As the COVID-19 virus runs its course and most of us are spending an abundance of time at home, it’s a great opportunity for folks to get into the shop and hone some essential woodworking skills. Practicing your dovetails will take your mind off of the news, and it’s a great way to use up some scraps.

To help you along I’ve scoured our archives to put together a collection of a few of my favorite articles and videos on the dovetail joint. It’s essentially a curriculum of dovetailing techniques. I focused on hand-cut methods, not only because handwork is traditional but also because it’s the most meditative. I figure that quiet concentration is a good thing these days.

Most of the instruction is geared toward cutting tails first, but check out Matt Wajda’s pins-first videos for a different taste (let the debate begin!).

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	The Five-Minute Dovetail With Gary Rogowski Practice hand-cut dovetails without the pressure in this easy exercise to strengthen your hand-tool skills
	Laying Out Dovetails By Chris Gochnour Key steps in laying out the basic through-dovetail joint
	Don’t Fear the Hand-Cut Dovetail (Part 1) By Christian Becksvoort For the first time, a modern master reveals every step of his system
	How to Cut and Fit Perfect Dovetail Pins by Hand (Part 2) By Christian Becksvoort Scribe the tails accurately and the rest is simple handwork
	Half-Blind Dovetails Cut by Hand By Christian Becksvoort The craftsman’s calling card
	Hand-cut dovetails part 1 – Pins First With Matt Wajda In this video Matt methodically takes you through the pins first approach to dovetails that the North Bennet Street School is known for. Matt demonstrates proper sawing technique and how to efficiently and effectively chisel out the waste.
	Hand-cut Dovetails part 2 – Tails Second With Matt Wajda In this video Matt tackles the tails, starting with one of the most important aspects of dovetailing, the transfer.

 

Fine Woodworking Recommended Products

Bahco 6-Inch Card Scraper

The size and thickness are what matter here. A consistent performer, this Bahco scraper is found in many shops we visit.

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Olfa Knife

Comfortable plastic handle with a break off blade. A tool for breaking off the blade is built into the handy pocket clip.

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Suizan Japanese Pull Saw

A versatile saw that can be used for anything from kumiko to dovetails. Mike Pekovich recommends them as a woodworker's first handsaw.

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