Scratch Lines

[Tim Bridge]

When I look in the woodworking magazines or websites, I often see scratch lines on dovetail joints.
Is this desirable on the finished product with dovetail joints or should they be planed or sanded away?

[Prashun Patel]

Those scratch marks are sometimes from the knife used to mark and scribe the pins and tails. Some people like to leave them as evidence that they hand cut the dovetails.

[Javed Akhtar]

They can be planed or sanded away. I often leave them on, especially on drawers, as they're mostly hidden anyway. Traditionally they were left on (for whatever reason), and I think leaving them on reinforces the fact that they were cut by hand rather than by machine.

[roger wiegand]

Yes.

It's an affectation of some makers. Some people like it, some people think it helps clue the uninitiated that the piece is handmade. Many people sand, scrape, or plane the marks away. Or don't make them in the first place. It's really up to you, no "correct" answer. I used to leave them, now I don't.

[glenn bradley]

They feel forgotten or unfinished to me. I had used/left them in the past since I had seen others do it but, not anymore. Roger nailed it; there's no right answer. Do what you fell best reflects what you want to present.

[Marty Schlosser]

So, here's my spin on dovetailing. I takes out me trusty 'ol Leigh jig which has been in my shop for the past 20+ years, arrange da fingers to best fit, then rout 'em all up. Den... and here's da real kicker... just to tick off me handtool buddies, I takes me 'ol combination square, set it to the right depth so I can strike me a nice, very obvious line across da base of dem thar tails & pins ;). You've got to love it!

[lowell holmes]

I have a Leigh dovetail jig that has not been used in five years. I prefer hand cut dove tails. It's quicker cutting hand dovetails than dragging out the jig and setting up everything.

[Cody Colston]

I don't like the scribe mark. It gets planed away when fitting the drawer.

[Charles Lent]

I too have added the lines after cutting the dovetails with my Leigh D4R jig. I had already made the drawers when my customer talked to me on the phone saying he wanted "authentic hand cut dovetails". I wasn't about to make the drawers over, so I just added the lines. He was happy, and so was I. Please don't tell him.

Charley

[Prashun Patel]

I suspect that newbie hand cutters like myself are just so darn proud of themselves them leave them on to testify.

Once you get really good and easy at it, I can see how it can look unfinished.

[Andrew Hughes]

I try to use a light hand with the scribe.It really cut deeper than I need.
But I won't plane the whole side of a box just to remove the line that's just silly.
Plus sometimes the uncut defects start showing esp on soft woods.
Heres a Hard maple Box with part of the line left looks ok right?