How to Lay Out and Cut Dovetails for a Box

A box is the perfect project to learn how to cut dovetails by hand.

By Strother Purdy Apr 06, 2021

This is the second of three articles on making a simple dovetailed box. The first article explained how to mill the cherry stock for the box. Here, we show how to lay out and cut the dovetails. In the next article you’ll learn how to assemble the box and add the hinges.

Planning and cutting dovetails

In the dovetailing courses I’ve taught, most students have found a sample set to pore over very useful. Of course, you need to make that first set to have it to study (it’s a chicken and egg thing).

My dovetailing strategies have become habit over the years, both good and bad. I’ll show you the whole process, though I admit taking shortcuts sometimes. It’s traditional to cut half pins, not half tails. I’ve also made one tail wider to accommodate the kerf of material lost when the box is sawn in two.

Cutting the tails

1. Set your marking gauge to the thickness of your boards. Scratch your baseline on both faces of each end of all four side pieces.

**Scribe a baseline on both faces** of each end of all four side pieces. Set the marking gauge to the thickness of the pieces.

2. Align the front, back, and sides as you want them in the finished box. Label the joints on the top edge (I use “A-B-C-D” for the four joints). I mark the outside faces with “Tails,” and on the sides I write “Pins,” to keep track of which way is out and which part of the joint goes on which board. Believe me, all this writing helps avoid disasters.

**Mark each joint with matching letters** or symbols to keep track of them as you work. Also write “pins” or “tails” on the outside of each piece to avoid confusion.

3. With a marking gauge scratch two parallel lines, 1/8 in. apart, along the faces of all four boards, 1-1/16 in. from the top edge. This marks the kerf where you will saw the box in two after assembly. It’s important to mark these lines before you lay out the dovetails because they show the boundary between the top and bottom of the box.

**Scribe a double line across the face** of each board to indicate where you’ll cut the top half from the bottom half after assembly.

4. On each end of the tail boards, mark lines 1/8 in. from each end. Then space the tops of the tails evenly, as shown in the drawing below. It’s important to space the tails around the kerf farther apart. When you cut the box apart, the resulting half-pins should look like a proper-size whole one.

5. Across the ends of both tail boards, use a square to draw the lines that describe the tails. Then set your T-bevel for the angles of the tails and mark the angles on the face of one board. The right angle for dovetails is simple to get. I’ve never found recommended degrees and such useful. I set my T-bevel off another set of dovetails in my shop or by eye. But if you don’t have a sample joint or layout jig and are uncomfortable doing it by eye, try the technique in “Paper Angles.”

Mark the tops of the tail boards with a square — **Mark the tops of the tail boards** with a square. Space them according to the drawing at left.

mark the angles for the tails on the faces — **With a bevel gauge, mark the angles** for the tails on the faces of the boards.

Paper Angles

Though they’re helpful, you don’t need a T-bevel, angle guide, or protractor to lay out good dovetail angles. You can make do with a piece of paper, a pencil, and a ruler.

Measure 1 in. from a corner along the short side of a sheet of paper and make a mark. Measure 6 in. from the same corner but along the long side. Draw a straight line between the two marks and cut along it. You’ve just made an adequate dovetail jig.

To use it, fold the remaining piece of paper at 90 degrees across its width, then drape it over your workpiece. Mark out your tails as necessary. It’s that easy.

6. With a fine-toothed saw, cut your marked lines down to the base line. The toughest part is sawing exactly to your line, so keep your eyes open and pay lots of attention to the way you hold the saw. Sawing two boards at once helps ensure accuracy.

**Saw the edges of the tails** with a fine-tooth saw, being very careful to stay on the line. Cut both boards at once for better accuracy.

7. Turn the boards sideways in the vise and cut off the waste at the ends.

Cut the waste off the ends of the tail boards — **Cut the waste off the ends** of the tail boards, just inside the baselines. Saw both boards at the same time.

8. In softer woods such as cherry, I chop out the waste between the tails. Your first cut should be well off the baseline, as the chisel will move toward it during the cut. If you start at the baseline, the chisel will dig in past the baseline. Chop from both sides and knock out the chips. A coping saw with a thin blade is another good tool to use for removing the waste between the tails, as is a bandsaw or scrollsaw.

9. For the tails on the other end of the front and back pieces, use the ones you just cut as a template.

Approximate dovetail spacing

Start with the two 1/8-in.-wide half pin lines at either end, then divide the remaining space evenly, taking into consideration the kerf you’ll lose later. As for errors, the less evenly spaced dovetails are, the more they say “handmade.” So give yourself a break if you’re not precise.

Cutting the pins

1. Unlike the tails, you lay out the pins individually using the matched set of tails as a template. This ensures that each joint fits perfectly. So place the “A” tail board over the end of the “A” pin board and trace the tails onto the ends of the pin board with a pencil.

Trace the outline of the tails onto the end of the pin board — **Trace the outline of the tails** onto the end of the pin board. Do this for each matching pair, being careful that the boards are oriented with their outside faces facing, well, outside.

2. With a square, mark straight lines on the face of the pin boards down to the baseline. This is a source of confusion for many woodworkers, because whereas you use a square on the ends of the tail boards, you use it on the faces of the pin boards. Checking with a complete set of dovetails will remind you which face and which end have straight lines on them.

mark the faces of the pins down to the baseline — **Using a square, mark the faces** of the pins down to the baseline.

3. Mark the waste between the pins. This is a key orienting technique. Without those marks it can be very easy to cut out the wrong parts, or simply on the wrong side of your line.

**Mark the waste on the pin boards** so you don’t get confused when sawing.

4. Saw just inside of the lines you marked (on the waste side). It’s best to leave the pins large. Don’t saw directly on your guidelines.

**Saw just to the side of your pencil line,** leaving both the line and a little bit of wood. This ensures your pins won’t be too loose.

5. Use a wide chisel to chop out the waste so the base line is straight. Of course, you can saw out the waste, too.

**Chop the waste between the pins.** You can use a smaller chisel for most of the work (they cut deeper faster). But use a wide chisel when you cut to the baseline for straight results.

6. Pare clean the surfaces you’ve just chopped with a chisel. If you leave them rough, they’ll prevent the joint from coming together fully. Never cut shallower than the baseline at the edges, but inside where you don’t see it’s fine to undercut a bit. F

**Pare flat the base of the pins.** Any stray bits will keep the joint from coming together completely.

Fitting

1. Do not reach for the hammer. Test fit the joint with hand pressure only (and using the palm of your hand like a hammer will hurt). If the joint doesn’t start to go together by hand with some effort, then it’s too tight. If the joint goes together the first time perfectly, call the local newspaper, as you’ve just performed a miracle.

2. Feel for where the fit is too tight. Pare down the faces of the offending pins.

**If a pin is too wide or angled,** pare the surface with a chisel. Keep an eye on your layout lines and try to cut straight down.

3. If the joint is almost together and you need just a slightly bigger push than your hands can muster, it’s OK to reach for a hammer. But don’t tell anyone. If the tail board splits, I warned you. C