Half-blind Dovetails for Drawers with James Huggett

[@chrisbillings338]

If every teacher / professor were this detailed, and fluid in their classes this country would be much better off.

[@imanutnur7]

Watching this video made me relax. I really enjoy watching a true craftsman work it's like tasting a glass of great wine.

[@SuperKwame1]

The first and the best detailed explanation in 50yrs.

[@WoodAndShop]

Glad you liked it!

[@dogolaxuyen]

His instructions are very detailed. Thanks to the predecessors for preserving traditional crafts.

[@archi-dr5te]

Great method and very well explained - thanks all!

[@damonbeddingfield2958]

The idea of making an A symmetrical dovetail to prove its hand made really sparked something in me. Thank you for the vid, it will reflect in my work for years to come.

[@cornflake73]

I always enjoy watching a master craftsmen doing what he does best, woodworking. I enjoy the art of using the hand tools because you don't see that much anymore. well done sir.

[@patodonohoe2759]

Absolute pleasure to watch such skill. Many Thanks Jim

[@billballeza377]

Very nice work! Your years of experience are apparent and make it look much easier than it is. Bravo!

[@samehdarawshi3537]

love this old way professionalism. Magic

[@nickdarbenzio3073]

Thanks so much! Helped me a lot

[@therealdanh]

Nice technique, very efficient and practical. Thanks to you and Joshua for posting.

[@youngeezer]

Nicely done! I got more out of this video than from the guys who whip out dovetails in 5 minutes. Picked up a couple of good tips from this.

[@josephwilliamcosta]

this guy is VERY good in front of the camera!

[@ericfriedman5237]

Beautifully done and very thoroughly explained. Thank you for sharing your skill/wisdom.

[@WoodAndShop]

Glad it helped Eric! Have you checked out the other tutorials on our site?

[@suburbanhobbyist2752]

Nice job! In the end you said it was a "blind dovetail" but it is a half blind. No matter, it ended up nice. A year ago I did a project with two drawers and did half blind dovetails on both. They weren't horrible but not the grreatest either. Once I glued them up with a bit of sawdust and then planed them they definitely passed the eye test. I'm just about to do 7 small drawers for a jewelry armoire I'm making. Wish me luck!

[@scottb.2022]

Thanks for posting. Picked up some techniques that I will try the next time I do a half blind dovetail.

[@chrisbillings338]

Man this guy is good

[@carverparkes2276]

Excellent. Thanks

[@JasonDiggs]

Thanks for making these videos available. What's the preferred method to cutting a drawer bottom groove in these half-blind dovetail drawers?

[@ikust007]

Thank you , thank you :) really appreciate that you kindly share your knowledge. Thank you also for the history . I learned from Joshua’s video how to make sliding tapered dovetails : fantastic teacher . Cheers sir.

[@WoodAndShop]

Glad it was helpful!

[@davehyper7835]

This is a great video thanks. always a pleasure to see craftsman go about dovetails in there preferred method. thank you for sharing!

[@cicione2007]

Thank you. Enjoyed your instruction. Cant wait to try it

[@msgajhimelret9496]

You are a Master Sir, thank you for posting and sharing this knowledge with us..

[@danmottesheard5294]

very well done my friend

[@sapelesteve]

Very enjoyable watching a master at work! Terrific video................. :)

[@r.m.2301]

Thank you... great video

[@MikeBramm]

Excellent lesson, thank you.

[@casst346]

wow! great job and great skill!

[@stoiulicu]

At what distance from the bottom of the drawer you draw the line for dado? How deep you make the dado groove?

[@richardgarrow9260]

Great thank you for another great video

[@RoelfvanderMerwe]

Nice Speedmaster!

[@robertsoncletokoerner7012]

Muito obrigado pela aula, parabéns!!!

[@장성태-i7f]

Thank you

[@WoodAndShop]

You are welcome!

[@washito422]

Hey josgua loved the video could you ask Mr huggett why he uses what looks like such high bevel angles on his chisels I'm curious thanks for the video again

[@jimhuggett3082]

Hi - Thanks for the kind words. Chisels are ground to a standard 25 degrees. Probably looks like more in the video.

[@washito422]

@@jimhuggett3082 Thank you for your response Sounds good the video probably does add some degrees thanks again for the information and the tour of your awesome shop!

[@robertv8851]

That was great thank you sir ,loved this.

[@bomawi]

Thank you for showing. How do you measure when the drawer-fronts are curved...?

