Dovetails By Hand - Invisible Gap Repair

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

How to handcut Through Dovetails: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e2m2o3tsfcd3mrM How to handcut Half-Blind Dovetails: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qamTpZZjiqyFjrs

[@Mr_Rick]

Had me on pins and needles. Whew! Good on ya!

[@Mr_Rick]

I had a bad dovetail gap that I just tried to fix by what you shared here. It came out fantastic. I really appreciate learning something of real substance. Thanks for sharing all your expertise Rob! Cheers!

[@barryomahony4983]

Excellent. It's much more helpful when the whole process is shown, rather than just saying "cut a thin wedge and pound it in". Almost all of us make mistakes on dovetail joints. Thanks.

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Been waiting a while to shoot this one. Really want to post it

[@johnnydingo8680]

My kind of video, fixing the mistakes. I always make some :)

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Me too

[@johntailing5283]

Awesome! Shooting nothing more than a slither- it’s another level ! ! !

[@laurencelance586]

I got into trouble on the bench dovetails. Rob's excellent advice made the repair all but invisable. You have to know what to look for to find it!

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Laurence you dont make mistakes!!

[@robinmyman]

Much better than expected...in fact...perfect.

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Well, if you have to make a mistake it is good to know you can prevent anyone else from finding out. Unless you do a youtube about it and tell the world!

[@Mr_Rick]

Rob....I just used your technique to fix one gap on 4 dovetails out of 16 for a box I made. I do alot of dovetails and usually pretty good but like you say once in a while this happens. I have to tell ya.... Your technique worked like a charm! Thank you sir for sharing. The gaps are gone. Cheers!!

[@seorepairlab]

I admire such patience! This has been a joy!

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Thnaks for watching

[@1deerndingo]

Another value packed video that contains information that has taken a lifetime to collect.

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Thanks

[@paulkarch3318]

Beautiful. He's the master of the woodshop.

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Thanks

[@jimfromri]

Wow, nerve wracking to make the gap bigger in order to fix it. But it made the final repair nearly invisible. Thanks for the lesson. Great video.

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Give it a try

[@kevinparker4160]

Best craftsman and teacher on the internet. Love these videos.

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Keep watching and I will keep filming

[@chrisjcichocki]

My initial thought was to make a "shelf" in the replacement wood by sawing down into the end grain, then meet that point with a cut across from the side to make an "L". Then pare a slice of wood off with a chisel. But you pull off cutting .025" wedges like it's a piece of cake! Then you plane the chips down and are still able to walk away with the tips of your fingers in tact! :) Beautiful result, Rob. Even Jake's fine camera work can't find the repair.

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Thanks , with good hand tools its pretty easy

[@Exodus5K]

Re-cutting a kerf so that gap is square! Cutting a miter on the wedges so you can get end grain on both sides! Those 2 tips alone were so helpful. Thank you Rob.

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

You bet

[@MrKemper45]

Thanks Rob. I am improving my dovetailing skills using your "new" method. But try as I might I always end up with a few that aren't quite perfect. This will come in handy until I get there. The idea of filling the gaps from each direction on the end grain had not occurred to me on my previous repairs. Another vote for showing the repair to the gap at the baseline.

[@beerymr]

Your patience is incredible. I will benefit greatly from your methods on fixing mistakes. We know they’re going to happen. Now, if I can develop your patience... Thanks, Rob. I would appreciate seeing your methods for fixing the other problems with that joint.

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Thats for another video

[@mgoohgoo7664]

Man the pro spline. Great ideas. Thanks for this trick.

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

You are welcome

[@tykerthereto9041]

You make it look easy Rob. Thanks. I too can do dovetails but not straight off the saw. I'm a framer so not much time left after work to practice. Thanks for your being.😀

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

just do good practice and you will get it

[@mgoohgoo7664]

@@RobCosmanWoodworking decently

[@bobg8997]

Rob - I may have missed this, but are you going to demo. fixes for the other numbered flaws? I'm particularly interested in the horizontal gaps where the tails meet the adjoining board.

