I decided to build myself a Bench Bull instead.

I was inspiered by this video from Marty Backe.

And this aticle from Popular Woodworking.

This Bull is my own design and built from a single 8 foot long 2x8 from the box store.

I cut it down to 4 feet long, planed them flat, and laminated it double thick. I then cut that in half to 24".

I cut 4" off then end of each of those pieces and glued them in as the spacers.

It's 20" long, 7" wide, and 8" tall. 

A Bench Bull is an appliance used on the bench to get joinery work up to a more comfortable working height and is also used in place of a Moxon vise.

It's held solidly to the bench with hold fasts.

So that's how I'm going to hold my work. Let's get on to the actual dovetailing operations.

*Note* - These boards have been jointed and planed to size, square six sides, and I have already cut the through grooves and stopped grooves needed for the back panel of the final piece. The wood type I am using here is African Padauk.

David Barron has been a big influence on me for cutting dovetails and has some wonderful YouTube videos on several different woodworking techniques including the Blue Tape Method that I use.

I'm not a fan of having the marking guage lines showing on the final piece. This method will eliminate them almost all together.

I will be cutting Tails first.

Start by applying a single layer of 1 1/2" blue tape all the way around the end of each tail board. (use the 3M stuff, it's just better)

I set a marking guage to the thickness of the pin board that will mating with the tail board that I'm cutting. Because I thickness planed these boards by hand there may be some variation in thickness from board to board, so I will re-set the marking guage each time I move on to the next joint. I can not just set the guage one time and use it for all the boards.

I run the guage along the end grain of the tail board and lightly score the blue tape only, I try not to cut into the wood, but I do need to get a clean line through the tape. If a light guage line is transfered to the wood don't panic it will be easily removed when the piece is finish planed later in the build process.

I have now established the baseline for the dovetail. 

The board is clamped to the bench bull (or set up in the Moxon vise) and a square is used to insure that it's plum. Set it to a comfortable height for sawing, that's the whole reason for using the bull or Moxon vise.

Notice that there is blue tape on all the parts here. Even though I mark each joint individually, I do all the marking in one operation instead of going back and forth from sawing to marking and back to sawing. It also keeps things from getting confusing.

It's now time to mark out the spacing for the pins and tails.

Most of the time the spacing of the half pin on each end of the board is the same and so a pair of dividers is set to that size and used to mark all of the half pins. In this particular case the design of the piece requires two different sized half pins, so I set two different adjustable squares to the sizes needed. These marks are made with a sharp pencil and not a knife.

Megan Fitzpatrick from Popular Woodworking Magazine has a really good Youtube video on spacing out dovetails using the two divider method.

Christopher Schwarz also has a video for this method - Laying Out Dovetails with Christopher Schwarz.

Doing this will insure even consistent spacing on all four corners of the piece.

I think I ended up with about 1/8" spacing, I'm not sure of the exact size, I just went with what I thought looked good.

Because I will be using a saw guide this is all the marking I will need to do for the tails.

This is my 1:7 pitch magnetic dovetail guide and I have a build tutorial for it here.

The concept for this jig came to me from David Barron but this design is mine. This jig works on boards up to 1" thick and as narrow a board as you like. This guide works with either western saws or Japanese saws.

I'm right handed so I tend to start on the right side of the board and work across to my left.

I place the jig right on the line for the half pin leaving the line visable.

You could hold the jig in place with your off-hand, but I find that using a spring clamp keeps it more secure and there is less chance of it slipping while I'm sawing. You could use any type of clamp you like, a small squeeze clamp is a good option too, but I find that a strong spring clamp works fine and is a little faster to reposition for the next cut.

Use a dovetail saw or a Dozuki saw to make the cut down to your baseline. Do not cross the line, if you feel that you need to stay further away from the tape line than I do, it's not a problem, it just means you will have a little more chisel work when removing the waste.

I tend to make all the cuts in the same direction first and then make all the cuts in the other direction. This means that as I work across the board I have to skip one divider mark for each cut I make. I put the tip of my marking knife right into the divot left by the dividers. 

I then slide the guide up to the knife, the magnet will grab onto the knife blade and set the correct position. Clamp in place and make the second saw cut.

Finish all of the cuts in this direction first. Make sure to check the back side of the board as you are sawing so that you don't cross the base line on that side either.

When making the saw cuts in the other direction you have two options. You could simply use the other side of the guide and move back across the board, but if you are not comfortable cutting on that side you could turn the board and the jig aroung in the vise and cut with your body in the same position that you were in for the first cuts. Just be carful because the show face would now be away from you and it's easier to cut past the tape line without realizing it.

It's been said a million times and I'll say it again here "Mark Your Waste" it's easier than you think accidentally saw out that tail piece. As confident as I am with cutting dovetails I still always mark the waste.

Now to remove the pin section waste.

I begin by sawing off the half pin waste on the outer two sides of the board. Saw close to the tape but don't cross the line.

The pin waste could be removed with a coping saw and I'll show you that technique when we cut the pin board. For now I'll chisel the waste out.