[@jimhuggett3082]

bomawi : for curved faced drawers, when I can I measure and cut the pins and tails before I cut the curve on the drawer face.

[@leehaelters6182]

Great craftsmanship by Perfessor Hugget! But I take issue with the issue of end grain. Agreed that when chopping or paring the end grain of the pins or tails, it is better to err on the side of slightly hollow rather than slightly bellied. Agreed that an undercut meeting surface is one way to ensure a very crisp joint line. I disagree, however, with those many people that casually assert that the end grain glue interface provides no strength whatsoever, and can be ignored in favor of the effort-saving benefits of undercutting. It is inferior to long grain adhesion, surely, but still can provide a definite added measure of durability to a joint with, let’s face it, a tiny amount of glue area relative to the pounding It could possibly receive over the years. For those hoping for a lifetime of performance from their work, I see no harm in learning to pare those end grain surfaces dead flat.

[@ahikernamedgq]

With Walnut, you can also use a white pencil.

[@bighands69]

Which tastes better a banana or an onion. It really comes down to personal taste.

[@skippylippy547]

I loved this video! Thank you :))

[@millionmilesman]

Thanks sir.

[@obde12]

Nice speedmaster.

[@robertbrunston5406]

Not bad! Thanks.

[@orbodman]

your chisels seem to have a high angle bevel.

[@waleidahmed6146]

I love carpentry. I can do anything with my own hands with high accuracy. I want to learn. Can you give me a training course? In which country are you sir?

[@bighands69]

The best training course you can have is practice practice practice.

[@markclemence9429]

He sounds just like Andy Rooney

[@ga5743]

Thank you sir, loved every minute of the watch, except I cringed when you pounded the board with your injured hand. Ouch.

[@michaelballinger6419]

I'm pretty sure it didn't hurt, I wear a wrist brace and it doesn't hurt me when I tap joints together. There's not as much force involved as it looks on camera.

[@jimhuggett3082]

Yeah - me too! :-)

[@davehyper7835]

I was always warning at woodworking not to bang things with your hands..... you will have no end of problem later in life. to this day i always tap with a bit of wood or mallet.

[@michaelballinger6419]

@@davehyper7835 go watch Paul Sellers, he has no problems with his hands.

[@jimhuggett3082]

Hmmm. I can testify two that! Wish I had gotten that advice 30-40 years ago.

[@edwardstretton2315]

14:49 gutted...

[@xblindfolded]

Which is why old dogs are a dying breed. Could have made 5 of these using a jig and a table saw.

[@goranhikl1180]

Nice. You have to be retired in order to do this

[@robertjones6880]

I just don't get it. Why not use a power tool for this? You have drills and tablesaw, and bandsaw, etc.. Why is it different to use one tool but not another? It seems like it takes you a long time to make one drawer. As far as tradition goes, had people had a router in the 1800's, they would have used one.

[@WoodAndShop]

Great question. No doubt that power tools have their place in workshops. However, search online and look at the difference between hand cut dovetails and machine cut dovetails. Routers can only go down to a 1/4" shank (for safety reasons), so it is impossible to get attractive narrow dovetail pins. Nobody has invented a way to mimic hand cut dovetails. So it's not just about doing it a traditional way, but it's more about aesthetics.

[@michaelhogan9053]

If you are looking for Fine furniture or Restoration/Replica pieces the details matter. If you can't see the difference then buy machine furniture. The polishing on a Rolls Royce car grill takes 40 hrs of hand rubbing, that makes no sense to me. And for one piece project work, hand tools can be faster if you are skilled.

[@yardlimit8695]

i used to think that way too, but that's when i couldn't do handcut dovetails.............i spent time watching videos and practicing cutting my own till i got pretty good at them and i can tell you in my opinion it's quicker to do them by hand that to use a machine........and those little defects that might appear do help to make them look better than ones done on the machine. give it a try ,,,,,,,,it takes a little perseverance but to me it was worth it....

[@bighands69]

All hand cut joints take time to learn and the only way of doing it is to do it. When you do thousands of them you become an expert and can become extremely fast at it. So while you are running around your machines setting them up I can cut several dozen joints by hand.

[@Ανακασα]

Olympiakos gate 7

[@thewoodworkingmetalhead2712]

Ναι ρε μαλακα οκ, αλλα γιατι εδω;

[@huggy5431]

My last name is Huggett and yea

[@hswing11]

You ever seen a woodworker wearing a 3 piece suit ? GET REAL

[@glenngoodale1709]

Excellent video