Comments

1. 
   Sharper802 | Jan 02, 2020 06:01pm | #1

   Mike,
   You are one of the few that points out the hardest part of cutting dovetails has nothing to do with sawing. It is aligning the boards to knife around the tails. It seems and sounds so simple but it is challenging to remain square and get the boards aligned so the pin is not too big or small.
   I'm curious if you have experimented with cutting a rabbet in the tails to register the tail board to the pin board, either with a skew block plane or machine?
   Shaun

2. 
   NormOlsen | Jan 03, 2020 11:11am | #2

   Okay. I have watched the first four fantastic videos. Mike is a great instructor and doesn't leave the viewer with many questions.

   The one question I have is - when is the next video?

   Norm

1. 
   BenStrano | Jan 03, 2020 11:32am | #3

   We release one episode (or group of episodes) every Tuesday.

3. 
   MPekovich | Jan 03, 2020 09:48pm | #4

   Hi Shaun, Yes, this technique is based on cutting a rabbet in the tails board to help with alignment. The rabbet works well but can present its own problems. Namely, it throws off the shoulder to shoulder dimension by thinning the stock at the joint. In some cases that’s not a problem, but in this particular project it is because it would require a different shoulder to shoulder length for the shelf and that throws of the efficiency of starting with like-sized parts. The shoulder guide performs the same task without altering the dimensions of the parts which is why I like it. Also, and I don’t think I mention it in the video, by shifting the guide forward or back from the scribe line, you can alter the fit of the joint. On soft woods like pine drawer sides, I can intentionally create a too-tight fit by positioning the guide slightly below the scribe line to accommodate compression. Cool stuff.

1. 
   BenStrano | Jan 06, 2020 10:29am | #7

   In your defense Mike, you mention that when dovetailing the drawers later in the series.

4. 
   ChipSawdust | Jan 05, 2020 10:55am | #5

   I’ve used that bandsaw technique for a long time but silly me, I just cut several fingers to make chiseling easier, without thinking I could actually cut more of the waste at the same time. D’oh!

   I’m still not sold on grabbing my router to finish things off but I’ll wait for Mike’s next video, maybe I’ll change my mind. I like my chisels and routers are loud and messy, but I also like perfect dovetails. I’m pretty sure Mike has made a lot more of them than I have. Thanks Mike, good book by the way :)

5. 
   NormOlsen | Jan 05, 2020 11:14pm | #6

   Thank you!

6. 
   Sharper802 | Jan 09, 2020 01:47am | #8

   Agree on the shoulder to shoulder length which for the cabinet would be an issue for your middle shelf.
   Thanks. Great video series!

7. 
   tedodds | Jan 11, 2020 08:35pm | #9

   There is such beauty in simplicity. As simple as Mike Pekovich's blue tape technique is, it gives beautiful results. I am making a china cabinet using the half-blind mitred dovetails featured on Chris Gochnaur's "contemporary sideboard." I had completed two of the four corners of the case before watching Mike's video featuring blue tape. His advice enabled me to solve the single biggest problem I was having with this complicated joint - namely, seeing the pin's lay lines. It made an enormous difference to my confidence while sawing and resulted in a much more precise fit, with significantly less paring prior to the joint coming together. Sending a big thank you to MP, CG, and the FW staff for making it possible for wannabes like me to learn how to build fine furniture.

8. 
   software_hardwood | Jan 21, 2020 11:46am | #10

   Hello, thanks for the great video! I am curious if there are any plans for this project available? I am curious about the width (depth?) - Meaning how far off the wall it will sit?

1. 
   BenStrano | Jan 21, 2020 12:33pm | #11

   The plans are available on this page: https://www.finewoodworking.com/videoworkshop/2019/12/hanging-wall-cabinet-with-mike-pekovich

9. 
   pyeman | Feb 05, 2020 04:32pm | #12

   Nice camera work. Closeups that show what is really going on.

10. 
    mokusakusensei | Apr 19, 2020 12:29pm | #13

    Is there a reason that you do not gang up the side boards to cut them? When hand cutting, we do that all of the time.

11. 
    TboneTim | Sep 12, 2020 01:54pm | #14

    Complementary to the blue tape "trick": make sure the ends of your boards are smooth before doing any kind of precision marking. A no-brainer in hindsight, but I spent years trying to get accurate pencil lines on rough ends. Now a pass with 220 sandpaper on a rigid hardwood scrap sanding block makes the layout easy and accurate.

    Lot of great teachers on FWW staff and contributors, and Mike is one of my favorites. Hope he keeps his teaching hat on as he moves up to editor.

12. 
    Muscleguy | Sep 12, 2020 04:07pm | #15

    I have two thinnish pieces of pine, dovetailed into a 90° reinforced with a corner piece of ply which when the down piece is in the vice the ply hits and registers with the side of the bench. To align the pieces I line up whichever edge makes sense with one edge of 90° and clamp the piece to it. If the edge is in line in one piece it's in line with the other.

    They are long enough to get things square by lining up the edges as well. As for seeing knife lines or knowing which is the waste. I use a thin propelling pencil to darken the line (2B lead) then hatch the non waste. I have no trouble knowing which side of the line to cut on or pare to.

    Set up takes very little time. I can lay my hands on the jig very easily.

    BTW blue tape looks to be what we on the other side of the pond call masking tape. Available in different levels of stickiness, you use the low tack stuff for newly painted walls for eg.

    I pencil in my knife lines pretty routinely. My pencil sits in a hole in the shelf just above the bench, behind the marking knives (scary sharp).

13. 
    tom8021 | Sep 12, 2020 04:16pm | #16

    to align the tails and pin, I use a pair of right angle clamps. It doesn't move and you can pick up the whole thing to look for any problems. Sure makes it easy!

14. 
    tbonetim | Nov 06, 2022 12:00pm | #17

    There are many techniques and tools for getting your dovetails crisp, clean and tight, and I've reviewed, studied, tried most of them. So many of them sound great until you actually try them out at your bench. I keep coming back to Mike's simple, cheap and effective alignment jigs. Yes you can use the popular technique of routing a shallow alignment rabbet in the tailboard to help with alignment but, in addition to the issues mentioned by Mike above, cutting said rabbet accurately is in itself a task requiring skill, time, and additional tools.

    I keep aspiring to develop the skill of accurately cutting on the correct side of the scribed layout line, but if I can't see that line clearly, I pull out the blue tape.

    Regardless of technique and tools, the most important element of creating front-cover-worthy dovetails is practice, practice, and 'mo practice.