# Spanish Dovetails



## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Some time ago I sold my Leigh dovetail jig in favor of going "au naturàl". Or Spanish, as Dave Paine refers to manual mode. I've cut joints in some stuff that didn't really matter with acceptable results. These ones needed to be as tight & neat as I can get them. Thought I'd share the process I used. 








First I laid out the tails in pencil using a veritas saddle marker. I made a wood DT marker, but I prefer the aluminum veritas version because if the knife slips it can't cut into the marker. 







Then I cut clean lines with a marking knife. I don't have a pic of it, but after marking out the tails I lightly scored over the base line where the waste between the tails (the pin sockets) would be removed. Gives you a good spot to start a chisel. 







Next the tails were cut & the pin sockets were wasted out using a coping saw, followed up with a chisel. 
Once the tails are cut,I used the tail board to mark out the pins.







I set the pin board in my face vise using a bench plane as a height gauge, then used the plane to rest the far end of the tail board on while marking the pins. 







The tail board is clamped in place to prevent it from moving while marking out the pins. These marks have to be as close to perfect as possible, or the joint will be too tight (and won't fit together) or too loose (and will have gaps). 




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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Next the pins are marked out in pencil and cut clean with the marking knife. 







Then the tails are cut 







Wasted out with a coping saw







And chiseled about 2/3 of the way thru from the show side of the board. Then I flipped the board and finished chiseling from the inside. 

If the corners didn't fit together with some light taps from the mallet I pared the pins down very slightly with a chisel, checking the fit often. It doesn't take much. 














There are a couple small gaps in one or two spots, but overall I'm pretty happy with how it's coming. Gotta break out the 65 tomorrow and flush up the tails & pins with the sides of the box, and attach the base that I already have made. But I made the base on the bandsaw, so that doesn't apply here lol


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

Thanks for posting. Terrific work on the "spanish" dovetails. :thumbsup:

Nice set of pictures to show how it is done. I like the height setting using the plane. Quick and easy, but always good to see a new use for a plane.


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## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

Nice work BZ. Dave, I gotta ask, why Spanish dovetails?


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

sawdustfactory said:


> Nice work BZ. Dave, I gotta ask, why Spanish dovetails?


This is a tongue-in-cheek reference to what I call a "manuel" work process. BZawat going old school with the dovetails.

I was explaining to BZawat that in my old job working with data, a lot of time we did not have a program to manipulate or extract data and so I coined the term Spanish process as in "manuel".

If somethings went wrong, I would say it was "Spanished" as in "josed".

The terms are still used by my old team.


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## captainawesome (Jun 21, 2012)

Thanks for the great write up Brian! I recently tried my first practice set of "Spanish" dovetails but had less than satisfactory results. I had ordered the veritas dovetail saddle squares and they have been sitting on my bench begging to be used for the last couple of weeks.

I had been using the two part article in FWW as my guide, but I think I'll use your write up to help me the next time I have a go at them!


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## mike1950 (Aug 29, 2010)

Nice tutorial and VERY nice chunk of curly maple!!!:thumbsup:


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## tc65 (Jan 9, 2012)

Nice job on the tutorial and the dovetails! Be sure to post some pics when you glue up the box and get a finish on it, that's some great looking wood you're using.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

Once upon a day and a time, the "arm-strong" method was all there was.
In a past life, I had some very old furniture, a big sideboard with curved drawer fronts,
and all the joints were cleary cut by hand. Another dresser had been built with square nails.
You are really good.
Thanks for reminding me of that old cabinet.


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Thanks a lot fellas! The stock for this box came from one board of a nice lumber haul I picked up recently. This board was 4/4 thick x 11 1/2" wide x 9' long and clear as the blue sky. I bought 6 boards, all 9 footers, all clear with medium to heavy figure. It wasn't cheap ~$5/bdft, but I don't come across curly maple this nice too often so I grabbed it. It was too wide for my jointer, so I flattened one side with a jack plane and finished it in the planer. 

I'll be sure to update with pics of the finish. Planning on a few coats of BLO followed by a clear shellac, unless someone's got a better suggestion?? 


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## mmwood_1 (Oct 24, 2007)

$5/bd ft? Huh. In the PNW we pay that for plain maple, no figure. That piece you have can run ~ $10/bd ft here. I know, I use it often enough. In fact, a couple years ago I got 1 board that was 8" wide x 8' long that cost over $100 for highly figured. Lucky you.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

mmwood: I agree on the price, very reasonable.
Even local(?) wood in the PacNW is killing me = $9.95/bft for Yellow Cedar!

You know? What BZawat did is tantamount to wood carving.
I'd be happy to have one corner, cut & tilted at say, 60 degrees, to add to 
my collection. Leave the pencil marks, satin Varathane 2X = done.


