the best tutorial ever, clear slow, and simple instructions.

Without a doubt, this is the FINEST tutorial I've ever seen on cutting dovetails! You sir, are gifted in teaching. Thank you! 👍

Hi there, I have just watched your video on" cutting your first dovetail "...Wow..you have explained that so good and it was easy to understand your technique...I have watched plenty of videos on KZfaq, no one,so far has explained the process as clearly as you have. You can have 11 out of ten for that. Thank you very much . JM from the land down under 😊😊

I was waiting to hear you mention that your chisels need to be very sharp. Many beginners probably have chisels like mine used to be -- sharper than a rock, but not a lot. Learning to sharpen my chisels has been a game changer every time I've used them. Off to the shop to try some dovetails today...

Shannon I’ve been enjoying learning from your videos for the past 10 years; between yourself, Chris, and Paul Sellers I’m woodworking at home again not just at the cabinet shop. I’ve found a new love for the craft as a hybrid woodworker and leave all the CNC machines at work. Thanks a bunch!

Just found your video, as I was looking for something on getting started with Dovetails. despite having followed a lot of blogs and reddit's woodworking sub, this was absolutely fantastic and I realize how much I was not thinking about as I've been planning a small project where I wanted to try out dovetails by hand for the first time. I'll be looking into your other videos and really appreciate all the little tidbits of information that you put in there!

Shannon, thank you. You really are a gifted teacher. I'm a new woodworker and have seen a ton of dovetail instruction videos from Sellers, Cosman, Katz-Moses, and many others. They're all great but yours made the task seem do-able for a duffer like me. I'm excited to give it a try very soon. Again, thanks!

I've only recently started on my woodworking journy (as a hobby) and tried my first dovetail recently. It wasn't great, but it would of held a drawer together just fine... and this is what I tell people who say they could never do them. Ignore the fancy exposed dovetails you see on social media and realize this is a working joint that is mostly hidden on projects. They don't need to be pretty to work, and you can only improve with practice. So just practice a few times with short boards and then jump into a project using them for drawers or such... by the end of it you will be surprised how much better you are. Also I find doing practice cuts before doing my dovetails is super helpful. Just a dozen or so cuts at the angles can get the cobwebs out of your system if you only do these joints irregularly so you are not messing up the project joint right away.

Excellent your video series is one of my favourite

Boss. This was one of the best videos to date. It's very inspiring and I thank you for it!

This was a very beneficial video for beginners as well as experienced wood workers. Great job.

Good job. Anyone now can do this with little fear.

Getting right to the point of the matter is just what I needed to hear when I began; I hope this video helps those who are where I was. Hold on to you practice joints and look back on all you’ve learned once in a while; doing so is a great encouragement and is also a lesson in what you’ve learned along the way.

Thanks for the great video. I was very scared to do dovetails and didn't attempt them until a few weeks ago after gaining more confidence in my sawing and chisel work technique. I had watched other KZfaqrs and was really turned off by one (who shall remain nameless) when he stressed that to do dovetails, you had to buy his tools, which are like $275 for a saw. No thank you! I refuse to watch anything if his now. Too much arrogance for my liking. So I watched ones for beginners, Rex K and Paul Sellers. They explained in simple to understand terms, so I went for it. Did a single dovetail multiple times, learning for the mistakes each time. Now I've watched your. Very good explanation. I really liked the fact that you didn't stress getting the high end tools. Work with what you have or barely afford. My new challenge is going to be doing 3 or 4 dovetails. Then do it multiple times until I very comfortable making them.

Ordered a veritas dovetail saw last week.. been using a gents saw . I even splurged and bought 1:6 marker as well..haha

Great tutorial. Its not often I can sit through a lengthy video,no problem with yours sir. Joshua Farnsworth at Wood and Shop released a tutorial the other day on using dovetail saws. Its a good follow up to to this video for those who may be interested.

Yeah, I could cut dovetails too if I had a fancy 10 dollar Husky saw ! (Or saw shaped object) 😂

Great video! So well executed and encouraging and your energy is infectious! Thank you. You've cured me on my dovetail gun shyness. This Sunday is dovetail day in my workshop 👍 Cheers, Shannon!

Now I am not afraid of dovetails anymore

Thank you. Avery well executed tutorial. L actually learned something.

Great video, New to your channel and I'm here to stay...👍🏻🎩 In the process of building my 1st workbench...🤦‍♂️

This would be a good video for my High School woodworking students to see. You and I do this just a little different but the basics are the same. The kids have just finished their first set of hand cut dovetails. They also cut through and half blind tails using the jig and electric router. Many of them preferred doing the work by hand.

when I saw the title and thought about your series about chisel I thought..... is Shannon going to cut dovetails with just chisels!?! 😂

19:20 My favourite part :D

Confirmed. First box was gappy and rough by the fourth box I was getting happy with the results.

Thank you so much. Great vid, Shannpn!

although i have cut a whole lot of dovetails i chose not to take your advice to go watch cat videos (or whatever) i always enjoy watching joinery videos from differnt people. quite often there is some little tidbit is every technique that i can pick up and improve my own process. and if i hadnt cut a dovetail before i think this would have been an amazing resource to start me out. by the way @jameswright or @woodbywright sent me to your channel

Great video... Its just a joint go try it!🙂

Thanks I'm going to go out to my shop right now and try again Thanks

A method to sharpen the chisels is kinda critical and is not a trivial skill either. Enjoyed the video, however, and got some new ideas to try in my learning process.

Excellent video. Any chance you can do a follow-up with pins first?

The most important step is to take the first step!

thanks

Very good encouragement video, Shannon. I'm over a few ones, but I believe I'll still be considered being amateur after my hundredth one :) I have a question about chisels. Are those Narex ones for your starter kit demo? I took your advice on a narrow one the other day, and the one I took is a 3mm wide from the fine series of Narex (I believe from the same series of the ones you use here). I found them very nicely done, compared to the Stanley sortiment I started off with. How far chisels can go in terms of quality?

What’s that giant pencil called and what kind of sharpener did you use on that bad boy

Where did you get lamps seen on your bench in video.

When sharpening your chisels, after you have flattened the backs, what grits do you usually start and finish up with? Do you use the same "finishing up" grit to establish your secondary bevel?

triangle marking good, not being able to see your mark as an example on 1080p bad

I've been chiselling out the waste (in soft wood) and getting a lot of crushed grain in the end grain. I keep sharpening my chisel but it's still crushing it, is that just they way it is going to be when I chisel it out?