Drawer Making Webinar Q&A

by Bill Anderson, Edwards Mountain Woodworks

What are Some Resources on For Joinery and Drawer Making?

Books

Wood Joints, Charles Hayward. The premier source for handcut joinery of all types and is as close to a bible as you can come to in woodworking! Search on Amazon or Ebay for Charles Hayward and wood joints, for the paperback version for about $10 used. Do not pay $500 for one of his books!

Dictionary of Woodworking Tools. R.A. Salaman (1975). Taunton Press Inc., Newton, CT. 06470. ISBN 0-942391-51-9. An excellent source for pictures and definitions of tools from 1700 to the present.

Moser, T. Measured Shop Drawings for American Furniture (Sterling Publishing Co., 1985).

Ralph Laughton. Success with Joints (Guild of Master Craftsman Publications, Ltd., Castle Place, 166 High St., Lewes, East Sussex BN71XU, 2005).

Sam Allen. Wood Joiner’s Handbook (Sterling Publishing Co, 387 Park Ave South, New York, NY 10016, 1990).

Ian J. Kirby with John Kelsey. Making Joints. (Rodale Press, Inc, 33 East Minor St., Emmaus, PA, 1996).

William Fairham. Woodwork Joints. (Toolemera Press, Dedham, MA 02026, 2010). Originally published in 1920.

Spons on Carpentry & Joinery. (Popular Woodworking Books, Publishers, Cincinnati, OH). Originally published in 1910.

Rogowski, G. The Complete Illustrated Guide to Joinery (The Taunton Press, Newtown, CT, 2002).

Noll, T. Encyclopedia of Joint Making (F&W Publications, Inc., Cincinnati, OH 45207, 1997).

Noll, T. Naqib, Nadia, Ed. The Joint Book (Popular Woodworking Books, Cincinnati, OH, 2002).

Engler, N. Joining Wood. Techniques for Better Woodworking (Rodale Press, Emmaus, PA, 1992).

Kingshott, J. A Woodworker's Guide to Joints (The Lyons Press, New York, 1998).

Videos

Cosman, Rob. Hand-Cut Dovetails (American Craftsman Publications, 2001).

Cosman, Rob. Advanced Hand-Cut Dovetails (American Craftsman Publications, 2003).

Bird, Lonnie. Mastering Dovetails (Lonnie Bird, Inc., 2006).

Frid, Tag. Handmade Dovetails (Taunton Press, Newton CT, 2003).


What Tools Will I Need to Make Drawers?

(Special note: Lie Nielsen offers a 10% discount on all of their eponymous tools to students registered for a Woodwright’s School workshop. You have to purchase the tool on or before the workshop, but this is open to some interpretation if you sign up for multiple classes. You indicate this in the ”special note” box on your order form).

Square(s). For this project, a small joinery square (3 to 4” blade) is sufficient. The Starrett 4” sliding head combination square is optimal for this and is a widely copied tool worldwide due to its superior quality. These types of metal squares are ideal also for gauging depth of cut as well as squareness.

Striking Knife. Generally, a Sloyd knife or a carving knife, with a long cutting edge for easy striking. Another style is the spearpoint layout knife, which has a long triangular blade, beveled on each edge of one face, and flat on the other face. In general, you want your knife to have a blade long enough that you can reach into the back corner of a dovetail socket with a low angle to make a good scribe. Do not buy a pair of layout knives, one right-handed and one left-handed (equivalent to the spearpoint, but who wants to think about which knife to pick up?

Bevel Gauge. These gauges are used to set an angle for layout or to record an angle from something that is not square. These gauges have a handle and a bar. The bar usually slides right or left so that you can set both the angle you want, and the complimentary angle. The best gauges have a thumbscrew either at the point of rotation for the bevel gauge, or down at the bottom of the handle (Stanley No. 25) so that you can lock the bar tight. Gauges that have a lever at the point of rotation are less ideal since this can interfere with the setting or use of the gauge.

Marking Gauge. A single point gauge with a movable fence, for laying out baselines in joinery. A better choice if available, is a cutting gauge which has a knife edge rather than a point. These gauges will strike a cutting line both along and across the grain smoothy.

Bevel Edged Chisels. Generally, you will need three chisels: one the width of the pin socket, one the width of the tail socket, and a narrow chisel for cleaning out the corners of the pins and tails. For generic dovetails, this is often in the range of ¼”, 3/8” and 1” wide. Use bevel edged chisels since these will work into the sharp corners of the tails.

Coping Saw. The coping saw is used to remove the bulk of the waste between tails and pins. Perfectly useful coping saws (Eclipse, Olson, and General are three brands) can be found for under $25. Do not buy a coping saw that costs over $100! The coping saw is generally set with the teeth of the blade pointing towards the handle, and thus cuts on the pull stroke.

Smoothing Plane. For planing the stock smooth and for surfacing a finished box. Generally, a Stanley No. 3, 4 or 4 ½ or the equivalent from other manufacturers (Record, Sargent, Union) is useful. The iron should have a very slight camber (curvature) across the cutting edge, set very light, with a tight mouth.

Block Plane. A low angle, adjustable mouth block plane (Stanley No. 60 is the classic example) with a square edged iron is the very best option. There are many, many block planes made by Stanley and others that fit this bill.

Backsaw, rip. This backsaw is used to cut the shoulders of the tails and pins. A good dovetail saw is at around 10-12” long or longer, has 12-15 ppi and has a relatively narrow plate (>1 ½”), with a light set and relaxed rake. Paul Sellars, a very well-known English woodworker, has stated that it was not the custom in the day to sharpen saws in the crosscut configuration, but only the rip configuration, and to rely on knifed lines to give a first class saw cut.

Backsaw, cross. Cross cut configured backsaws are technically the right tool for cutting across the grain (outside shoulders for the half pins, for example). These saws (sometimes referred to as sash or carcase saws) would be used to cut shoulders, but also groove shoulders across wide boards, and thus should be >15” long, with a narrow plate (~2”), 12-15 ppi, a relaxed rake and a fine set. OTOH, if the shoulders of the cut are laid out with a knife (very common), and a relatively deep relief is chopped out on the waste side of this knife line (very common), then a rip saw (see above) would be an excellent choice.

