the reference that bears on the board's end.
Lay out the plate
Draw a line 1 in from one long edge — the part that will sit on the fence. At one end, mark a point 1/4 in in from the end on the far edge and draw from the end of the 1 in line to it: that is 1:6. At the other end do the same with 3/16 in: 1:8. Veritas makes its guides at 1:6 for softwood and 1:8 for hardwood.
Cut to the lines
Saw on the waste side and plane or file exactly to the lines, keeping the edges straight and square to the face.
Glue it up
Glue the plate's 1 in strip onto the fence, the plate's line exactly over the fence's inside face, and clamp. Check with a square that the plate's straight portion is square to the fence.
Label it
Mark 1:6 and 1:8 on the plate. To use it, hook the fence over the board's end and draw along the sloped edge on the face.
Project 2: a through-dovetailed box
| Part | Qty | Thickness | Width | Length | Material |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front and back (tail boards) | 2 | 1/2 in | 3-1/2 in | 9 in | Cherry, walnut or poplar |
| Ends (pin boards) | 2 | 1/2 in | 3-1/2 in | 6 in | Same |
| Bottom | 1 | 1/4 in | 5-7/16 in | 8-7/16 in | Plywood |
| Lid | 1 | 1/2 in | 6 in | 9 in | Same as the box; grain along the 9 in length |
Finished sizes. Woods from Veritas's list of good dovetailing woods. Cut the box parts to the outside dimensions; the joints stand slightly proud and are planed flush. Plan the boards with the cut list optimizer and work out the lumber with the board foot calculator.
- Tools: marking gauge, square, knife, the marker, a fine saw, bevel-edge chisels and a mallet, a plane, clamps; a router plane or plough plane for the grooves, or the table saw where its manual allows.
- Joints: two tails on each end of the front and back, at 1:8 for hardwood. Make the half-pins at least 5/8 in wide at their narrow face, on the outside of the box, so the bottom groove — 1/4 to 1/2 in up from the bottom edge — falls inside them. Veritas's minimum is 1/4 in; this design needs more.
- Difficulty: four corners of the joint in cutting dovetails by hand. Cut a practice corner in scrap first.
Building the box
Prepare and mark the stock
Mill all four sides flat, 1/2 in thick and square-ended; cut them to length. Mark the reference faces and which boards carry tails and which pins.
Cut the dovetails
Gauge the baselines to the mating board's thickness, lay out the tails with the marker, and cut tails, then pins, as in cutting dovetails by hand. Secure each board in the vise or with clamps so both hands are free, as OSHA's hand-tool guidance says.
Dry fit
Fit each corner, then assemble all four dry and check that the diagonals match.
Cut the bottom groove
Cut a 1/4 in wide, 1/4 in deep groove on the inside face of each part, its lower edge 1/4 in up from the bottom. Run it through on the front and back — its ends open into the half-pin sockets and are covered by the half-pins. Stop it 1/4 in short of each end on the end boards.
Fit the bottom
Cut the plywood to 8-7/16 × 5-7/16 in and try it in the dry-assembled box.
Glue up
Glue the dovetails only, with the bottom in its groove and no glue on it. Clamp, check the diagonals again, and wipe off squeeze-out — see clamps and corner clamps.
Flush the joints
When dry, plane or sand the proud pins and tails flush with the faces.
Make the lid
Mill the lid to 1/2 × 6 × 9 in with the grain along its length. Cut a 1/4 in deep rabbet on its underside all round, leaving a tongue 7-31/32 in long and 4-7/8 in wide to drop inside the 8 × 5 in opening. The lid is not fixed, so it can move freely.
Why the lid's tongue is 1/8 in narrower across the grain
change in width ≈ W × S₀ × ΔMC ÷ 30 ÷ 100
4-7/8 in × 7.1 × 6 ÷ 30 ÷ 100 ≈ 0.07 in
- W
- Width across the grain (in)
- S₀
- Tangential shrinkage from green to ovendry, from the Wood Handbook's Table 4–3 (black cherry 7.1, black walnut 7.8, yellow-poplar 8.2) (%)
- ΔMC
- Change in moisture content, here 6% to 12% (percentage points)
- 30
- The fibre saturation point, which the Handbook says to use when the species' value is not known (% MC)
The Handbook's Equation 4–9, applied over a 6–12% swing within the 5–12% it gives for wood indoors. For plainsawn cherry the tongue could grow about 0.07 in, so 1/8 in of total clearance across the grain — 1/16 in each side — covers it. Along the grain, where wood moves only about 0.1–0.2% even from green to ovendry, 1/32 in is enough. Quartersawn wood moves about half as much.
Finishing and next steps
Sand or scrape the outside, ease the edges, and finish it — see how to sand wood and wood finishes. If the box will hold food, read food-safe finishes first. For a box with no visible joint on the front, the next step is the half-blind dovetail in dovetail joints; for the lattice of Japanese joinery, the kumiko panel; and for when a dovetail is the right joint at all, choosing a wood joint.
Before cutting the box parts
- Stock flat, 1/2 in thick and square-ended
- Tail and pin boards marked
- Half-pins laid out at least 5/8 in at their narrow face
- Groove position checked against the half-pins
- A practice corner cut in scrap
- Bottom and lid sizes checked against the dry-assembled box
Sources
Both projects are BenchRoot designs; no downloadable plan exists and none is offered. The lid clearance is worked from the Wood Handbook's shrinkage equation for plainsawn cherry over a 6% to 12% moisture swing; other woods and other climates give other figures, so the method is shown.
- 1.
Dovetail Saw Guides — instructions (INS-622_B). Veritas Tools Inc. (Lee Valley), 2018.
Used for: The 1:6 (softwood), 1:8 (hardwood) and 14° slopes; boards 1/4 to 1 in thick; poplar, walnut and cherry as good dovetailing woods; half-pins of at least 1/4 in; baselines gauged to the mating board's thickness so the pins and tails stand slightly proud and are planed flush after gluing; the tails-first sequence.
- 2.
Chapter 4: Moisture Relations and Physical Properties of Wood. USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory — Wood Handbook, FPL-GTR-282, 2021.
Used for: Equation 4–9, shrinkage falling linearly with moisture content below fibre saturation (about 30% MC when not known); tangential values for plainsawn width; tangential shrinkage green to ovendry of 7.1% for black cherry, 7.8% for black walnut and 8.2% for yellow-poplar; longitudinal shrinkage of about 0.1–0.2%.
- 3.
Chapter 10: Wood Adhesives: Bond Formation and Performance. USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory — Wood Handbook, FPL-GTR-282, 2021.
Used for: Wood indoors at 5% to 12% moisture content.
- 4.
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 for the tool.
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