[@adamnott3062]

Also interested in seeing how to repair a gap into the baseline!

[@davegodson3039]

@@adamnott3062 me too!

[@joehirschegger7723]

I concur! Would love to see that repair. I make this mistake a lot due to gorilla chisling

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

This video got a bit long so we stopped where we were. Will do another one on the baseline gap if this video does well

[@timblaney4664]

@@RobCosmanWoodworking A video on fixing the one labeled #2 would be really helpful.

[@davidmatke248]

A new video! This is going to be the highlight of my day!

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Hope you enjoy!

[@Cactustone]

Outstanding lesson. Thank you. It's nice to see you are working with your standard saw (resin handle). For those of us that take your advice seriously (perhaps to a fault), it can sometimes be tempting to buy the highest-end option available, especially since you advocate "buying your tools once." Great advice, but sometime dangerous, too. :)

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

I think the good advice ourweighs the danger

[@shanejohnson800]

I’ve been doing dovetails now for 2 years and always learn something new from rob!! Oh and I want a cosman saw lol

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Now is the best time of year to buy one, we have some great Christmas sales going on

[@norm_olsen]

The thing I walk away learning from this video is that you are capable of making mistakes like the rest of us 😉 In all seriousness though, I've seen videos of people mixing sawdust with glue and rubbing it in the gaps, but seeing you deliberating widening the gap in question with a saw and making and inserting a miniature shims simply works! Awesome video, Rob!

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Thnaks for watching and commenting Norman

[@kenstewart687]

Also very good filming. My compliments to the cameraman. I was impressed by the wood working technique of the master and that resolution on the shot of the chisel blade was amazing. Great job, keep up the good work.

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Thanks. Thats my son Jake on the camera

[@chrisc4527]

PERFECT TIMING!!! Beginner making my third box, a Christmas gift, all hand planed from rough sawn. Late last night I plunge routed a groove on the wrong face of one pin board 😱😖. Only fix I can see is flipping the tail board and mismatching pins and tails, which will open all sorts of gaps. Thank you for putting all this out there.

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Send us some pics of your boxes and we will post them to our site

[@chrisc4527]

😳 thank you, but for full disclosure I have not yet figured out assembling your wood hinge yet and am cheating and using brass hinges on these first boxes. Wood hinges are scheduled for box number six or seven 😄.

[@andrewbrown8148]

Wow, excellent technique~! Now, if I can learn to pull that off on my mistakes. Very good demo~! Thanks Rob~!!

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Glad you found it helpful

[@bryandowdey1779]

I really enjoy your helpful and professional woodworking tips and tricks and am learning a lot. Thanks Rob!

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

What video should we do next?

[@bryandowdey1779]

RobCosman.com I have issues with both chipping of edge cuts and burn when using my table saw despite having a new sharp blade. A video with tips to avoid wood burn and chipping would be very helpful.

[@Gotmovezlikejagga]

Thank you Rob, learned so much from this, the information will be put to good use. We appreciate real life practical videos.

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

What video should i do next?

[@ckutzli]

@@RobCosmanWoodworking what about small repairs with glue and sawdust or whatever trick you use to cover small fixes

[@Gotmovezlikejagga]

@@RobCosmanWoodworking I've noticed you notch the horizontal board when inserting it into a dado, using a stopped dado. I believe you do this to ensure a crisp intersection. This avoids visible marking knife lines, saw cut marks of chipped edges from the router plane. Perhaps you could demo your process. I believe it is an improvement over running the dado to the end of the board, but it still requires precise layout, cuts and care.

[@saundersd1962]

You can also use veneer strips in the same way to pack a bad joint so it’s invisible. Thanks for a very clear and excellent video lesson on dovetail repair

[@gbwildlifeuk8269]

Only if you've got veneer strips! But you'd certainly have off cuts of the wood you used.