Mortise Chisels. Classically, the chisel for cutting mortises is the oval bolstered mortise chisel. This is an English chisel with a very thick shaft, in various widths. The handle has an oval cross-section so that when you pick it up, the cutting edge is naturally aligned with your hand. The back face of the chisel is very slightly less wide than the front face (the cross section is a rhomboid) to give nuanced clearance when chopping a mortise. The cutting edge is a thin layer of tool steel forge-welded onto an iron shaft, making the chisel more resistant to fracturing in use. Modern versions of this tool are sold but are a very pale reflection of the quality of the vintage tool and at a much higher price! Lay in wait for a vintage OBMC to show up! An alternative to this optimal tool is the sash mortise chisel. These relatively long chisels were made specifically for door and sash work. They often have thinner bodied shafts but come in a wide variety of widths and tool lengths. For everyday work, they are eminently suitable. Many vintage toolmakers (Marples, Whitherby, Swan, and Buck) are represented, as well as the modern chisel maker Sorby. Lastly, there are a class of chisels called firmer chisels. These have square long edges, rather than the more common beveled edge. The chisels are a bit thicker than bevel edged chisels and are sometimes also called medium-duty mortise chisels. Depending on the depth of cut, the hardness of the wood you work with, and your chisel handling skills, these would also be a good choice.

Mortise Gauge. You will need a double point gauge with a movable fence, for laying out the mortise and the tenon shoulders in joinery. These gauges are widely available as vintage tools and modern versions are sold as well. Often you can find a dual-purpose gauge: marking gauge on one side and mortise gauge on the other side. The best gauges have a screw-adjust mechanism for the two points, and separately a thumbscrew to set the fence. Very much worth the slightly higher price!

Plow Plane. For laying out the grooves for the bottom of a drawer or box, you need some sort of plow plane. Suitable metal planes would include the Stanley No. 45 and the No. the 55 (the multiplanes), the No. 50 (plow and beading only) and the 248 (plow only, weatherstripping). There are many wooden plows (screw arm), as well as the Marples drawer bottom plane. For working ¾” thick stock, you will need a plane with a ¼” cutter in general.

What Are Some Good Sources for The Tools I Need? Where to Buy Tools?

The sources listed here are for vintage tools. In general, such tools are widely available, very reasonably priced for their quality, and were made to a much higher standard than any but the most expensive modern tools available today. The old adage “you get what you pay for” actually does not apply here, since you will pay less for higher quality if you purchase a good-condition vintage tool.

Antique Tool Organizations. MidWest Tool Collectors Association (www.mwtca.org) and Early American Industries Association (www.eaiainfo.org) are two excellent sources of vintage tools. Both organizations have very fine newsletters and journals and memberships in the organizations are very worthwhile. These have tool meets several times per year, all across the country.

Flea Markets or Antique Stores. These are hit-or-miss but can be the opportunity for some great “finds” if you are willing to spend the time.

Online Dealers. www.jimbodetools.com, www.Hyperkitten.com, www.thebestthings.com, Patrick Leach at www.supertool.com, and Ed Lebetkin at edlebetkin@gmail.com are totally excellent and reputable sources. Ebay at www.Ebay.com is also a tremendous resource. You need to be aware that many Ebay sellers do not know what they have, do not adequately describe their offerings, or are overpriced., or cobble together disparate parts. You need to do your research carefully before purchasing.

Online Auctions. Cabin Fever Antique Tool Auction (http://www.greatplanestrading.com), Brown Tool Auctions & The Fine Tool Journal (www.finewtooljournal.net), Martin Donnelly Tool Auctions (https://www.mjdtools.com). You need to have a good bidding strategy and reasonable expectations.

What are the Basic Parts of a Drawer?

Drawers are simply boxes without lids. Trays are also boxes without lids (in general). Trays differ from boxes in that whereas the bottom of a tray is integral to its construction and is fixed between the sides and front//back during assembly, drawers are generally made sans the bottom. The bottom is slid into the drawer frame after the the construction is complete.

Front. This is either integral (one of the four sides of the drawer), or applied (added after the four sides of the frame are completed and often being of a different wood, or more decorative.

Sides. The sides are often dovetailed into the front of the box (half blind dovetails are very common), but rabbeted into the back piece. When the sides are rabbeted, the ends of the sides are trimmed to allow the drawer to sit flush with the frame opening. When the sides are dovetailed to the back piece, the drawer is often the full depth of the carcase.

Back. The back is often rabbeted into each of the two sides and is often narrower than the side pieces, to allow the bottom to be slid in after the frame is complete.

Bottom. The bottom is often made of thick stock that is beveled along its front and side edges to fit into narrow grooves plowed into those members. The grain direction of the bottom is always left to right, not front to back to allow the bottom to expand and contract throughout the seasons without affecting the integrity of the frame.

What are the Different Styles of Drawers?

Flush. The drawer front is even with the face of the carcase that the drawer fits into. A drawer stop is often used to fine tune the flush fit.

Overhung. The drawer front is wider and longer than the opening in the carcase. The drawer front overlaps the carcase frame. The overhang can be applied, by fixing a separate piece of stock to the previously joined drawer frame, or the drawer stock can be wider and longer than the drawer opening, then rabbeted around the edges to match the drawer opening in the carcase (integral).

Decorated. There are many styles of drawer front decoration. The most straightforward is to cut a molded profile around the edges (usually a quarter round, or a quarter round with a fillet) using ac molding plane. Sometimes a strip of molding is cut separately and applied to the drawer front. Cockbeading involves rabbeting a shallow groove around the outside edges the drawer front ends and attaching thin strips of rounded over stock to give a raised beaded perimeter.

What Are Drawer Stops?

