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# 31. WIA – Dovetailing: Pins vs. Tails, Part 3

Download Quicktime (*.mov)
Run time: 17 minutes, 04 seconds

In this episode Frank Klausz discusses the importance of undercutting below the base line, and his preference for cutting both pins and tails flush with the boards. Roy Underhill introduces the concept of “bishopping”, which involves leaving the pins proud and using a ball peen hammer to “spread out” the protruding wood to make the fit appear better than it truly is.

Later, both present several variations on the dovetails:

  1. Half-lapped (or half-blind) dovetails: Look carefully inside this joint, as “there is room to undercut in every direction”.
  2. “Secret” mitered dovetail: Most of the joint is concealed, so it is impossible to determine how “clean” the joint may be. Frank Klaus will cover more on this joint, when he actually cuts one in the Advanced Dovetailing session. I will also have this session on film.
  3. In one segment Roy Underhill calls himself “The Rhinestone Wood Guy” – to the delight of the audience.
  4. The Puzzle Dovetail, done on the diagonal.
  5. The Rising Dovetail, used to hold mallet heads and highlighted on the workbench in use for this session.
  6. The Swallow Tail dovetail – I am not sure if this one is accurate, but it is on the video. Klausz and Underhill agreed that this one is truly a scarf joint. And I believe it is a very interesting joint. Layout involves careful work with gauges, etc.

A short discussion ensued on chisels suitable for dovetailing work. Most important: Sharp cutting edges, and beveled edges, to allow the chisel to get in tight quarters! When asked about the best angle to sharpen the chisels, Klausz answers, true to form: “The angle is SHARP!”

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# 30. WIA – Dovetailing: Pins vs. Tails, Part 2

Download Quicktime (*.mov)
Run time: 21 minutes, 05 seconds

In the last episode, Frank Klausz and Roy Underhill reviewed the basics, and why dovetails should be cut a certain way.

In this episode Frank Klausz actually cuts the pins and the tails, explaining in detail how the layout should be done for best results. Hilarious at times, but dead serious when it comes to the subject of dovetails, it is easy to see it is passion in its purest form that drives Klausz to be the master he is.

When asked if plywood would be OK for drawer bottoms, his response was “… I would NOT have plywood in my house – here, take 30 dollars and buy some decent hardwoods for those drawer bottoms…”

The through dovetails he cut during this session were perfect, without the need to do any “bishoping” (using a small hammer to fill in the gaps in the tails). This is explained in the video in detail. The joint Klausz made – consider he did this with a camera over and under his shoulder, and other fun interruptions:

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# 29. WIA – Dovetailing: Pins vs. Tails, Part 1

Download Quicktime (*.mov)
Run time: 2a minutes, 49 seconds

This is Part 1 of 3 – the first session on dovetailing. I will have a separate video series for the session on Advanced Dovetailing, also with Frank Klausz. The introduction was by Popular Woodworking magazine’s Publisher Steve Shanesy.

Summary:
It was great to watch Frank Klausz and Roy Underhill onstage. For me it was a first, very educational, and a most entertaining experience. Unless needed, I will not edit the video much, to give you the best experience and the feeling of being there during the sessions. But I have divided this one into three Parts, to make it easier to watch at one sitting, and to download in high resolution (this means you can almost watch it full-screen).

In addition to the video above, I made the following short notes on items I thought important:

  1. Session Survey (by show of hands – my estimates on the hand count): Approximately 7 people cut pins first; about 40 people cut tails first. The rest of the audience of about 200? I don’t know.
  2. Frank Klausz used to cut tails and pins about the same size. Recently he has been cutting pins a little smaller than he used to.
  3. When cutting out the waste, undercut by about 2° to 3°.
  4. Always use the widest chisel possible to cut out the waste. This is most important to get a straight baseline.
  5. “Make sawdust for the tails from the pieces we don’t need”. In the video he demonstrates this to mean “cut on the waste side of the pencil marks.”
  6. Klausz uses a pencil to mark, because he can’t cut a knife mark in two; and he can see a pencil line better!
  7. On the tails board: Cut the half-pins with the side teeth on the saw (i.e., those closest to the marking gauge line) really tight to the base line.
  8. Use white Elmer’s glue for all joints – this gives us best chance to be able to properly glue the joint without the glue starting to set.
  9. Reserve hot hide glue for furniture refinishing.

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