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## mike1950 (Aug 29, 2010)

mmwood_1 said:


> $5/bd ft? Huh. In the PNW we pay that for plain maple, no figure. That piece you have can run ~ $10/bd ft here. I know, I use it often enough. In fact, a couple years ago I got 1 board that was 8" wide x 8' long that cost over $100 for highly figured. Lucky you.



I agree- Hard maple-plain is spendy here and hard curly is A. hard to find and B. very expensive.Curly Big Leaf is a little cheaper but not much.


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

Well done :thumbsup:


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

trc65 said:


> Nice job on the tutorial and the dovetails! Be sure to post some pics when you glue up the box and get a finish on it, that's some great looking wood you're using.



Here ya go Tim 
















The base is an elm, Russian elm I believe. By a stroke of cosmic good fortune, it matches the maple end grain perfectly. 


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## tc65 (Jan 9, 2012)

That's sharp! 

It's not just the color of the base, the shape of it adds a lot to the box as well. 

You can't beat the look of well cut dovetails, especially with the great wood you used - thanks for posting the pics.


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## Wrangler02 (Apr 15, 2011)

Nice job. I've cut hundreds of dovetails; but, even an old dog like me can learn a few tips from a well done tutorial. Thanks


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## Manuka Jock (Jun 27, 2011)

Beautiful Simplicity , 
true craftsmanship 

:thumbsup:


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

Gorgeous box. Very well done. :thumbsup:

Happy to see some of the Siberian elm. It does match the maple end grain as though it was planned.


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Thanks guys for the encouragement. And thanks for looking! I've got to figure out how I'm going to make the lid today. It's going to be a mitered elm frame with a maple panel in the middle. I'm thinking about using kind of a mitered half lap joint. 


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## captainawesome (Jun 21, 2012)

BZawat said:


> Thanks guys for the encouragement fellas. And thanks for looking! I've got to figure out how I'm going to make the lid today. It's going to be a mitered elm frame with a maple panel in the middle. I'm thinking about using kind of a mitered half lap joint.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using woodworkingtalk.com


Have you checked out the box tutorial write up that mike1950 did on wood barter? There may be some stuff on there to help give you some ideas.

Also, your dovetails are truly inspirational. Absolutely flawless!


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Thanks Sean I'll check it out. This is the only forum that I frequent, so I haven't seen it. 

And they are certainly not flawless my friend, just acceptable. There are some small gaps here & there that don't show up in the pics. And there are a few spots on the inside of the box where I overcut, leaving gaps in the inside corner. It's a learning process. And I'm a perfectionist so I'll probably never be satisfied lol


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## captainawesome (Jun 21, 2012)

He posted a link in a thread on here which is how I ended up finding it. 

From a novices point of view they are beyond flawless. If this is what you consider "acceptable" I can't wait to see when you do make a flawless set!

There is a 6 letter phrase that will get you kicked out of my garage and never invited back. Don't ever utter the words "it doesn't have to be perfect" or I will lose my mind. Something tells me you would too.


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

For sure man. "Good enough" is the mortal enemy of quality craftsmanship, if you ask me. 


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Ok, this will be the last of my gratuitous picture posting, as I am certainly aware that this is not the project showcase forum lol. All in all, I'd say 75% of this small project was accomplished with hand tools. Thanks for following along! 
























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## tc65 (Jan 9, 2012)

Thanks for the final pics. 

I'll say it again, that is one sharp looking box!


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## Masterjer (Nov 6, 2012)

Very nice indeed! The wood is beautiful and the joints really send it over the top. 

I am always scared to trim a board with a mitered frame like you did on the top. I can never get my miters to line up perfectly to edge a panel. What's your secret? I have cut miters on my sliding miter saw and also used a miter sled on my TS. I just can't seem to get the lengths exactly right for framing a panel.


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## Manuka Jock (Jun 27, 2011)

..


:thumbsup:


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## captainawesome (Jun 21, 2012)

I'm still blown away and I say if you produce work this good, you've earned the right to post as many pictures wherever you want!!!


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Masterjer said:


> Very nice indeed! The wood is beautiful and the joints really send it over the top.
> 
> I am always scared to trim a board with a mitered frame like you did on the top. I can never get my miters to line up perfectly to edge a panel. What's your secret? I have cut miters on my sliding miter saw and also used a miter sled on my TS. I just can't seem to get the lengths exactly right for framing a panel.



I cut the pieces one at a time, this way each one is cut to fit the one before it. Spring clamps are used to hold one piece in place while the next one is being fitted. Also I intentionally cut each piece about 1/32" long, then snuck up on the final length using a low angle block plane. With a very light set to the iron, you can take off a whisper if you need to. 

If you cut them all at once and your miter saw/sled is off just 1/4 of a degree, by the time you get around to the last corner there's an out-of-square assembly and/or an open miter joint - even if the lengths are exactly equal. 


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## Masterjer (Nov 6, 2012)

Thanks. I've heard of a shooting board and actually had to look it up on YouTube to learn what it is. It looks like that's the secret to good miters.


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