Drawer stops are devices that either keep the drawer flush to the carcase opening for aesthetic reasons, or prevent the drawer from opening too far and falling out of the carcase. In the former case, the drawers might be made just a bit shorter than the available depth of the carcase. Shims or stops may be glued into the back corners of the carcase runners, fit by trial end error, until the drawer sits flush. In the latter case, a toggle may be fitted into the upper inside face of the back of the drawer. When the toggle is “up”, the toggle hits the inside upper edge of the carcase frame, and the drawer can not be pulled out accidentally. The user can reach into the drawer when it is open, to set the toggle “down” to remove the drawer.

What are Drawer Slips?

Drawer slips are devices to allow one to use thinner stock for drawer construction for aesthetic purposes, without compromising the integrity the drawer construction. As drawer design and construction became more “refined”, especially beginning with the furniture styles of the early 1800s, thinner stock was used for drawer construction. At some point the drawer stock was thin enough that plowing grooves for insertion of drawer bottoms compromised the strength the drawer sides, and also did not allow sufficient room for seasonal expansions and contraction of the bottoms without gaps opening up. Slips come in a variety off shapes, but basically are grooved stock glued onto the inside bottom faces of the drawer sides as well as sometimes the drawer front and the back (particularly for drawers or trays where the bottom in an integral part of the drawer construction). The stock was often in the range of 1/2” square or more, so that deep grooves could be plowed into them. They were sometimes mitered around the the insides for a more finished appearance. This extra design means that the drawer frame can be made of thin stock, no groove needed to be planed into the stock, and no necessity of modifying the dovetail joinery to accommodate a groove. For the making of trays, an integral part of tool chest construction, where the tray bottom is captured on all four edges, seasonal wood movement will compromise the tray construction and slips solve this problem. The addition of slips does reduce the amount of finished available drawer depth however.

What Are Drawer Runners?

There are two types of runners:

Framed in. The interior of the carcase that the drawer is slid into is framed-in to provide either an open framework for the drawer to slide into on, or a completely boxed in recess (with dust panels) for designs where the dryer fits into a completely enclosed space.

Side Hung. The outside faces of the drawer sides are grooved along their length. This groove is matched to strips fixed into the inside of the carcase, so that the drawer rests on these slides.

Why Use Half Blind Dovetails in Drawer Construction?

Half blind dovetail are the most common joinery for drawer construction. With through dovetails, the joinery is seen on both faces of each corner of the carcase. In half blind dovetails, the details of the joinery are only seen on one face (the side) of the carcase. This allows the maker to design the drawer front with a cabinet grade wood, while the sides and backs are made from a lesser wood, yet the drawer has the appearance of only the finer wood. In half blind dovetails, the groove for the bottom is hidden by the joinery in the drawer front. At the back of the drawer frame, the groove is essentially cut away from the back, so that the bottom can be slid in.

Why are Drawer Bottoms Often Beveled?

The modern approach to drawer construction often involves the use of plywood for the drawer bottoms. In the day, however, drawer bottoms would have been made of available stock, which was likely to be as thick as the stock for the drawer sides and backs. Either you would have to plane or saw the stock thinner, or you could use it as is. Thus, beveling the edges of the available stock would allow the bottoms to be fitted into reasonably sized grooves ion the sides. The bevel would also provide a wedging action that would keep the bottoms from “rattling” in place. Lastly, but certainly not of least importance, would be the increased structural integrity of the drawer bottoms, especially in wider and longer drawers.

Why is Grain Direction Important for Selection of Stock for Drawer Construction?

Drawers fit into very confined and delineated spaces in a carcase. Wood generally expands and contracts seasonally across the width of the stock, but not along the length. This expansion can be as much as 2% of the width of a piece of air dried stock. If you use quarter sawn stock, this movement is reduced by about half. For narrow drawer stock, the actual amount of movement may not be of sufficient magnitude to have an effect, especially given the normal levels of fit one might achieve. However, wood movement can not be ignored. This is particularly the case for drawer bottoms, which often are quite wide and long. Therefore the magnitude of wood movement becomes an issue. For this reason, drawers are often designed such that the back piece of the drawer is cut narrower, to the height of the groove. This makes the groove open at the back face of the drawer. This allows the drawer bottom to be slid into the finished drawer frame. This opening provides a space for the drawer bottom to expand into and out of the drawer frame without compromising the drawer integrity. For this reason, the grain on drawer bottoms is always oriented side to side (left to right) so that the expansions is front to back. Note that in making trays, the bottom is captured on all four sides. Either the stock needs to be thicker to accommodate deeper grooves to allow for wood movement, or you need to modify the design off the bottom to orient movement into and out of the center of the bottom, or you need to use slips on the underside of the frame.

What Are Story Sticks (or Rods) and How to Use Them?

Story sticks are task-specific sticks, providing a method to record information about dimensions and joinery for objects to be made over and over again. Sometimes used on the job site to record spaces and dimensions that pertain to the design of a project. A story stick (a piece of long, thin stock) would record the actual lengths of stock, the locations of dovetails, spacings of joints, and the positions of mortises and tenons or other joinery. One face of the stick would layout out stiles, and the opposite face layout rails, for example. You would use this stick as a measuring device, clamping it to your frame stock to mark lengths and positions. Once made, the story stick would be hung up in the shop for future use.

What Kinds of Dovetail Joints Are There and What Are Their Uses?

There are innumerable types of dovetails. Below are some of the more common ones.

Through. The simplest joint. Can be seen from both sides of the joint. Good for generic boxes.

Half Blind. The type of joint seen in drawer construction. The joint is not visible on the drawer front, only on the sides. Often the drawer parts have different thicknesses.

Full Blind. Also called blind miter joints. This joint is not actually seen at all. The joinery is buried in the miter. Only used where you are desperate to have mitered corners for the box!

Mitered Corner. Either the tail and/or the pin at either the top or bottom of the joint are modified so that the corner will accommodate molding (a skirt, for example), or a rabbet (for insetting a back into a frame).

