How to Make ‘Condor Tails’
by Jameel Abraham
An ingenious way
to combine routers,
a band saw and hand
tools for big dovetails.
I
k now wh at you’re t h i n k i ng:
“Another opinion on how to cut
dovetails.” I hear you. But this one’s
different. I promise. No back and forth
over pins or tails first. No Rob Cosman
vs. Frank Klausz. Well, actually a little
Klausz.
When I built my f irst ser ious
workbench in the 1990s I practically
memorized Scott Landis’ “The Work-
bench Book” (Taunton) and like many
woodworkers I was attracted to Frank
Klausz’s beautiful bench, especially
the large, crisp dovetails that joined
the parts of the tail vise. Klausz told us
what tools he used to cut the joints, but
didn’t elaborate much on technique. I
suppose with a lifetime of skill at your
command, you just pick up the tools
and the joint emerges. I wanted the crisp
look of Klausz’s joints without waiting
20 years to develop the skill. After build-
ing several large benches over the past
few years, this technique emerged.
Best of Both Worlds
I’m a big believer in making dovetail Enormous perfection. Cutting large-scale dovetails, such as for this workbench, can be a challenge.
joints that fit right off the saw. That’s a This technique makes it straightforward.
skill that’s easy to learn with some prac-
tice. But not so with the beefy members
of a workbench, or large-scale furni- railing just to get the thing vertical so where they excel. This is truly blended
ture. When you need to cut tails on the they can use a backsaw to cut the joint. woodworking.
ends of an 8' board, how do you hold Instead of that drudgery I lay the piece This technique use s t he same
the workpiece? I’ve seen people stand on flat, and use the band saw and router to sequence of layout and cutting as if you
top of their bench, climb ladders, even cut this joint, utilizing the strengths of were making the joint by hand, and all
clamp the board to a second-story deck those machines. I also use hand tools the critical fitting is done by hand, using
48 ■ popular woodworking magazine August 2011 photos by father john abraham
accurately scribed lines. The machines “He felt the love of beautiful things To set up the cut, keep the tail board
provide some precision, but none of pressed tight to the screw and the edge
the fit is dependant on super-precise made by hands and by cunning of the spacer, then approach the blade to
machine setups. This technique works and by magic moving through set the fence. (Make sure the screw stop
equally well with half-lap or through- isn’t in the path of the blade.) Adjust the
dovetails.
him … .” fence so the blade is on the waste side of
— J.R.R. Tolkien, (1892 - 1973) the line. You don’t have to be too fussy
Layout English author here. Just like for a hand-cut dovetail,
To get started, lay out the tails in the we’re going to use the tails as a pattern
typical fashion. I’m cutting a half-lap for cutting the pins. You will want to set
(also called half-blind) joint for a work- one long edge of the spacer. I use a long up a roller stand to support long work-
bench’s front laminate (the tail board) steel ruler to “extend” the blade on the pieces. To make the cut, slide the spacer
where it joins the end cap. Both boards bevel gauge. Cut to this line on the band and workpiece along the fence. Stop just
are 4" wide, with the tail board 11 ⁄ 2" saw. If you’ve cut straight and true, you short of the baseline.
thick. Because this is a half-lap dovetail don’t even need to bother cleaning up To cut the outside edge of the other
I set the marking gauge to leave about the edge. tail, simply flip the board over and
5 ⁄8" of material on the pin board past the Next, drive a screw near the end repeat. Don’t worry about nailing your
tails. This isn’t a critical dimension, so of the tapered edge and let it protrude layout line, this will automatically size
I go for looks – beefy for a workbench. about 3 ⁄8" or so. This will be the stop for and center the tails on the board. And
Scribe all the way around the board. the tail board. also don’t fret if your angle is off a tad
After scribing, use a bevel gauge and (you can see in the pictures that mine
pencil to lay out the two tails. Set the is). It doesn’t matter one bit.
gauge to about 7°. To cut the opposing angle on the tails,
Here’s an important point: When remove the screw stop, flip the spacer
laying out the tails, make the width of end for end, and replace the screw in the
the tail’s base about 3 ⁄16" wider than opposite end. Cut the remaining edges,
your router bit. Later, you’ll be routing flipping the board as before.
away the tail sockets in the pin board Next, I remove the spacer and use
with this bit, so it needs to easily fit the band saw to nibble away some of the
between the pins. My pins’ base is about waste from between the tails.
