Popular Mechanics - USA (2022-05 & 2022-06)

PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE

popularmechanics.co.za

WOODWORKINGWOODWORKING

PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE

TOOL LIST

You’ll require the following tools to create

classic through-dovetail joints by hand:

» Accurate try square

» Western dovetail saw or

Japanese dozuki saw

» Marking knife

» Sharp bench chisels

» Coping saw or fret saw

» 3M blue painter’s tape

» 0.5 mm mechanical pencil

» Marking gauge

» Block plane

» Pair of dividers

» Sliding-bevel gauge or dovetail guide

1”

8”

5.44° 6.34°

8.13°

9.46°

11.31°

1” 1” 1” 1”

4”

1:8

1:7

1:6

1:5

1:4

14° pin widths limited by

router shank diameter

1.8 ratio 5.44° traditional

narrow pins

Pin board

Tail board

Pin

Tail

Half pin Half pin

Pin board

Tail board

Pin

Tail

Half pin Half pin

DOVETAIL ANGLES

Some say hardwoods require a steeper angle compared to softwoods. Dovetail

angles are usually quoted in ratios, for example 1:5, 1:6, 1:7, and 1:8. This is a remnant

from times gone by. It means that if you draw a 90° angle and one line of the angle

is five inches long and the other is one inch long, a line (hypotenuse) drawn between

the ends of the two initial lines will give you the slope angle required for your dovetails

• in this case, 1:5. (Refer to the dovetail ratios and angles drawing, below.) The angle
  you choose is entirely up to you. We opted for a 1:8 ratio for our joints.

DOVETAIL GUIDES
There is a wide variety of dovetail-angle
guides available, from magnetic ones that
keep your saw against the guide, to guides
created specifically to use with a marking
knife and pencil. As you become more
proficient in cutting these wonderful joints,
you’ll gradually dispense with the guides
and revel in the pleasure of quickly cutting
these handsome joints freehand.

HALF-BLIND DOVETAILS

MACHINE-CUT DOVETAILS

HAND-CUT DOVETAILS

THROUGH DOVETAILS

TRADITIONAL DOVETAIL

RATIOS AND THEIR

ACTUAL ANGLES

(Not to

scale)