Half Lap. Often used to hide a groove in a box. The groove is positioned to pass through the middle of a tail (and thus between two pins). The tail is made thinner, and the mating pin made shorter by the depth of the groove.

Rising. A complex joint that actually assembles in the reverse order than normal. Instead of assembling from the outside in, the parts assemble from the inside out (!). You have to see one to understand it.

Sliding. A common joint to assemble the standards and the shelves of a bookcase for example. The tail socket is cut into the standard, and the tail Is cut into the edges of the shelves. The tail is often tapered along its length to make a very tight connection (sliding tapered dovetail).

Why Cut the Tails First and Not the Pins First? Is there Any Difference?

The universe is divided between tails first people (Roy and I for example), and pins first people! The bottom line is that you teach what you were taught. I have cut dovetails in both ways, but for me, pins first is like writing with my left hand! There is no practical difference in these two approaches, once you are experienced with one. I am not sure if anyone ever changes from one style to the other, however.

What are the Guidelines for Orienting Stock When Making a Drawer, Box or Tray?

Three considerations are important: enhancing the resistance to wood warpage, grain appearance (aesthetic), and hiding defects in the stock.

A basic rule is to make “the inside of the tree is the outside of the box”. The “inside of the tree” aspect of a board is the face of the board that is towards the pith of the tree. The opposite face of the board is the ”bark” side. You can easily discern these two faces by looking at the endgrain of the board. When the curve of the growth rings cups upwards, that is the pith side. If you orient the board so that the cup faces down, then that upper face is the bark side. As a general concept (with many exceptions!), growth rings move in the direction of flattening out as the board goes from completely wet (freshly milled) to drier (kiln dried). Thus, lumber tends to cup towards the bark side. If you orient each board in a box with the bark face inside the box, the upper and lower corners of each corner of the box will tend to tighten up rather than loosen as the box continues to dry out.

The outside diameter of a tree is composed of sapwood, which is the part of the tree still capable of conveying water and nutrients up and down the tree. This part of a log is generally lighter in color and less hard. From the sapwood to the pith is the heartwood, which is not conductive, but does provide of structural strength. This wood is not living, is generally darker and generally harder. In any board, the pith side of the board (the inside of the tree) will show more heartwood than the opposite side of the same board. This can be a major aesthetic aspect of the box if you intend to put on a clear finish.

The best place to hide defects is where they will not be seen. That would be on the inside bottom of the box, or on the outside bottom if the box has a skirt. The defect could be oriented to the top of the box, if the box is going to be surfaced after gluing up. Defects include chips on edges, splits on the ends, knots, and warpage. Splits can actually be stabilized by the joinery itself, and you might want to space the tails or pins to put splits in the spaces between these. You do not want knots to be in the part of the board where the joinery is cut. Edge chips can be hidden by the box lid, if necessary. If the board is warped, you can clamp out the warpage during layout using well placed wedges when the stock is clamped up in the vise. After layout, saw the joinery as you normally would. During the glue up process, that warpage will be eliminated by good clamping and the glue surfaces will stabilize this.

How Can I Orient the Stock for Joinery or Frames So I Can Keep Track of the Pieces?

We use a pair of marks that have been used for hundreds of years, to keep track of how stock is oriented in a project and how the layout lines are established for sawing or chopping. This pair of marks each serve separate and distinct purposes. The first set of marks, called reference marks, hearken back to the days when stock was dimensioned by apprentices, and dimensioning was a completely pragmatic process. For this reason, finished stock was not always of the exact same thickness or width, for example. In order to make accurate layout, one face of the stock (the reference face) was made smooth and straight. An adjacent edge (reference edge) was made straight and smooth and square to the face. The reference edge and the reference face are surfaces that squares and rules are set against for accurate marking. They are surfaces that are usually not touched again during the project. The face is marked either with a “pigtail” or “squiggle” at the center of the face along the long edge adjoining the reference edge. The reference edge is marked with a “caret” or “vee” that touches the pigtail at the midpoint of the reference edge. On any board there is just one pair of reference marks. Using these marks for layout is called “Obeying the Face Side Rule”.

The other set of marks are called orientation marks. They are placed to define front/back, inside/outside, top/bottom, and right/left. One appropriately drawn mark on each board will make all of these designations! In a box or a frame, the two opposing members are slid together, in their orientation, and a triangle is drawn across the middle of both members, pointing towards the maker (you!). Return these two to their orientation and draw the other two members together, in their orientation. Again, draw a triangle across both pieces, in the middle, pointing to the maker. Inspection of these separated pieces will show that each is labeled by a unique fraction of a triangle. (top half, bottom half, right half, left half). These marks are usually placed on the top show face of the stock so that you can see them easily during assembly and glue up.

Reference marks are sited to allow one to regulate how the project is squared up. For example, a frame (for a frame and panel construction) needs to be square on the inside of the frame because that is where a squared, rectangular panel will be inset. The frame needs to be flush on its show surface (the top). Therefore, the reference marks are on the inside edges of the stock and on the top faces. Note that a table needs to be square on its outside faces to give a regular footprint, while a carcase needs to be square on its inside faces (to fit drawers) and those drawers that fit in the carcase need to be square on their outside faces. So clearly, some consideration of placement of marks is warranted.

Shouldn’t I Cut My Tails and Pins a Little Extra Wide So That I Can Pare Them Accurately Afterwards?

The ultimate goal when sawing out joinery is to be precise enough that the joint goes together right off the saw, with minimal cleanup. Saws cut smooth and straight. If you have to pare with a chisel, you add a tremendous amount of extra work. The chisel cuts have to be with the grain, or you get tearout which complicates the fitting. Sawing involves setting the saw against precisely defined lines. Paring with a chisel is a freehand operation, eye balling, and thus inherently not precise.

What is the Correct Angle for Dovetail Shoulders?

There is no “correct” angle for a dovetail, despite the desire of manufacturers to sell dovetail layout gauges. The bottom line is that whatever angle looks good, resonating with your feng sui, is probably the right one. You can even eyeball the dovetail shoulder angle and have the angle of every shoulder vary to some degree. Since the joints are (in the habit of the WWS) laid out tails first, the tails (and their angles) become a template for the pins. A template is by definition precisely correct for its use.

