# 1st Attempt at Dovetails



## Nickbee (Nov 1, 2007)

With my incra Ultra:










Looks decent right?

I’m not showing you the hammer it took to get this together… Or this:



















So I learned a few things tonight.

1) If a test cut with two dovetails is a “little tight” a row of tails is going to be VERY tight. I thought I had it perfect, but this is a live and learn situation.

2) If I find pieces of poplar that are far enough away from each other in color (heart wood vs. sap wood) I won’t have to stain of dye the corner posts (I was attempting a corner post dovetail box). 

Oh well, tomorrow I try again!


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## TomD (Dec 3, 2007)

That's more complicated than anything I've ever done. I'm going to give it a try soon. If my first attempt looks that good, I'll consider it a success.

Tom


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## joasis (Sep 15, 2006)

I still haven't tried my Porter Cable jigs yet.....but soon, soon.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

What's that saying...if it don't fit, hit it harder. :laughing: Looks good. You can piece in some wood. Keep at it. Work on some handcut DT's.


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## Kingfisher (Oct 14, 2007)

Nice looking:smile:


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## Nickbee (Nov 1, 2007)

Hand Cut? What's that? 

While the Incra documentation is GREAT, I think it was a little deceiving to test the bit depth with 1 ½ dovetails as the write ups show. My 1 ½ tails fit together very snug and I thought I hit the nail on the head. When it came to putting together a row of them, well you see what happened. I’ll do my next test cuts with 3-4 tails instead to get a better idea of how the final cuts panels will go together. 

Good news is I have plenty of left over wood for a few more test corners. Once I “perfect” my technique I’ll attempt a box.


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## Nickbee (Nov 1, 2007)

Tonight’s effort:










While not perfect, I at least got the bit height closer to where it should be. Maybe it was a little loose this time. I dyed the post with India Ink. 

This boosted my confidence high enough to go out and buy another piece of lumber to try 4 sides of a box next! 

I’ll report back when I have something together.


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

Keep at it Nick. I like that design with the monolithic corner. Pretty sharp.


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## vinnyb76 (Sep 25, 2007)

hello nickbee and all, i notice on your first set of pics that your wood you was using was`nt the same thickness througout the width of your board it gets narrower where the problem dts are (at least thats what it looks like:smile: )that could of been the problem. also a small tip if you`re not already doing so put a piece of timber across the row of dts when hammering them home it will reduce the chance of you getting tearouts plus you`ll get a more even force acroos the width.


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## bigredc (Sep 1, 2007)

Woodcraft is having a sale next Sat. I was thinking about buying this. This add is from somewere else but it's what they are selling it for.







*4212 Porter-Cable 12'' Dovetail Jig*

Average Rating:  

*$149.99*


 View Larger Image


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## bigredc (Sep 1, 2007)

Is there anything better in that price range?


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