Start away from the line about 1/16" chisel out a divet about half way through the board, flip over and do the same on the back side.

You will break through and a large chunk of the waste will be removed.

Now I can work back to the line with a couple of paring cuts until my chisel rest directly against the edge of the tape. I always make the last paring cut from the face side toward the back. 

I make a single cut, I do not go halfway from each side with the last cut. I do not under-cut the joint either.

I'm not done until the space between the tails is completely clean, no fuzzies in the corners, and no hump in the middle.

I never touch the side walls of the tails with the chisel either. There should be no paring necessary.

When all four ends of the two tail boards are cut and cleaned up I'm ready to move on to marking out the pins.

This is a David Barron designed Dovetail Alignment Board. Here is a link to how this jig is made and used.

The alignment board is set on the bull.

I clamp the pin board in place with what will be the back of the case against the fence. The tail board is lined up with it's back side against the fence as well and I clamp it down so nothing moves.

The pin board has blue tape applied to the front and back only, the edges don't need it because they will not be cut. The baseline has been established with a marking guage the same way it was for the tail board ealier. Blue Tape is also applied to the end grain of the pin board because that is what we are marking here.

If your marking knife has a thick blade and your pin spacing is too norrow you may need to use a razor knife instead. put the knife blade against the side wall of the tail and pull it in one motion and try not to go back in for a second cut. This help to get a clean crisp slice through the tape. Don't worry about cutting into the wood here.

Remove the blue tape from the waste areas and leave the keep sections covered.

Mark out all of the pins before moving on to sawing.

Set the pin board back up in the vise or on the bull without the alignment board we are done with it now.

Make sure to have the show side facing you.

Set the magnetic saw guide in place with the angled side running across the end grain and make sure the edge of the guide is covering the keep section and is right on the line of the tape. Clamp in place.

The half pins are probably going to be too small to hold the guide securly. You can either place one of the other work pieces next to the one you are working on, or like I did, clamp a scrap piece that is the same thickness right up against the edge.

Now I can clamp the guide in place and make the cut.

You can see here that I make all the cuts in one direction first just like I did on the tails.

By setting the guide over the keep section right on the line of the tape I do not have to guess how wide my saw kerf is and hope I get it right. The guide will automatically keep the saw kerf in the waste area, all I have to do is not go past the baseline.

If you have a Stanley Fat Max coping saw like this one, throw it in the garbage and buy this one instead. You'll thank me later.

I use Pégas Coping Saw Blades that I get from Lee Valley. I use the 18 tpi skip-tooth blade as it is thin enough (0.090”) to be slipped into the cut left by most fine dovetail saws. I alway see people sawing as fast as they can with coping saws and it's just not necessary. It heats up the blade too quickly and it snaps. Just like any other sawing operation long even strokes is what you want.

Stay just above the tape line, keep the saw level so you don't cut past the line on the back side, and do not cut into the pin at the end of the cut. If you cut into the side of that pin it will show forever.

Now it's back to chisel work to pare back to the line.

I put a scrap down to protect the bench when I'm doing chisel work.

Remove the tape and take a beauty shot of your new puzzle pieces.

Double check that all joints are completely cleaned up.

If you have any other operations to do before the glue-up do them now before you test fit any the joints.

I have to cut a housing dado in each of the side panels for a shelf before I glue things together, so I'll do that now.

Putting the joint together dry and then trying to take it back apart involves too much risk of breaking off an edge or a corner. Especially with a very chippy and splintery wood like the Padauk I'm working with here.

The only test fit that I do is to get the joinst started. If they start pushing together nicely without much effort I stop before they are seated. They are fine and I know they will go all the way.

Do not pull them apart. There is too much risk of breaking off a corner if you try.

I get all four joint to this point and apply the glue to all of them at the same time.

I'll lay the case down on it's side with one of the tail boards on the bench and the other one up in the sky. I use the rubber side of my two faced mallet to lighty yet quickly tap the joints together until they seat. (quickly because the moisture in the glue is causing the wood to swell)

Remember, dovetail joints look their best only after they have been hand planed and or sanded.

I have not gotten to that point in this project yet, so I don't have any pictures of this particular piece in it's finished state.

I will include some photos of some of my other finished dovetails.

This Padauk it so splintery, I chipped a small piece off the corner of one of the pins.

That little bit of the baseline that is showing here is very superficial and will be removed when I hand plane the piece.

That back corner chipped a bit too, but it will clean up no problem.

This project got put on hold last spring and has been sitting ever since.

The bright orange color has oxydized to a much browner tone. The orange color will come right back when I hand plane the piece for finishing, but it will oxydize again.

Thanks for following along, I know this was a bit of a long post.

I hope you enjoyed it and maybe picked up some tips, tricks, and jigs along the way.

If you have any questions or comments I would love to hear them and I'll be happy to answer.

Thanks - Tim McCoy - Timmy2Hands

The following are photos of some of my previous dovetailed projects.