Laying Out Perfect Dovetails with a Few Affordable Tools

Joshua shows a traditional method to laying out perfectly spaced tails on a dovetail joint. Links to dividers, marking gauge, combination square, sliding bevel square, etc:
* Dividers: amzn.to/2Olvn9c
* Combination square: amzn.to/3591cI0
* Marking Gauge: amzn.to/31IlVjU
* Vintage sliding bevel gauge: ebay.to/2ngEgWi
* A good new sliding bevel gauge: amzn.to/2LMQGi6
* 0.5mm mechanical pencils: amzn.to/2Mc1TI5
* Dovetail Saw used by Frank Klausz: bit.ly/2AJSfXI
* Free Moravian Workbench plans: woodandshop.com/moravianworkb...
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[@Franco4590]

Joshua, Love your channel. I believe i'm a better woodworker cause of you. Thanks for sharing.

[@WoodAndShop]

Ah, thanks for the kind words. Glad it's been helpful!

[@tworiversworkshop6111]

Very good, thank you!

[@skippylippy547]

You made that look so easy! Very nice video. Thank you.

[@insanusvir]

This is the clearest and best explanation I have seen on dovetail layout. I have gone back and watched others again and they are easier to understand. Thank you

[@vernonraines3002]

Thanks. Answered a lot of question.

[@ingwiefreak]

Ive seen lots of videos on this technique and yours is the most clearly explained .

[@WoodAndShop]

Great to hear! Yeah, this skill is usually hurried through in a full tutorial, which is why I wanted to focus in just on this part.

[@CinkSVideo]

I’ve watched this process many times but yours is the first time I’ve seen the steps so clearly explained.

[@chriscorley7034]

This is one of the most practical easy to understand no nonsense approach to beginner dovetail work. Thank you, you are really making better woodworkers.

[@einsteinbpc]

You blew my mind with the spacing. And thank you so much for throwing the angles out the window. We overthink things too much these days rather than just making.

[@znoot]

"Do what looks good." Thank you. So many people always put up those rules, like you have to use 1:6 for soft woods and 1:8 for hard woods. I always use somewhere around 1:6 so around 9°, and i've never had hard wood split or anything like that.

[@MermaidMakes]

It’s gatekeeping! Every craft or art has people like that in it. You just do what works for you. My husband and I recently built a fiddle and broke a lot of the erroneous rules. It works and sounds awesome, but we didn’t have all these expensive tools and things they tell you that you need. We didn’t use the highest quality wood. We didn’t have any fancy gadgets. We just did it for fun, and that’s all that matters!

[@timothymallon]

That's just about the easiest way I have seen to layout dovetails. Thank you!

[@chriscunicelli7070]

Great! Thanks Josh.

[@Arco326]

Love the way you organized the pins...no fuss... easy to do...

[@cds957]

Great video sir, it's nice to watch your site without a lot of hype...thank you.

[@DH-ry2ho]

Such a great teacher. Thank you!

[@animeclips7232]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge, it is indeed very helpful for me and I am following these ways.

[@HansHoffmeister]

best layout explanation I have seen, thank you so much!

[@The78bluedevils]

Thanks, you made it look so simple .

[@WoodAndShop]

You're welcome Tony!

[@prspastor]

Perfect! Thanks for this great lesson.

[@WoodAndShop]

You're most welcome!

[@ryanallthewiser]

Great and easy to follow video Joshua.

[@richardsilva-spokane3436]

Excellent video! You explained it so simply 👍👍👍

[@johnroth8275]

Thanks. Very helpful.

[@WoodAndShop]

Glad you liked it!

[@mrbotak9011]

Tq..best explanation..

[@kevindowd7769]

Excellent Video... Thanks!

[@WoodAndShop]

You're most welcome Kevin! Would you mind subscribing to my channel?

[@ronhau1542]

Okay, I’m about to start trying learn this and layout is what I wasn’t following. I can follow this. TY!

[@edvaldolopesferraz1109]

Muito bom!

[@horncraftindiawoodenhandic6055]

Good way of explaining your work

[@WoodAndShop]

Thanks!

[@thewoodlesworkshop.157]

Very useful video ... Thank you. Take care of yourself and good luck.

[@WoodAndShop]

Thanks!

[@andrewooddotcom]

Thanks for video :)

[@WoodAndShop]

You're most welcome!

[@walterrider9600]

thank you

[@WoodAndShop]

You're most welcome Walter!

