Techniques

Get hand-cut appearance with half the fuss.

Bandsawn dovetails that have a hand-cut appearance.

If you've labored over handcut through dovetails, you'll be amazed how much faster they can be cut on the bandsaw. You get all the benefits, including strong joints, classic appearance, the ability to use boards of any thickness and the freedom to size and space the pins and tails however you want. The only limiting factor is your bandsaw's throat capacity. My saw allows making joints up to 14" wide. That's wide enough for any drawer, but not for a blanket chest.

As with any technique, mastering this one takes a little practice. You'll need a sharp blade for your bandsaw. I keep a chisel handy, too, for finetuning the fit.

Make the Jig

The jig is an angled sled. The slop angle you've chosen for the pins determines the sled's angle. Ratios of 1:6 and 1:8 are commonly used to determine pin slope angles. To create pins with a 1-to-6 slope, make a sled that slopes at 10°.

Cut the angled sides with your miter saw—you can cut both sides at once by centering a wide piece and making one cut. You could also cut the angled sides on the bandsaw or tablesaw, using the fence and a tapering jig. Make sure the angled pieces are identical. Then simply glue and nail the parts together to create the angled sled.

This jig makes it easy to cut both sides of the pins. After cutting all sides that slope in one direction, you simply rotate the sled and reposition the workpiece to cut the sides that slope the other direction.

Lay Out and Cut Pins

Lay out the pins on the end of one board, after scribing the board thickness onto the ends of all the boards (Photo 3). As with handcut dovetails, the number of pins, their spacing and the angle at which they slope is up to you. Typically, half pins are used at both ends of the board.

Before you start cutting, strike lines on the end of the board to indicate the cutting angle. These lines aren't precise, they're simply indicators. Use them to make sure the sled is oriented correctly and to assure you cut on the correct lines.

Place the workpiece on the sled, against its fence and make a straight cut to the scribe line on one side of each pin (Photo 4). I make these cuts freehand, but you could also use the bandsaw's fence.

Go back and widen each saw kerf (Photo 5). To cut the other side of the pins, keep the workpiece facing the same direction, but rotate your sled 180°, so it slopes in the opposite direction (Photo 6).

To clean out the waste and establish straight shoulders between the pins, remove the workpiece from the sled and flip it over. First, cut an arc to the scribe mark between each pin (Photo 7). Do not cut beyond

Cutting dovetails on the bandsaw takes half as long as cutting them by hand.

the scribe line. Rotate the board to cut the shoulder (Photo 8). Set the fence so the blade cuts precisely at the scribe line.

Check the shoulders you've just cut to make sure they're straight and smooth. Use a chisel to pare any rough edges that remain from the

straight-in cuts you made to widen the angled kerfs (Photo 5).

Cut the Tails and Test Fit

When the pin boards are complete, transfer the pins to the tail board (Photo 9). Define the pin sockets by making angled cuts to the scribe line (Photo 10). Once the sockets are defined, nibble out the waste and cut the half pin shoulders (Photo 11). Work slowly, being sure to never go over the line. Press the pieces together (Photo 12). Ideally, they'll slip together with light pressure. If you have to use a mallet, they're too tight: When you apply glue, they won't go at all.

1 Outfit your bandsaw with a 1/8" blade with 14 teeth per inch (tpi). Bandsawn dovetails require making sharp turns in confined spaces. You'll also have to replace your saw's metal or ceramic guide blocks with Cool Blocks. Cool Blocks support the thin blade without damaging its teeth.

3 Locate the pins on the end of one board. Then use an adjustable square to transfer the straight lines to the remaining pin board faces. Layout bandsawn dovetails is easier than hand-cut, because you don't have to mark the wedge-shaped pins on the end of every board.

2 An angled sled allows cutting the pins without tilting the bandsaw's table. Sleds with different angles cut pins that slope differently. In this story, I'll use the 10° sleed. It cuts pins that slope at a ratio of about 1 to 6.

4 Cut the first side of all the pins. Make the straight cuts, following your pencil lines. Stop at the board-thickness scribe mark. Your angled sled automatically slopes the pin. I strike angled marks on the ends to avoid cutting the wrong lines.

9 Transfer the pin locations to the tail boards. Hold the pin board flush with the edges and end of the tail board and mark with a fine pencil. Hold the lead tight against each pin, so your lines exactly outline the pins.

6 Rotate the sled, reposition the pin board and cut the other side of each pin. Again, always stop at the scribe line. Widen these cuts as well, by making adjacent cuts.

8 Rotate the pin board to cut the shoulders. Using the fence guarantees straight cuts, which are necessary for the joints to fit properly.

7 Flip the board over and lay it flat to remove the waste from between the pins. Flipping the board allows cutting between the pins' wide ends. Start by making a curved cut through the waste area to the back corner of each pin. End each cut precisely at the scribe line.

5 Widen each kerf by making multiple adjacent passes. Always stop the cut at the scribe line. This step makes it easier to cut the shoulders.

12 Test-fit the joint. The parts should slide together with light pressure. If they won't go, locate the spots that bind and pare them to fit with a chisel. PW

11 Complete the pin sockets by nibbling out the waste between two angled cuts. Rotate the workpiece 10° to cut the shoulders of the half-pins.

10 Cutting the pin sockets creates the tails. Define the sockets by cutting along the inside edges of the pencil lines. Be sure to leave the lines. Remember, they outline the pins.