What Does 1:6 and 1:8 Mean When Describing Dovetail Shoulders?

The mathematical angles of dovetails are probably written down somewhere, but I have never seen them! As mentioned, the actual angle is often set by eye or with a bevel gauge to satisfy our individual feng sui. However, you will often see angles expressed as 1:6 and 1:8 or possibly another number. This expression is a proportion, referring to the baseline and the hypotenuse of a right triangle. The baseline is 1 part in length, and the hypotenuse is 6 (or 8) parts in length. This proportion is often laid out with a carpenter’s square, which has both arms scribed in inches and fractions of inches. Set the square against the end of the stock, make a tick mark at the 1-inch mark on one arm of the square and on the other arm a tick mark at some other number. Connect these two tick marks with a line and you have a dovetail angle. Supposedly, the 1:6 proportion is for softwoods and the 1:8 proportion is for hard woods (or is it the other way around??). There is a vintage tool chest in the WWS which has dovetails at a 1:2.5 angle (very flared out!), which supposedly violates these rules, but the chest has been around for 150 years!

Why Use Dividers to Layout the Dovetails?

Dividers are a quick way to precisely lay out tails, especially if you have lots of joints to be done in the same way. The divider method means that your tails will be perfectly symmetrical. The dividers eliminate any mathematical calculations to determine tail width or spacing. You quickly set the dividers to a spacing by eye to match the number of tails you want, then tweak the setting by trial and error until you have the perfect layout, plus the tail to tail spacing you want. In my experience, this requires about 3 iterations to get to the right point.

What Other Ways Are There to Layout Dovetails?

The simplest way to layout dovetails is just to do this by eye, no dividers or bevel gauge needed. Frank Klausz is a proponent of this method. You just eyeball the spacing and the tail angles, and pencil them in! With experience this can be very reproducible and quick.

You can just to lay your 3/8” chisel across the board on the scribed baseline and punch in chisel marks. Put one on either edge of the stock for the half pins, and as many across the middle as you want. You then use a bevel gauge to establish the shoulders, making the angles such that the spacing between tails looks right. This method is sort of the reverse of what we typically do in the workshop but is very pragmatic.

You will note that both of these methods do not use any math at all, nor does the divider method. This will quicken the process with experience and reduce headaches!

Is There Any Advantage to Having More or Less Dovetails in a Joint Corner?

The dovetail joint provides two advantages: mechanical strength in the direction that the tails point, and increased gluing surface. The mechanical strength is very large and in theory even only one dovetail in a corner would provide sufficient strength. The additional gluing surface provides a lot of strength and compensates for the lack of mechanical strength in the other direction. More importantly, the gluing surface helps to resist warping of the two halves. Narrower pins and tails, or more tails nearer the corners enhances this effect.

Can the Waste Between Tails or Pins be Chopped Out or Should It be Sawn Out?

You can view the process of cleaning out the waste between tails and pins as three steps: rough removal, getting-close removal, and precise removal. Getting rid of as much waste as possible early on speeds up the cleanout process. The coping saw is a good tool for the first step, as little care needs to be taken other that slipping the coping saw blade down the sawn kerf and staying away from the scribed baseline. On the other hand, it is perfectly reasonable to chop out the waste solely with chisels. The only caution here is that if the tails are narrowly spaced (not enough space for a narrow chisel to slip in to), the waste can be jammed between the chisel cut and the top of the tails, possibly causing the outside corners of the tails to break. If your habit is to chop all waste, then you would design your tail spacing to accommodate this action.

How Do I Use a Coping Saw to Cut Out the Waste?

Coping saws should be set up with the teeth pointing away from the frame (down) and toward the handle. This means that you will always cut on the pull stroke and relax on the forward (push) stroke, in contrast to almost all other saws you might use in this hemisphere! In addition, all of the waste removal tasks in dovetail joinery are completely in the waste of the joint. Therefore, using a coarse toothed saw will get the job done quickly.

Generally, you slide the coping saw blade down the tail or pin sawn shoulder kerf about 2/3 the way. Your goal is to make a tight turn with the saw and saw about 1/8” above the base line to the other side.

For sawing tail socket waste, you must hold the saw horizontal and square to the stock face. Just before you hit the opposite shoulder, push the handle towards that shoulder a wee bit so that the coping saw cut hits that shoulder kerf first. You do not want to cut into the tail at all! As soon as your coping saw hits that kerf, straighten up the saw and saw lightly until the waste piece drops off.

For sawing pin socket waste, the saw kerf you rest the coping saw blade in is at an angle to the face. You start sawing at this angle, but quickly straighten the saw up as you move across the waste. As you near the other kerf, the angle of that kerf is opposite to the one you started in. Begin to move your handle towards that kerf and even a bit more so that again, you hit that kerf first. Then straighten up the saw until the waste pops off.

It is very easy to raise the handle as you are working a coping saw. The result of that is that the side you cannot see is cut more deeply and you may in fact cut away your baseline on that side. This is not necessarily the worst thing that can happen, as that part of the baseline is buried in the joinery. It is part of the skill set you need to develop to use this saw. In general, focus on keeping the coping saw frame square to the stock face, and horizontal to the direction of cut.

What Type of Marking Gauge is Best for Laying the Dovetail Joint?

There are three types of gauges to lay out the dovetail: a marking gauge to establish the baseline, and a bevel gauge to establish the angle of the tails. In addition, a square is used to verify that your saw cuts will be square or straight.

Establishing the baseline for dovetails is a cross grain mark. Generic marking gauges with round pointed pins drag across the grain and will scratch in the line, making the line rough. Using a cutting gauge type marking gauge, which has a knife point, will give a sliced line which will be a better reference to lay a chisel in.

You do not want the locking mechanism of a bevel gauge to interfere with the laying of the gauge against the work. A gauge with the locking mechanism at the bottom end of the handle (a Stanley No. 25) is highly recommended.

