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The photo in step seven is unclear to me. Not sure how you are lining things up and securing them for marking. Can you show more angles for this example?

The important part is that the edges of your tails be square to the end grain and as flat as possible. This ensures the best results when tracing them onto the pins board.

The baselines determine how far into the board you’ll cut your tails and pins — and how far they’ll stick out past each other.

Whenever planing pins and tails flush, always cut from the outside in — coming from the outer edge towards the rest of the board.

You’re going to cut the pins to fit the tails anyway — so don't get hung up on cutting the tails exactly on your layout lines.

Hi from over the pond. For me it’s always crucial to mark the waste on both the Tails and Pins before starting the cuts. And not on just the end grain but on the face and rear f the boards. Can’t tell you how many times I have started a cut on the wrong side f the knife mark, or even worse cut out the wrong section f the pin by not paying attention, or tired after a long session.

Hi from over the pond. For me it’s always crucial to mark the waste on both the Tails and Pins before starting the cuts. And not on just the end grain but on the face and rear f the boards. Can’t tell you how many times I have started a cut on the wrong side f the knife mark, or even worse cut out the wrong section f the pin by not paying attention, or tired after a long session.

Good blog post! I can attest to the efficacy of using an alignment guide. Coincidentally I had made one from a friend’s advice a couple of weeks before reading this blog, and it really made a difference. Also, I started viewing your videos on YouTube and they are helpful, and a hoot! I just used the KM dovetail guide for the first time. I found it to be easy to use and a great help.

Another technique is to roughly lay out your pins and tails with pencil — drawing the edges that lead from the end grain to the penciled baseline (a dovetail guide works great for this).

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Just make sure it’s square and flat. I usually cut it on my crosscut sled with multiple passes, then clean it up with a router plane or rabbeting plane.

That coplanar fence allows you to perfectly align the two boards with zero finagling. And if you cut the rabbet on your tails board, it’s literally fool proof.

Instead of having to mark the edges of your pins and tails, you only have to mark the top edges on the end grain. The guide does the rest.

You could slip on a banana half-way through tracing the tails and huck the board across your shop — and still have no problem realigning your boards to the exact same position.

It can be hard to realign the boards in the exact same position if you slip — and even a slight shift can mess up your accuracy.

And after putting all the time into making your dovetails look perfect, tearout is a slap to the face you want to avoid.

I use this trick on all my dovetails — even if I don’t notice any visible gaps. It’s like an insurance policy for a seamless looking joint.

I found I had difficulty making dovetails because I concentrated on completing one JOINT at a time. Then I realized I wasn’t constructing a JOINT, but a BOX or DRAWER. Now I cut all my tails first, then I concentrate on the pins individually to fit the joint. Rather than handling four pieces of wood multiple times, I handle only two at a time. And a well marked piece of tape showing the inside face, up from down, and numbering the joints lessens the confusion.

Every dovetail saw — whether Japanese or western style — has teeth that splay out one way or another (this is called tooth set).

Your first time can be scary — but once you finish, you’ll want to do it again and again (I’m talking about dovetails, sicko).

If you gouge in the baseline on the show face, you’re going to have to take off a lot of material to get rid of it once the joint’s assembled.

If you want the ends of the pins and tails to be flush, you might think to set your marking gauge to the exact thickness of the respective boards.

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But this leaves zero margin of error. And if the pins or tails end up being shy of the other board's surface, you’ll have to plane down that entire face to make them flush.

If you were to plane outward, the unsupported fibers on the backs of the pins and tails are liable to tearout (here’s more about avoiding tearout).

They require a level of skill and accuracy that can be intimidating. And in all honesty, your first dovetails will NOT be perfect.

The photo in step seven is unclear to me. Not sure how you are lining things up and securing them for marking. Can you show more angles for this example?

Also, the “spongier” quality of softer woods gives you some leeway on precision. Even if your pins and tails are too tight, a few blows of a mallet can squish them together without splitting or cracking the boards.

Instead, make a small wedge out of the same species of wood as your project. Sand it so the end fits into the gap, and lightly mallet it in with some glue.

As long as your baseline edges stay clean, slightly undercutting the inside guarantees no humps will prevent the joint from fitting together flush.

It might look a bit darker than the rest of the wood when you add finish, but only the nitpickiest of woodworkers will say anything (and who wants to hang out with those guys anyway?).

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Rub a bit of glue in the gaps around your dovetails, then give the whole area a light sanding. You’re not trying to smooth the area — just create some sawdust.

Dovetails can be intimidating to someone who’s never cut them. And your first set isn't going to win any beauty contests.

Good blog post! I can attest to the efficacy of using an alignment guide. Coincidentally I had made one from a friend’s advice a couple of weeks before reading this blog, and it really made a difference. Also, I started viewing your videos on YouTube and they are helpful, and a hoot! I just used the KM dovetail guide for the first time. I found it to be easy to use and a great help.

If your pins and tails are slightly proud (like suggested in tip 2), one of your final steps will be flush trimming them to the show faces.

But once you understand the basics, these practical suggestions will make your dovetails a whole lot better — even if you’re a total noob.

“Transferring the tails” means tracing the outsides of the tails onto the end grain of your pins board, marking the top edges of your pins.

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When the joint is assembled, the ends of the pins and tails will be slightly proud. All you have to do is trim down the end grain — which is a lot easier than planing down an entire face.

On top of that, softer woods won’t dull your chisels as quickly. You’ll get a lot further with one sharpening than you would in something like hard maple.

You’ll cut to this line later on with a chisel, so it’ll disappear. And now you have no knife line to contend with on the show faces of your pins or tails.

The sawdust will mix with the glue in the gaps and create an on-the-fly wood filler. Sprinkle a bit more sawdust over the gaps, pack it in, and let it dry.

I found I had difficulty making dovetails because I concentrated on completing one JOINT at a time. Then I realized I wasn’t constructing a JOINT, but a BOX or DRAWER. Now I cut all my tails first, then I concentrate on the pins individually to fit the joint. Rather than handling four pieces of wood multiple times, I handle only two at a time. And a well marked piece of tape showing the inside face, up from down, and numbering the joints lessens the confusion.