[@kevbishupstate2115]

Just found your channel one video and had to subscribe I believe I will be learning a lot from you 👍

[@ikust007]

Clear and clean explanations. Thank you ! God I love those Moravian benches

[@WoodAndShop]

Thanks! Come by and try a Moravian Workbench out sometime!

[@ikust007]

I bought the video you made with Mr. Myers:)) this is my DREAM bench . Can’t wait to start it. There is something about it that I love that I can’t explain. Btw: did you make a video about the Moravian step stool!!? I live in Quebec .. it’s a bit far for a weekend :((

[@WoodAndShop]

@@ikust007 Cool! Yeah, it's my favorite style of workbench, because it's sturdy without being heavy. Yes, I made the video about the Moravian Footstool. Well, you can imagine that you're here in the school!

[@ikust007]

Wood and Shop The video is for sale ?

[@ikust007]

Wood and Shop I am looking on your site to find the Moravian footstool: love the angled legs

[@Rich32262]

If you haven't already, get yourself a mechanical drafting pencil. When you want more graphite it comes out in shorter increments and therefore it doesn't break as easily. I paid about $10. wouldn't consider going back to the cheap ones. Great instruction as usual.

[@philstevens6934]

Excellent video. I have always laid out pins first. I would be interested to know why you start with the tails. Many thanks.

[@sawyerphillips9493]

This was a great video, I'm definitely going to use this technique. How do you layout the other piece though?

[@MRrwmac]

Well explained and demonstrated. I’ve done dovetails but still wonder if it’s more the ascetics than the strength (because of the better glues today) that make them so appealing to us woodworkers?

[@WoodAndShop]

For me it is definitely aesthetics, but also strength. There aren't any stronger joints for holding cases together. But funnily enough, dovetails used to be seen as provincial, so higher society would have them hidden. Here's another one of my videos that shows this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l5uqY2l3hZuImJI

[@markjohnston7172]

MRrwmac Historic hide glues were just as strong as the glues used today by furniture makers.

[@mrferris4379]

Would of been good to have mentioned the 1-6 (mark 1 up from a edge 6 alongside and match the 2 points to find the angle)for softwood or fast grown or 1-9 for hardwood or figured as a general guide line though I have found very little need to worry about it except in maybe draw fronts or where a lot of stress will be exerted.

[@distortedodin]

This showed up in my KZbin list. I know it's older...but still well done. Unfortunately the link to the dividers is not working. Does anyone have a link to one they use and like, please?

[@bradiannantuono8225]

Thanks somehow I could not get my mind around how to measure them out.

[@WoodAndShop]

No measuring required! Just pull out a board and try it, and it'll make sense to you.

[@ot9180]

Hope everything’s good, it’s been a while.

[@FredoJ]

Hi, I liked your video... I was just a little nervous when you used the beveled square with the tip upwards, when usually one tends to lean our face and eyes towards the layout

[@WoodAndShop]

Yeah, it's like an 18th Century execution tool!

[@FrissOderLassEs]

7:40 In my head I hear: 'I usually don't break the tip off that often, since I really like a pencil, but this is just for demonstration purposes"

[@DeeegerD]

You're the second guy I've watched use the step method to divide the tails. Wouldn't it just be quicker to measure and divide by the number you want, then set your divider to that measure?

[@WoodAndShop]

Nope, not for me! It really only takes a few seconds to do it this way.

[@przybyla420]

What about the half pins...

[@DonsWoodies]

I don't understand why the end cuts are called half pins. The actual pins are smaller than the "half pins".

[@StrateLaceD]

you dont show pin layout

[@przybyla420]

cut the tails, tidy them up with a chisel and then mark the pins directly from the tail board with a knife and then use a small square to make connect the line from on the end grain down to your baseline.

[@MrAmisto]

Wish you would show the other half of the job, creating the connecting piece, so if the measurements are kept the same, the other piece will fit? Does it not have to be cut in reverse? Why not do the rest of the video for inexperienced wood cutters. This leaves many questions...

[@WoodAndShop]

Because there are a ton of full tutorials on KZbin on making the whole dovetail joint...including my channel and website. This specifically shows how to lay out the tails in a uniform manner.

[@goldendogwoodworks6675]

thank you, but i must give you one complaint. I am not searching everywhere for vintage tools. Thanks for the fun.

[@WoodAndShop]

Most of the tools I listed are brand new

[@GUYV3RZ3RO]

Disrespecting Frank that way just cause me to completely ignore your videos. Good luck