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Thats essentially what you are making - a piece of veneer...but out of the same wood so it blends

[@BrianThorstad]

Next level craftsman repair

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Thats what we should have titled it

[@williamshaffer2562]

Professor Cos another fine tip. Enjoy your attention to detail Sir. This video was very helpful to my "old man" eyes thank you. Semper Fi

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

You are welcome

[@ttrinneer]

Brilliant! Never thought of using 2 pieces to match both sides

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Best way to go for a perfect repair

[@jareddietrich2345]

Super job, love the attention to detail!

[@wolfman75]

Thank You Sir!!! Great Info!!! Flawless Repair!!! Well Done!!!🤔👍😎😃

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Thanks

[@larrychristensen5917]

Thanks for posting the video. I could put this information to good use.

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ckutzli]

Excellent repair, your truly an amazing woodworker. I learn something each video. Thank you Rob

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Thanks for watching

[@thewoodlesworkshop.157]

Wow! A very good error correction method. Thank you very much Rob. And take care of yourself there. :)

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Always

[@daniellangdon5514]

Great timing. Making a box for my mom out of some wood from my late grandmas house and I cut on the wrong side of the line last night. Will be using this to fix it

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Let me know how it turns out. Send me a picture

[@JamesVanderVeen]

I'll definitely have to try this technique. Thanks!

[@androidgameplays4every13]

Gaps in dovetails are unavoidable for me and for this reason this is one the most useful videos, thank you very much! unfortunately gap #2 is also extremely familiar .

[@walterrider9600]

thank you

[@dirtyframer]

Always great info, thanks for helping us all improve!

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

My pleasure!

[@mikaelfischer8429]

Been hoping you would do another video and here it is. Thank you sir for doing this particular one.👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍❤

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

You bet. Thnaks for watching

[@setdown2]

Nice job as always...One question...that bench vise you were using,does it sometimes get in the way as you have to reach over it to get to your work...is it a inconvenience at times ??? Stay safe...

[@ottomaselli7762]

Very interesting. Great detail work. !!! Thanks for the video

[@juancamore05]

Thanks Rob for a great video!! My suggestion for another video like this one would be how to fix a wooden hinge box if the hinge breaks.

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Did that happen to you?

[@juancamore05]

@@RobCosmanWoodworking I’m afraid it did. 🤦🏻‍♂️ I miscalculated how close the pivot of the hinge was to the back face. When I planed the dowel to be flush with the back and opened the lid after glue up, the walls of the dowel became too thin so they broke and the pins popped out. What kills me is that the dovetails on this box we pretty close to be spot on! I hope I can save this box! 😅

[@gav2759]

Not that I ever make mistakes, but if I did this is how I'd fix them. By this time I should have ceased to be surprised by the number of KZbin "experts" advocating the old "rubbing in sawdust and glue" hack. Moreover, they demonstrate it as a matter of course and not just for the odd slip of the saw.

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

There is a lot of folks who have very little real experience or training out there on YuoTube. There are also some great guys. Problem is trying to sort them all out

[@colinwinterburn6136]

Hey, Rob, did your wheel wrights gauge come with a flat side or did you do it yourself. Mine rolled off the table but I was lucky it hit my broken toe so the tool was fine. Colin Winterburn

[@Brough_builds]

Love these vids and they always seem to co.e when I need them Thanks Rob 👍👍👌👌

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Thats because we are clairvoyant

[@poolbuilder27]

Thanks Rob. This has been very helpful. On a side note, I recently saw a post on Reddit that had interesting joinery. Its an old Turkish built cabin. The corners have something called a Swallow-Tail joint. Wish I could post a pic. Any chance at making a video to show how to make it? At first I thought they were slid together like a dovetail, but upon looking closer at the pic you can just barely see they are stacked. They look like fancy tenons. But I have no clue how to cut the tails. Would love if you could help.

[@АлексейАлександров-и2о]

Good lesson, Bob!

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Glad you liked it!

[@felipehuibonhoa7338]

Wow! That's all I can say. Wow!

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Thanks

[@gsawoodworking969]

Great repair thank you

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Thanks for watching

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Thanks for watching

[@kevinklaas776]

Wow. Amazing repair!

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Thanks!

