A simple dovetailing aid

[Derek Cohen]

Here is an aid in transferring tails to pins. No, not blue tape ... I've done that one already!

This is such a simple aid that I hesitated posting it before. It should take a few minutes to make, at most. What it is intended for is to ensure that drawer sides (box sides too, I guess) are aligned for square. We take this for granted, but mainly we hope and pray that our marks are true.

Beginning with a tail board ...



It came time to transfer the tails to the pin board ...



What you see here is a bow drawer front which will have half-blind sockets (the area in blue). The remainder will be sawn away (into a bow front) once the dovetails have been completed. This is done later, rather than earlier, so as to retain a reference side.

As mentioned earlier, the issue here is to ensure that the drawer sides are square with the drawer front before transferring dovetails.

All one needs is a simple rectangle that is about 3/4" - 1" high. It must be square on the inside.



(I was asked why the square was not dovetailed. Well it was ... and then I decided to trim it down ... and cut off the wrong side! Kept it as a reminder to check next time!) :\

Once done, use the square as a rest for your chisels ...



Just for good measure, here is a through dovetail I did as well. This enables the back to be aligned as well as the sides be squared ...



As you can see, these parts are a little more of a challenge to align ..



Rear of drawers ..



Regards from Perth

Derek

[Acorn]

Excellent idea, nothing is too simple for me.

Using a guide to align the boards has also been done by Dave Barron which he demonstrates in this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5I45mEWAJv4

[Derek Cohen]

I once did contemplate making David's aligning board. However the square is as effective, is much simpler to construct, and has a wider range of support (e.g. David's board only aligns the side. The square aligns the baseline as well).

Regards from Perth

Derek

[jppierson]

Derek,

What is the purpose of the hinges on the back of your Moxon vise?

Jim

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Jim

The hinges are connected to a spacer, which flips up and down ..





Align the pin board with it ...



Place the tail board on top, place the other end on a rest (in my case it is a non-slip "I-Beam"). After this is done, flip the spacer down so it is out of the way when sawing.



Now you can transfer the dovetails.

The idea is to raise the work above the Moxon surface so that a knife does not cut it up when marking.

Article here: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeToo...Moxon.html

Regards from Perth

Derek

[JustinTyson]

Derek, you bring up an excellent point about making sure that the sides are square to the face when marking dovetails. Every now and then I would end up with a wonky drawer that didn't want to sit flat, and it took me a while to figure out that my marking was the problem.

My solution has been to mark one side, and cut and fit that joint together. Then, with the joint partially assembled, I flip the assembly over to mark the other side, keeping the second side aligned with the first as I mark. I just judge it by eye (like using winding sticks) and have had good results doing that, but using the square is certainly more elegant. I'll have to try that next time.

Hope my description made sense...Hard to explain without pictures.

[mbw]

I made one after seeing David's video. For me it was a game changer, because I always struggled with getting the boards aligned .

Mark

[bennybmn]

A couple years ago our WWing club had a Moxon vise workshop and a bunch of us made them. Such an awesome project, and a few of the guys made guide boards like David's. I've been meaning to do one, but I may try the square first. Also love the hinged spacer! Great info.

[Mike Brady]

I do this step differently:

I do not align the ends of the boards, but rather the baseline of the top (tail) board with end of the vertical (pin) board that is in the vise. If the baseline, which is already established by your chopping of the spaces for the pins in the tailboard, is not square, then your joint won't fit together cleanly anyway. Game over.

I also clamp the assembly described above with a holdfast before I scribe the tails onto the end of the pin board. I use the Veritas adjustable holdfast for this. Then I have both hands free to help assure that the knife marks are dead on.

David's and Dereks' squares work best on boards that are identical thickness. There certainly is nothing wrong with checking for square before marking out dovetails, and rechecking it during the process. I just use a Starrett square for that, which is out on the bench anyway.

[Derek Cohen]

Mike Brady said:

---

I do this step differently:

I do not align the ends of the boards, but rather the baseline of the top (tail) board with end of the vertical (pin) board that is in the vise. If the baseline, which is already established by your chopping of the spaces for the pins in the tailboard, is not square, then your joint won't fit together cleanly anyway. Game over.

I also clamp the assembly described above with a holdfast before I scribe the tails onto the end of the pin board. I use the Veritas adjustable holdfast for this. Then I have both hands free to help assure that the knife marks are dead on.

David's and Dereks' squares work best on boards that are identical thickness. There certainly is nothing wrong with checking for square before marking out dovetails, and rechecking it during the process. I just use a Starrett square for that, which is out on the bench anyway.

---

A couple of points:

Firstly, the boards here are not the same thickness.

Secondly, David's board is an excellent design. It has only two drawbacks for me. One is that it takes up space - not a biggie. Two is that a registration fence is still required to ensure all is flush at the rear. The square combines the rear and the sides in one.

Thirdly, one of the benefits from using the blue tape method is that you do not mark the wood, but simply one stroke and you slice the tape (which can then be peeled away). This reduces the likelihood of mis-marking. Further, should you be concerned that you did mis-mark, then simply peel off the tape, apply fresh tape, and mark again.

Regards from Perth

Derek