A square with a bar that is 3-4” long is ideal for laying out joinery. Longer or larger squares are more appropriate for larger layout tasks or for squaring up stock when dimensioning.

Why Use a Pencil to Layout the Tails, but a Knife to Layout the Pins? Isn’t One More Accurate Than the Other?

In general, the tails (for tails first people) are laid out with a pencil, and the pins are laid out with a knife. When laying out tails, no aspect of the layout (except scribing the baseline) is critical. You just have to saw square across the stock. Whatever layout you get is perfect because the tail board acts as a template for the pin board. Templates by definition are perfect!

On the other hand, the pins must be laid out precisely from the tail board. You do not have the luxury of a wide heavy pencil mark (which has both length and thickness) in defining the pins. A knife cut on the endgrain gives you an exact line to bring your saw up to (knife lines have length but not width). This keeps the joints snug. The line you set your saw to is the knife line. The line you use to saw down to the baseline with is a guideline to keep you straight and square, thus is a pencil line.

What Type of Knife is Best for Scribing the Pins from the Tails?

If you are working in ¾” stock, and you tend to prefer close spacing between tails, and you hold your knife at a 45-degree angle to reach into the back corner of a tail socket when scribing the pins, then the knife blade needs to be at least 1 ¼’ long to do this without interference from the handle. If you use a traditional knife, beveled on each long edge, you will need to tilt the knife left for right shoulders and right for left shoulders to keep the bevel of the knife flush with the tail shoulders. This can be easily done, but you will always run the risk of slicing off the inside edge of the tail shoulder (!). I use a traditional knife usually, and almost never cut the shoulder off, so this is clearly a good method. An alternative to the traditional knife is a spearpoint knife. This knife has a flat face on one side, and two beveled edges on the other side tapering to a point. The flat face of the knife rests flat on the tail shoulder. You can slide the knife down the tail shoulder to hit the pin stock and make a very accurate scribe line. I have seen the spear point knives sold in a short fat configuration which are not long enough to reach into any but widely spaced tails. Also, there are versions of the spear point where a pair of knives are sold, one with a left-hand bevel and one with a right-hand bevel. Then problem with these knives is that you always have to look when you pick up one to use!

Some Recommend Plowing a Rabbet to Help Orient the Tail Board Against the Pin Board When Laying Out the Pins. Why Not Do This?

Cutting a rabbet on the inside face of the tails add no actual advantage yet provides lots of opportunity for additional error. First of all, the baseline has already been scribed. No reason to do this again. You must align the nicker of the rabbit plane precisely on this scribe line or you will either be building gaps in the joinery or preventing the joint from going together. In addition, the rabbet must be an even depth across the width of the joint, otherwise the box will not go together vertically square. If there I any variation in rabbet depth at each of the four corners, the box will not go together with a square footprint. Lastly, if the rabbet is not plowed square (i.e., is tilted) then you will open a gap across the full width of the joint, either inside or on the outside of the box.

Some Recommend Using Blue Masking Tape Along the Scribe Line When Chopping the Tails, So That You Can See Where to Cut More Easily. Isn’t This More Precise?

This technique adds no actual advantage yet provides lots of opportunity for additional error. The knifed scribe line left by the marking gauge is a very precise mark, essentially having length but no width. Laying a piece of masking tape precisely along this line and doing so along the whole length is not an easy task. If you use the edge of the tape as a guide and this is not located precisely, you will either wind up with gaps in your joinery or the joints will not fit together. Use you eyes! If you need to, lightly mark the scribe line with a somewhat dull pencil. This will leave the pencil marks on the surface of the board face, easily planed or sanded off, and no problem at all if you paint the box.

How About Using a File or Rasp to Clean Up Tail and Pins Shoulders Rather Than a Chisel? Wouldn’t This Clean These Up Smoother?

After you have sawn the shoulders, the final step is to clean up debris or unsawn material. The saw cut by definition makes a smooth, straight cut. When you clean up the joint, you do not want to alter the sawcut in any manner (assuming you have cut it precisely). Rather, you just want to remove what does not belong there. The face of a chisel (the face opposite the bevel) is 99.99% non-cutting reference face. Only the edge of the chisel cuts. When you place a chisel flat on a shoulder or a baseline, the chisel references on the flat surface. When you pare across, anything proud of that flat surface (that sticks up) will be removed. You will not affect the saw cut at all. On the other hand, 100.00% of the surface of a file or rasp is a cutting surface, notwithstanding that it is flat. When you work a file or rasp on a shoulder, you are potentially reshaping the complete shoulder surface. In addition, files and rasps will not cut precisely square at a corner and will not cut into the corner of a tail. Lastly, a file or rasp must be handled very carefully to achieve a square face, without rounding the entrance and exit edges. File or rasp work will very much increase the chance of the tails or the pins being undersized, with gaps in your joints.

If the Dovetails Fit Together Nice and Tight, Why Use Glue?

Dovetails have mechanical strength in the direction of the tails, and you cannot pull a joint apart in that direction, even if you have only one tail in the joint. On the other hand, the dovetail joint has very much less strength in the direction of the pins. The joint is only held together by the friction of a superior joint. Gluing the dovetail joint adds a tremendous amount. Of strength to the joint due to the large amount of long grain to long grain contact. Some dovetail joints may be meant to be taken apart, in which case no glue is needed.

What Are the Types of Plow Planes That Could Be Used to Make Bottom Grooves?

Probably 95% of all plowed grooves in the history of woodworking are 1/4” wide, 3/8” deep and ¼” up from the bottom edge of the stock! If you have a plow plane that has at least a ¼” bit and will plow to at least 3/8” deep, you are in business. You can buy a multiplane for example, but when push comes to shove, using a dedicated molding plan, or a tongue and groove pair, or a beading plane will be way more inviting that setting up a multiplane. You want a plane that will cut a groove and is very good at just doing that (simple to set up and simple to tweak). Having said all of that, a Stanley 45 or even a 55 is a magnificent possession ($250-500). Simpler metal plows (the Stanley 50, Record 44, and copies of these) will have 7-8 plow cutters and as many beading cutters and possibly a tongue and groove cutter ($125-175). Most of those you will never use, but that is what you get. Wooden screw arm planes generally came with 8 cutters. Finding a wooden plow with all of the cutters is rare. You generally buy a plow which has one cutter in it ($150-$200) then buy a matched set of cutters ($90-125) and hope that they match the tapered mortise of the plane.