3 ⁄ 4" wide. Next, move to the bench and use a
backsaw to remove the waste from the
Cutting Tails half-pin area. Here you want to maintain
The tails are cut on the band saw using an absolutely crisp arris, so don’t saw
a foolishly simple angled spacer that right to the scribe line. Stay away from
takes about three minutes to make. Cut it just a little.
a piece of wood (I used a plywood off- To chisel the end grain precisely I
cut) to about 16" long and 5" wide. The drop the edge of the chisel into the scribe
dimensions aren’t critical. Now take line and tap firmly once. This pops out
your bevel gauge and draw a line along Leave a space. Size your tails so the base is
a small amount of material. Do this on
wider than the router bit’s diameter.
Screw
Screw
Screw
Tandem slide. Slide both the spacer and work- Mirror image. Flipping the board cuts the Opposing angle. After changing the screw
piece along the fence to make the cut. opposite tail perfectly without measuring. stop, cut the opposing angle, flip and repeat.
popularwoodworking.com ■ 49
Flat shoulder. Use a wide chisel to test for A 17 percent rebate. Cut away about 1⁄4" to
flatness. form the rabbet.
Chop by hand. Chiseling the end grain allows
controlled precision.
both faces of the board (look close, you
can see those areas I’ve removed). Then
I flip up the workpiece onto its edge and
chisel away the shoulder with a series
of cuts, using a 1 ⁄ 2" chisel. I find that
if I try to cut the entire shoulder with
the workpiece on edge, using a chisel
that’s wider than the thickness of the
board, I will almost always cut past the
scribe line on the faces of the board as
the chisel reaches the inside bottom of Mark tight. Mark the pencil lines tight to the Shift right, scribe left. Scribe lightly. You don’t
the shoulder. Cutting away a little ledge sides of the tails. want to make a grand canyon here.
on the faces first allows me to establish
that crisp arris, thus I can stay away
from it as I chisel the center portion of waste out of the way before you take clean, crisp pencil lines. Make sure you
the shoulder, with the workpiece on your final pass with your chisel regis- keep the end flat and square. Next, place
edge. This also allows me to focus my tered in the scribe line. the tail board onto the end of the pin
attention on keeping one scribe line I use a router to cut a rabbet on the board, butting the shoulder of the rab-
crisp as I chisel, instead of all three. back side of the tails. This aids in laying bet on the back side tight to the inside
Using a relatively narrow chisel also out the pins, and it also relates to the face of the pin board. Using a 0.5mm
allows more control and precision. I cutting length of the router bit. More mechanical pencil, place the lead tight
don’t chop aggressively, rather I make on this later. I stay away from the base- to the edge of the pins and draw a single
several lighter taps to maintain control line with the router, then clean up the line about 1 ⁄2" long, alongside each of the
of the chisel. baseline with a chisel. four edges of the tails. Make sure you’ve
To make sure I don’t have a hump marked right up to the edge of the tails.
in the middle of the shoulder I check Mark the Pins Don’t let the body of the pencil push the
it with the back of a wide chisel. I rock Begin laying out the pins by smoothing lead away from the edge.
it back and forth. It should click down the end grain of the pin board. I use a Just like when I hand cut a dovetail,
positively on each arris as you do this. sharp block plane set for a light cut to I scribe the position of the tails onto
Chisel out the waste between the pins remove the saw marks, then block sand the end grain of the pin board with a
the same way, getting 95 percent of the a little with #220 grit so I can make marking knife. But unlike when mak-
50 ■ popular woodworking magazine August 2011
Mark the ends. Use a marking gauge to estab-
lish the length of the tails on the pin board.
Make a platform. A quick support platform helps to keep the router from tipping.
the offset by just a few thousandths with
each tap, and more important, observe
how much you’re moving. For hard-
woods such as this ash, I’ll move the tail
board over so it covers about half the
pencil line. For softer woods, or for join-
ing a hardwood tail board to a softwood
pin board, you can move farther. The
more pencil line you cover, the tighter
the joint will be.
To scribe the tails onto the pin board,
shift the tails to the right and observe
the movement by watching how much
of the pencil line gets covered by the
Rout the waste. A trim router with a 1⁄4" upcut Ready to chop. Get close with the router and tails. Now scribe just the left sides of
spiral bit gets rid of most the initial waste. the chiseling will be easier. each tail.
