Hand Cut Dovetail Marathon

[Jeff Wright]

I am nearing the completion of our kitchen. I have the drawers and doors left to make as well as a cherry counter top for the peninsula. Ever since taking a dovetail class from Rob Cosman I have wanted to perfect my skills of making hand cut dovetails with some measure of speed. I decided to use the kitchen drawers (all 13 of them plus the sliding upper tray for silverware) as an opportunity to do just that. With two drawers and the silverware tray completed, I am beginning to realize vast improvements in my technique. I have modified some of Rob's excellent teaching to suit my own style. What's most exciting is having the confidence that each pin will consistently and predictably slide firmly into their tail slots . . . not too tight and not too loose. While I have made dovetail joints using my Leigh D4 jig and my Incra system, doing the dovetails by hand allows me to design the pins as narrow as I like. Plus, I am sure that after another four drawers or so I will be able to make the dovetail joints as fast as using the machines. The photo below shows the flatware drawer with the upper sliding tray partly completed. 13 drawers plus the flatware tray represents 112 ends of boards requiring tails or pins. I better get back to work!!

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[gary Zimmel]

Got to love a hand cut drawer... Nice joints Jeff.

[Eiji Fuller]

I love everything about a hand cut dovetail joint except for the scribe lines going across the entire board. It always made them look unrefined. IMO

[Jeff Wright]

I love everything about a hand cut dovetail joint except for the scribe lines going across the entire board. It always made them look unrefined. IMO

Still being the novice, I like to leave the scribe marks to help verify that the dovetails are hand cut versus machine made. However, I've found that a few passes with a well-honed smoothing plane will make them disappear.

Gary, thanks for the compliments!

[Mark Baldwin III]

I love everything about a hand cut dovetail joint except for the scribe lines going across the entire board. It always made them look unrefined. IMO

As a total novice...I've cut maybe 4 sets of dovetails in scrap wood. I like Jim Kingshott's method for laying out. He scribes the line all the way across on the inside. Then, after drawing the lines over the board, he uses the marking gauge to only mark inside the waste. It's the method I'm trying to learn, I like the clean look.

[frank shic]

attaboy jeff! post a pic of the stack when you're finished, ok?

[Neil Brooks]

I haven't left the warm comfort of my DT jig ... yet.

So ... my hat's off to those who do, and do it well.

Like you.

Nice job. Please DO let us see the heap, when they're all finished !

And ... as a former Fort Myers boy ... do you give much thought to seasonal expansion, down there, or ... just ... acclimate to ambient humidity conditions, and start cutting ?

[Jeff Wright]

Will do Frank.

Neil, I acclimate the wood to my garage/shop which is air conditioned and heated. So far in four years of building stuff I've had no wood movement problems (or rust for that matter even though I live on the water).

The drawers will be mounted on Blumotion slides. Love those slides (all but their price!). I may line the flatware drawer with cork to eliminate the banging sound of the silverware being put away. The drawers get two coats of dewaxed shellac and three coats of lacquer. Gives them a nice look and feel and hopefully durability. Drawers will get applied fronts.

[Jeff Wright]

attaboy jeff! post a pic of the stack when you're finished, ok?

Frank, by "stack" I assume you meant when the flatware drawer with its upper tray and lower space was completed. Here are some pics:

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Notice I covered the bottoms with cork to reduce the sound of clanging contents. I dovetailed the upper tray as well as the drawer box itself. The drawer pull you see is temporary until I affix the applied drawer front.