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When I make a lot of half-blind dovetails, I’ll use a drill press to help bore out the waste between the pins.
The video below shows how I do. Some caveats to consider before you try to cram your boot between my buttocks via a comment below:
1. Ya, I use machines at times to reduce drudgery. Thicknessing rough stock and removing pin waste are two tasks I dislike. If I have two drawers to make, I’ll chop them out. If I have two carcases and five drawers, the drill press saves time. If this shocks you, you must be new here.
2. This is safe. I’ve heard people say you should clamp the work before every hole in times like this. I see it this way: I have an excellent control surface (the fence). The vast majority of the cutting force is down, like a band saw. And my hands are at least 6” from the bit. It’s an operation that is similar to using a powered miter saw, but safer.
3. Try it. No, no, not in your head. In your shop.
In this video I’m working in 3/4”-thick stock, so I’m using a 3/4” Forstner set to bore down 1/2” into the work. A quick puff of air between holes (good thing I’m not a smoker) blows the chips away so I can slide my work left or right.
The Forstner allows me to overlap my holes a lot. This results in an almost-flat baseline and reduces paring. I do have to do a little chopping and paring at the end, but I know this is a big time-saver when building big casework pieces. There you have it: drill press dovetails.
— Christopher Schwarz
Want a boot camp dovetail experience? Check out Chuck Bender’s “Dovetail Apprenticeship” – it’s an excellent DVD from one of the country’s best craftsmen.
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I cut a lot of dovetails and agree regarding the removal of waste any method is fair play, I would blast it out if that was the more efficient way. It is simply wasting material to get to the point where careful paring can be accomplished. As high explosives are illegal in my town I use a laminate trimmer with a 1/4″ spiral uncut bit. Stand the board vertical in the vise, you can also clamp a piece of scrap to the backside if necessary to prevent tipping . This is fast and surprisingly controllable with a bit of practice.
Is that you singing in the background? …is the sound track available?!
Cheater… 🙂
Chris, nicely done, why didn’t I think of that…
Lonnie Bird teaches his students to hog out the waste between pins with a router. I see no difference using the drill press. It’s drudgery work and the machine takes the drudgery out of it. Keep on drilling them out, Chris!
I picked up an ancient floor model Craftsman dp twenty years ago from a WWII veteran. I paid $90. Schweeeeet! Gotta love the classifieds. Nowadays I’d haunt Craigslist. Just sayin’.
How do you fit the drill press inside your anarchist’s tool chest? 😉
At the end of the video you can see the rabbet on the end. Does this get covered up? Also, what chisel are you using in the video, and how does the edge hold up against the teak?
You could connect some of those dots to make dashes and spell out secret messages hidden in your furniture. Or not.
Hello Chris, two things I noticed, the knife linesgo way past the bottom of the socket, why and how do you hide them?
The groove goes right the end tail pin, goes it show if it does how do you hide it?
This is about the only reason I’m reluctant to sell my Shopsmith. It works very well as a drill press, the indexed quill stop is excellent and as far as I can tell dead accurate. Historians at some future date will thank you for doing this to make your work this much easier to identify.
What kind of drill press?
I am not sure the stop on my drill press would hold at the precise depth needed.
It is an early 2000 era Delta, and the depth stop does not lock down, only spins on threads.
Otherwise, looks like a great time saving technique.
I fasirly new to dovetails and mortises. I tried chopping mortises by hand and had mediocre success. I drill the majority of the waste away with a Forstner and my press on the next set, then trimmed with chisels as you are doing. I had great and very satisfying success doing that. It’s what I will do from now on.
Years ago, while camping, my wife chastised me for lighting the campfire using charcoal lighter. She said that the pioneers never would have done it that way.
I said, “They damned sure would have if they’d had a bunch of charcoal lighter!”
Same thing here, to my mind. I know this causes apoplexy for some out there, but that’s no reason why they cannot go on happily chopping away whilst I’m happily drilling.
Thanks Chris.
BTW, iclement, I’d be very, very cautious with a Forstner in a hand-held drill. You might find yourself wrapped up real tight pretty quickly. Forstners will grab easily if not held rigidly. It’s not a matter of skill; it’s just the nature of the beast.
I do this kind of thing all the time, but with a Stanley #59 doweling jig. That’s actually why I bought it. It works great.
I don’t have a drill press, but I see no reason why I can’t do this with my electric drill and forstner bit. Definitely a time saver, thanks!
Hey, who’s playing the tune in the background? I learned to love bluegrass and American folk music when I was an archaeologist in Tidewater, Virginia.