Hello
After some time I feel confident trying to make my first dovetails and I bought myself a small dovetail jig but I am not sure how to use it? I guess I still have to calculate the distances so the dovetails look good (with a caliper) and use this jig to lay out the right angles of the dovetails. But I am not sure how to do this, is there any tutorial or help on this?
Thanks.
Replies
Yeah, that's a marketing tool, not a woodworking tool. All of those graduations are confusing and unnecessary. The baselines for dovetails should be laid out with a marking gauge prior to using the dovetail marker.
I use tape for layout pre-visualization:
https://www.tailspintools.com/how-to-layout-a-dovetail-box/
Thanks. Since I cut everything with handtools I will use caliper to measure and this little jig to mark the dovetails.
For laying out dovetails, there are always 2 sides. One is the slope of the tail -- 1:5, 1:6, 1:8, 14 degrees, etc -- and the other side is 90 degrees. The 90 degree side and the sloped side always meet at the corner.
With the above jig, you can't lay them out at the same time. They don't meet. There are a great many properly made dovetailmarkers out there. Take a look at just one example, and you can see how the 90 degree side and the sloped side meet at the corner: https://lostartpress.com/products/crucible-dovetail-template
The dovetail marker with all the graduations shown above is worthless to me. I wouldn't touch it.
I agree with JC2 entirely, with the addition that for many, and especially for beginners there are 3 sides. Marking out the "back" of the board gives you feedback on how straight your saw work is and helps with final paring.
As a right-handed saw user I am more comfortable tilting my saw to my right (I can see the line) than to my left (the line is hidden by the saw). Marking the back lets you turn the work around to cut from either side.
Without going into infomercial mode, these tools help with the marking, and offer the benefit / option of bypassing the transfer, also great for beginners.
https://www.tailspintools.com/
Full disclosure: My invention, my tools, my patent, my company.
Those are properly designed.
With all due respect to the makers of good dovetail markers, why not make one yourself? The actual angle is not that crucial -- use a scale, line out a vertical and horizontal that equal 1:6 or 1:7 or 1:8 or whatever you want, and then cut it however. A power saw will at least give you a clean cut, but by hand if you want. Attach it to a vertical for the 90 deg part and your done.
There are magnetic ones that help guide your saw; you can make that too, but at least you get some added value there if that works for you.
I am a little confused about the layout tool pictured. the angles on the tool are great for laying out your dovetail angels. the graduations are something that i would never use. you use a small square for the vertical lines for which you saw along and watch where you are cutting. the distance between the tails is up to you, there is no set distance. ???