Comments on: Four Reasons for Tails-first Dovetails

By: pat oughton

pat oughton — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:59:36 +0000

reason 3 – having trouble getting my head around the rabbet on the tails – is there an article I can read somewhere which explains this?

By: Cosmo

Cosmo — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:37:35 +0000

Personally, I follow the Rob Cosman school of thought on this issue(which I think he credits to one of his teachers Alan Peters). Tails first is a no-brainer. Here’s the rationale:

If you cut pins first then you have to make 2 sets of perfect cuts: perfect tails to match perfectly perpendicular pin cuts.

VS.

If you cut tails first you only have to cut perfect pins. Any minor variations in the tails that would otherwise create a gap or poor fit – like a saw cut that angles off the line – won’t put your joint fit at risk. Whatever your end tail profile is – un-perfect angles and all – are transfered to the pins during the marking process for you to follow.

Hand-cut dovetails are difficult enough to execute perfectly. Why make it harder on yourself?

Thanks Rob.

Cosmo

By: Mark Chamness

Mark Chamness — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:23:46 +0000

Another opinion: Frank Klausz does pins-first – no measuring or marking needed. Just use your eye.
- Dovetail A Drawer -
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=G-o4jryTkUc

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 23:07:01 +0000

Regarding Rob Cosman, he actually uses that rabbeting technique on one of his videos. He calls it "The 140 trick" and he attributes it to Alan Peters. He only takes about 1/32" of wood off, though, and he doesn’t adjust the scribe depth.. the extra length comes off when he planes them flush. It was in the drawer-making video that he used it.

M.Mike

By: Christopher Schwarz

Christopher Schwarz — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:22:37 +0000

Josh,

You do have to reset your marking gauge, which takes a little time. But you save more time by not having to line up your tail and pin boards. Net-net:

The technique saves me time.

Chris

By: Christopher Schwarz

Christopher Schwarz — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:21:38 +0000

You’re not missing anything. I didn’t cut rabbets on that particular set.

Chris

By: Mike Hamilton

Mike Hamilton — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:20:10 +0000

I’m confused. The picture of gang cutting tails doesn’t look like the rabbets have been cut, but the text about rabbeting says you do that before cutting the tails. What am I missing?

Thanks,
Mike

By: Josh

Josh — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:19:50 +0000

Does the rabbet trick make it more tedious to mark the depth of the pins since it’s no longer the thickness of the tails board?

By: LJ

LJ — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:24:16 +0000

Christopher,
In a special issue that arrived in my mail just yesterday, Hand Tool Skills from Fine Woodworking, Christian Becksvoort say he’s a tails first guy. That’s pretty decent company.
Peace,
LJ

By: DChenard

DChenard — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:35:13 +0000

I agree with 1 and 4, disagree with 2 and 3.

One doesn’t need a knife to mark the pins from tails, even narrow ones, unless the sides are 2" thick or thereabouts A sharp pencil does work fine, and doesn’t run the risk of the saw following the knife mark instead of running next to it (this gets more likely the thinner your saw kerf is). And a pencil mark is not any less precise than a knife mark…

At first glance the rabbet trick seems like a good idea, as it allows positive registration. However, the joint is weakened in the process (still most likely strong enough, yet…), and the time required to setup and cut the rabbet makes it not worth it IMHO, unless making production runs. Rob Cosman’s trick of using a plane on its side works quite well, and takes quite a bit less time than cutting rabbets.

My £0.02,

Enjoying the London rain