What to Do if I Have Sawn the Tails and Pins, But They Do Not Fit Together?

The very first thing to do if your joint does not fit together is to check that you are in fact attempting to assemble the appropriate joint members. This is what the orientation marks (those triangle halves) are all about. Every joint in a carcase is unique to its corner, no matter how precisely you laid it out or how carefully you sawed it. Very occasionally disparate joint members will appear to assemble well. Regardless, you must always check your orientation marks during the dry fit (and at every step in the cutting and chopping process).

The most likely problem is that you have not sawn the pins precisely enough. Look carefully at the quality of your saw cuts. Have you left any pins too wide when you sawed them? This is easily seen where there is wood between the pin shoulder and the knife line. The knife line has to be split in half. That extra wood cannot be there. You can pare the pin shoulders straight down at the knife line with careful chisel work. Do this as a matter of course if you trust your pin layout lines.

If the joint still does not assemble, you must try to isolate the problem if at all possible. I generally put the pin board upright in a shoulder vise. I lay the tail board on top of the pin board and tip it to the right and then to the left. This will allow you to check the fit with the two pins on left and on the right separately. If you find an overlap, mark the offending shoulder with a pencil, and pare it lightly. Repeat this process bit by bit. You can also try tilting the tail board back and see if all of the wide parts of the pins line up with the wide parts of the tail sockets.

Generally speaking, the fitting of the tails to pins is a nuanced process. Not much needs to be tweaked to get the fit to happen. Approach this process bit by bit, tweaking one socket, getting that right then working on the next.

What to Do If There Are Unsightly Gaps in the Joinery After I have Assembled it?

There are three reasons for gaps in the joinery: sawing on the wrong side of the knifed layout line for the pins, sawing right on the knifed line, instead of “touching it but leaving it”, and lastly not sawing the pin shoulders square down to the baseline. Note that all of these reasons involve the cutting of the pins, the part of the joint where the most precision is required. This is part of your learning curve. Remember that good judgement comes from experience, but experience comes from bad judgement! So accept this path.

Not all gaps need to be filled. In many cases, the glue will in fact be your “friend.” This is a judgement call. Gaps are part of the learning curve, validating that process. Also, they are a memory enhancer for the next time you make joinery.

During the dry fit, when you are evaluating the quality of the joinery, identify egregious gaps. These gaps can be filled with suitable wedges. Using a piece of scrap, the thickness of your joint stock, saw short tapered endgrain wedges (1” deep or so). The easiest way to do this is place your scrap stock vertical in the vise. Saw the first wedge 1/16” in from the edge at an angle sloping out. The second cut is straight down beginning as close to the first kerf as possible. The third cut repeats the first, and so on. When you have made a sufficient number of cuts, saw the whole batch of wedges off with a horizontal cut. Make plenty of wedges, they will all be a bit different. Match and label the wedges to gaps if necessary. During the glue-up phase, while the glue is still wet, but after the box is completely assembled, insert the wedges in their appropriate gaps. Tap them in lightly, you may need to come in at an angle, then leave these for cleanup the next day. Some of the gaps will be blocked by the cauls and clamps, so those gaps will need to be plugged after the clamps are disassembled the next day. The glue will be dry, so this is a bit more of a problem.

If there are egregious gaps after the glue-up which were not able to be filled with wedges, another approach would be to make a paste with a dollop of glue in a pile of sawdust (I save sawdust from every species of wood I work with, in small plastic containers for purpose), mix this up and “gush” it into the gaps, later to be pared or planed off.

What if My Joint Boards Crack a Bit or Split Apart When I Am Assembling the Joint?

Cracking or splitting a board during dry fit generally comes from inaccurate or overzealous fitting of the two joint halves. In addition, there may be an inherent weakness in the board that was not seen beforehand. If you have end grain splits, try to locate the splits in the sockets of the joints. The reality is that the dovetail joint offers a lot of support for splits. Once the boards are glued up, the split is stabilized. If the board were to split lengthwise, you could easily glue the two pieces together (this needs a half day at least), then gingerly dryfit and glue up the joint. This is a proven solution unfortunately!

What is a Möbius Box and Why Does This Happen?

A Möbius box is one where the orientation marks (the triangles) were not followed, and one end of a joint was rotated upside down. This makes the pins on that board backwards. The joint can be assembled, but the box will never join at 4 corners! Instead, the sides of the box have to travel to the end of the universe and back again (and still will not join!). Perpetrators of this type of joinery (distressingly common) owe me a beer at the bar next door since I have to cut a completely new board at both ends at warp speed!

How Much Do I Need to Worry About Wood Movement When Making Dovetails?

The sides of a box expand and contract across the grain of the wood. Thus, a box will get taller and shorter throughout the seasons. Since all of the sides of the box are oriented in the same grain direction, this is no problem. However, the bottom and the top are usually captured between the sides in some manner. Therefore, wood expansion/contraction across the grain of these two box parts could make them split the box apart (expansion) or have the bottom fall out of its groove (contraction). When going from completely wet (100% moisture, out of the tree) to oven dried (0% moisture), flatsawn wood contracts about 10% of its width on average. Air dried wood has about a fifth the moisture content, thus will expand or contract a total of about 2% over the seasons. A flatsawn board that is 10 inches wide and air dried, may be expected to expand and contract about 3/16” back and forth over the year. You can use this as a rule of thumb. In practice, narrow pieces of wood, depending on the species, will move so little that in a box less than 6” wide, no problem will likely be encountered. Note that quartersawn lumber moves half of what flatsawn lumber moves.