[@dukeengine1339]

This will be useful, even if it shouldn't if I do things right as you teach us... Lol! Thanks Rob!

[@jeffdutton1910]

As we are all human, we are all apt to err. The difference between a master of his craft (whatever it may be) and everyone else, is the ability to accommodate an error in a way that is invisible to the observer.

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

I agree with you

[@chinthakawickramasinghe4879]

This reminds me your sawing and chiseling lessons, if practiced sawing more often wouldn’t we have such difficulty in filling gap, would we? , Anyway I admire your patience and tips and tricks in closing gaps which are inevitable in reaching towards expected perfection. Thanks in millions

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

You are a woodworking philosopher!!!!

[@chinthakawickramasinghe4879]

Thanks,You are the sole mentor of what I am in dovetails. Expect to see more

[@stevebosun7410]

Hi Rob, what happens when you apply finish? Does it highlight the repairs?

[@storylineamerica4108]

Hey Rob, did you ever get a chance to try the Narex Richter chisels?

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Coming up, no spoilers though!

[@storylineamerica4108]

@@RobCosmanWoodworking Do you have a date set?

[@joehirschegger7723]

Seen some great reviews of these chisels...would love to hear Rob's take on them

[@riskmandel1]

this is so helpful. Thank you!

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

You bet

[@sisyphushappyxvx]

When he was moving toward the shooting board with that teenie little wedge, I said, "That's crazy!" Then Rob said, "This is crazy, but I'm going to shoot this." Great video, Rob!

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

That was crazy

[@bmedicky]

Great stuff. Is it possible the shims are a bit dark from wetting by the glue, and that they'll lighten up after the moisture in the glue evaporates?

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Absolutely

[@alecreid9983]

Working on an hourly rate of $100 that makes that job worth at least another $50, that will teach you not to make many mistakes if nothing does but you can't let a job go out like that anyway, well demonstrared,

[@christianestrada5362]

Is there a point when you decide it would be better to just redo the joint?

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Oh yes...If its not worth the effort of repair, if I was just at the start verses the end of a project, lots of considerations

[@dorsetdumpling5387]

Aw heck! - all I wanted to know was the best way to mix glue and sawdust……

[@tombaker3794]

This is a great tutorial, but it occurs to me that ( in my nonprofessional opinion ) the procedures called for with the first fix herein require a level of craftsmanship and detail work two steps above those necessary for the cutting of the dovetails. If I tried to recut the side of a tail, that I couldn't cut straight the first time around, I'm going to end up with the Mariana Trench on the side of my project. For me, the best fix would be to cut a small end grain wedge to pound into the original error, and rely on the wood to compress if needed.

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Just a little sawing practice is all you need. Getting more confident with you saw gives you super powers

[@johnhannon]

When I have dovetail gaps, it always seems to be the half dovetails on the ends for some reason.

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Sounds like a baseline issue

[@johnhannon]

@@RobCosmanWoodworking Thanks Rob, I have to practice more.

[@mgoohgoo7664]

How sharp your dam plane that your handplanes for trimming peace this thin.

[@barryomahony4983]

He's got plenty of other videos on that. :) I imagine he finished it on a 16,000 grit Shapton stone

[@mgoohgoo7664]

@@barryomahony4983 Now this. And Oslo now his videos about sharpening videos. Bit did you see how tiny this peace was and he you see a plane that is heavy as a wooden jointed and housed for flattening boards. That's incredible.

[@vnvet2282]

excuse #1: gaps show my dovetails are hand, not machine, made. excuse #2: gaps provide ventilation (I tell my wife).

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

#1 that’s exactly why I don’t want gaps. I want someone to think it was machine made, but that a machine couldn’t possibly make them with pins that small.

[@danielszemborski]

Rob Cosman is to dovetails as a dentist is to teeth.

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

But no novicane

[@thwwoodcraft1449]

So first here!

[@RobCosmanWoodworking]

Yes you are!.. 5 stars for you

[@thwwoodcraft1449]

@@RobCosmanWoodworking and here I thought my life was for naught