How to Cut Dovetails by Hand

I love teaching people to cut dovetails because, contrary to what seems to be popular belief on the internet, they are not really all that hard. With some basic instruction, nine fairly basic tools, and an afternoon in the shop, I’m pretty confident anyone can cut a perfectly functional set. It may not be the prettiest set, but, in antiquity, dovetails were actually invented because hand-forged nails were the only option at the time, and were too expensive to produce.

If you go to an antique store and look inside the drawers of old furniture, chances are the dovetails you see are not going to be all that pretty. They weren’t meant to be the Everest of woodworking, they were meant to hold two pieces of wood together.

You’ll notice in this video I use a whole lot of fancy tools. I use them because I have them and I am proud to have purchased them from boutique toolmakers supporting their families with small-batch tools of extremely high quality. I’ll go through the list of tools I use and love at the end of this video, but as I mentioned at the beginning of this video, you can cut dovetails with 9 basic tools that most people already have, in some rusty form or another, in their garage.

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[patrolmaverick]

Working to a standard, not a timetable. A true craftsperson.

[GeeDeeBird]

Brilliant. Simply brilliant. Thanks you for sharing your expertise.

[flguy]

Anne, you are the happiest wood worker on YouTube. Excellent job!

[Kenzie]

I bought a claw footed antique dresser and cut about 1/3 of the width away to make a bathroom vanity with an antique looking vessel sink. I kept the original drawer joints on one side and copied the hand drawn and cut dovetails for the others using similar techniques you presented only the pins were very skinny with an odd angle. The result was great and looks like it was made like that 120 years ago better and cheaper than anything I could buy new. I made accessories out of the excess wood for the bathroom.

[EL-ogsh]

I love that your puppy is just calmly sitting in that antique drawer as you explain dovetails. 🙂

[williamcarpenter]

Really enjoyed watching someone work with their left hand. I rarely see that on any training videos. Thanks!

[SMee]

I do love the old time look of dovetail joinery.
Great job, Anne, looks fantastic. 👍

[nicolegallagher]

I don't understand why anyone would give you a thumbs down. Great to see another woman woodworking. I find when I cut my tail board, I set the angle of the board to my dovetail angle. That keeps my saw plumb when sawing, rather than at an angle.

[TheOriginalDrastic]

Concise, clear, and thorough. You are a natural teacher.

[kirstenwhitworth]

I am *_very_*_ impressed_ with your concise, well-detailed, explanatory instructions.
For 30 years, a huge part of my job was writing instructions for reproducing software errors. My goal was to write them in such a way that there were no ambiguities, saving the recipient from having to contact me to answer questions or doubts.

[marinusbeimers]

best video I have seen on dovetail making. Thank you

[joeleonetti]

Thanks Anne. Woodcraft is an awesome place to visit. It's a one stop shop for all my woodworking needs.

[jackiegammon]

Thank You both for taking the time to do this video! Nice to see both of you, and Anne of course while you are playing, carving or singing... I'm loving the your area and of course your chair.

[withdrew]

The tip about the cellphone light is GENIUS!!! Thanks for the tip i cant wait to try it! :D

[davidharvey]

You have some great methods there. I'm 64 and my eyes struggle with these jobs . When I was and engineer I had super 20/20 eyesight, and i miss it, glasses never seem to make up for it for these tasks in my case at least. These methods look helpful especially your use of a phone light. I bought furniture for our dining room some 40 years ago and we still have it. It was made by an old company in London and silly money. The dovetails are awful but it's still solid. I wonder at times given modern adhesives how much stronger a dovetail is compared to a box/finger joint. I like that marking gauge and plan to make one just like it. Thank you.

[simonebest]

Wow! Anne makes it look so easy. Which it's not until you've done it a LOT. But what I really liked where the hints I never thought about. Good video. But practice makes perfect.

[redhauscreator]

At about 9:50 the camera gets a close up angle. That was very helpful. I just wish it happened sooner. The verbal explanation was spot-on. Thanks for a pretty good video.

[mellowfellow]

great tutorial... Man, Rigby is just GROWING! love his little dog star on his chest

[jvelazco]

You are certainly very inspiring, not only for your handcrafting abilities, but for your decision to live on a farm and grow-harvest your own food! Congratulations all the way from Monterrey Mexico. Sincerely, Chuy.

[WattsWoodenWonders]

Excellent video as always! Love your approach to your videos. Clean, concise, and beautiful! Keep up the great work and living life to it's fullest!