What Different Woods Are Good for Making a Drawer?

Drawers are often made of two different woods. The primary wood is used for the showface of the drawer (the drawer front). The secondary wood is a lesser wood (e.g., pine or poplar) used for the sides, back and bottom. Generally, any wood can be used for a drawer. Some softwoods (pine, fir, etc.) may be too soft or too splintery for use. If your box dimensions raise concerns about wood expansion and contraction, consider using quartersawn lumber for the tops and bottoms. This cut of wood only moves half as much as flatsawn stock. Layout marks on darker woods (e.g., walnut and mahogany) can be difficult to see. Depending on the type of joinery at the corners of the box, you may want stock with straight, parallel grain so that you can easily plane in either direction into the corners. Highly figured woods (crotch figure, quilted, etc.) are prone to tearout, so you may want to scrape or sand the surfaces to finish out the box.

How Do I Surface the Drawer to Make it Smooth?

The method that you use to surface will depend so much on the joinery of the drawer, the quality of the wood stock that you use, and the grain orientation of that stock. The most straightforward approach is to use a block plane or a smoothing plane. Block planes generally have a square edge and can leave tracks on the wood if the iron is not well balanced in the plane. Smoothing planes generally have a slight camber (curve) which reduces the incidence of tracks. Always plane from the outside of the box into the middle if possible. This reduces the chance of breaking out the corners. Skew the plane if you have figured or falling grain (i.e., against the grain). If the grain rises consistently in one direction across the side, plane in that direction almost to the other side (90% of the way), then raise up the plane (like an airplane taking off). From the opposite corner (the against-the-grain direction), skew the plane heavily, plane that other 10% by quickly raising the plane up as soon as you begin the stroke. This will lessen the chance of tearout in that direction. For figured grain (where the grain changes direction in unplanned ways), or where there are localized defects (tearout, knots, etc.) consider using a scraper to clean up those areas. Lastly, if your surfaces are recalcitrant to planes or scrapers, consider sanding the sides. The best approach is to fix the sandpaper of various grits as needed, to a flat surface (MDF for example, using contact spray cement) and work the surface smooth.

What is a Good Finish for a Drawer?

The best finish brings out the texture and depth of the wood, without having its presence overwhelming the appearance. Oil finishes (MinWax Antique Oil Finish, for example) give a lower luster (satin) appearance to the surface and will accentuate the grain appearance. On the other hand, these finishes sometimes require a day or more to adequately dry (they have added metallic driers which may be toxic) and the “build” can require numerous coats. Shellac is an all-natural finish (excretions of the lac bug) in alcohol (ethanol or isopropanol). This finish dries quickly and gives a quick build. On the other hand, the quality pf the finish is more reflective. Commercial shellac (Bullseye, for example) has additives that may be toxic, plus that finish is sold in a 2-pound cut, which is pretty heavy. Better to dilute that 1:4 with alcohol and apply a few more coats to get the same effect. The finish will apply smoother with less brush marks. Polyurethane is a very high build finish (1-2 coats only needed) and gives a gloss appearance which tends to highlight defects in the surface if there are any. These finishes contain VOCs and other potentially toxic solvent components. If you are interested in painting your box, there are several choices. Milk Paints (Old Fashioned Milk Paint, and General Finishes Milk Paint) are water-based paints (modern facsimiles of the traditional casein-base milk paints) and come in colors that can be said to have natural (mineral) pallets. They often dry flat and it is not uncommon to apply a coat of shellac afterwards to brighten the appearance and add luster. Linseed oil paints (e.g., Alback Paints) are very traditional oil-based paints that have no VOCs at all and generally have an earth-pigment pallet. They dry slowly, but are basically all pigment, so one coat is generally enough for good coverage.

How Can You Make a Half Lap Dovetail and Why Would I Do This?

A half lap is designed to hide a groove in the bottom of a drawer (particularly if you are making the drawer frame out of secondary woods, and applying a drawer front later). Basically, you layout the joints as normal. Make sure that the groove lies completely within the confines of an outside tail. Cut the tails, use them to layout the pins. Set your marking gauge to the depth of the groove. Mark in the new baselines on the pin socket and make a new baseline on its mating tail. When you chop the waste on the pin boards, one socket will be shallow, the others deep. Pare away the bottom face of the mating tail to the scribed line. The tail will be thinner but will match the shallow depth of the pin socket. The joint will look “normal” on one joint face, but a bit odd on the adjoining face.

What Are Some Good Joints to Eliminate Those Ugly Holes at the Corners of Drawers and Boxes?

When boxes are made with through dovetails, and grooves are used in the sides to situate the top and/or the bottom, those grooves will always show up as squarish holes in two ends of the box. Very disconcerting! The “bible” on wood joinery and the very best source for issues like this is Charles Haywood’s book Wood Joints. The book was written in the 1950s, reprinted many times, and is available in used paperback in many book source outlets. Absolutely worth every penny! Here are four easy options:

Do Nothing. Leave the joint as it is, but carefully shape small endgrain plugs of the same wood and block the holes. With careful fitting, the gap will visually disappear!

Half Blind Dovetail. This is the joinery used to make drawers, wherein you see the joinery on the only on the sides, but not on the drawer fronts. The joint hides grooves well but does not display the full 360-degree beauty of through dovetails.

Half Lap Dovetails. The outside tail of a dovetail joint is generally spaced so that the groove runs right through the body of the tail. The groove can be hidden by altering the thickness of that tail (cutting it in half) and reducing the height of the mating pin. These joints look like a regular through dovetail on one side, but a little bit “off” on the other side.

Mitered Corner Dovetails. These dovetails involve modifying the shape of the outside tail and the mating pin both. These are dimensioned to include the space for a groove or a rabbet. The mitered portion accommodates the groove or rabbet and gives a very finished mitered corner to the face of the carcase. This is an excellent joint to accommodate the rabbet for a back board in hanging carcases, also the molded top edge of a skirt for a box.