Now shift the tails to the left, using
the same offset as before, and scribe
ing a hand-cut joint, I don’t have the to observe minute movements of the tail the right sides of each tail. You’ve now
ability here to slightly shift the position board, which greatly helps in position- placed the scribe lines precisely in the
of my backsaw to compensate for the ing the tail board for scribing. same plane as the sides of the tails, plus
thickness of the scribe line. Just as when The measurement of 0.5mm is about or minus a few thousandths.
chiseling the shoulder of the tail board, 20 thousandths of an inch. I find that Now use a marking gauge to define
I want to be able to drop my chisel right my marking knife, when used with the length of the tails on the pin board.
into a scribe line to crisply establish the light pressure, leaves a line about 10- Close up the fence slightly (a few thou-
location of the pins. If I scribe with the thousandths wide. So in order to get sandths) so you end up with a nice tight
tail board in one fixed position, I’ll actu- that scribe line on the inside of the tail’s fit here.
ally be marking outside the boundaries socket, I’ll need to shift the tail board
of the tail’s socket, thus the socket will over by about half the pencil line. This Rout This Way
end up too large. So I’ll need to shift the is where the pencil line is quite precise. Now that the position of the pins is
tail board left and right in order to get You can tap the tail board over in small established, the waste can be routed
my scribe line exactly where I want it. increments and watch as the tails begin out. I usually just rest my router on the
The 0.5mm pencil lines provide a way to cover the pencil lines. You can adjust end of the pin board, but it’s a good idea
popularwoodworking.com ■ 51
Chisel the pattern. Paring down establishes the final shape of the tail Pattern maker. Clean work yields precise results.
sockets.
Second pass. Let the bearing rub the pattern
for the final cut.
To pare out the waste, drop your chisel
right into the scribed line all around and
Socket set. Set the router to mill the socket to First pass. Get rid of most the waste on your tap down. If you routed close, you don’t
full depth. first pass. even need a mallet. Be diligent here. This
is the make-or-break moment. If you
chop outside your scribe line, it will be
to make a platform around the pin board stock, you’d never be able to pare down glaringly obvious. Also, work carefully
to help support the router. I position into this joint without splintering. After around the pin board now – those sharp
the top of the platform to be just a hair cutting the side that’s with the grain, arrises are easily damaged.
under the pin board surface. The plat- you might consider opening your own Here’s the neat part. The pattern you
form is just there for security; you want woodworking school. With the other just established will mean easy cutting
the router to register off the top surface side you’d be chucking the pin board of the rest of the socket using a top-bear-
of the pin board. Use a marking gauge through a picture window! And if you ing pattern bit. This is why we kept the
to define the rest of the tail sockets on cut across the grain from the inside of base of the tails wider than the width
the pin board. the pin board, it would be difficult to of the router bit. The bit I’m using has
Use a router to remove about 1⁄4" depth keep a flat surface without lots of guide a 5 ⁄8" cutting diameter and a 1" cutting
of material from the waste areas. Stay blocks and fussy setting. By paring out length. You can easily get pattern bits in
about 1 ⁄32" away from the scribe lines. the last sliver of waste, only 1 ⁄4" deep, you various configurations that work with
This is where this technique really basically eliminate any grain direction this technique.
shines. Unless your pin board is cut issues. You also establish a nice exact Because the bit is cutting parallel to
from dead-perfect straight-grained pattern for the rest of the socket. the long grain, the router works easily,
52 ■ popular woodworking magazine August 2011
Corner chisel.
You don’t need
a corner chisel
to chisel the
corners.
The finished sockets. Everything is crisp, flat
and where it’s supposed to be.
Easy now. Ease
the back corners
of the tails so
they don’t bruise
the pins.
Like it grew that way. You’ll know immedi-
ately if you’ve nailed it.
making long, straw-like chips. You can I once cut the chamfer on the fronts of The final satisfaction comes after
take a full-depth pass, although you the tails. Once. the glue dries. Use a sharp handplane
do have to be aware of your feed rate. If you’ve done everything carefully, to reveal the crisp details. PW
Take it slow so the bit doesn’t get out of the joint will slide together sweetly,
control. You might want to practice on requiring just a few taps with a ham-
Jameel is a woodworker, luthier and icon painter.
some scrap. I like to waste the bulk of mer. Don’t fully seat the joint. If it’s going He also makes high-quality bench hardware he sells
the material first, staying away from the in well at the beginning, the rest should through benchcrafted.com.
“pattern” at the top of the socket. be fine.
Once the majority of the waste is
removed, I let the guide bearing lightly
follow the pattern, just letting it kiss the
chiseled surface. Do not be tempted to u Go Online for more …
press the bearing hard to the pattern For links to all these online extras, go to:
– you could dent it and ruin the fit of the u popularwoodworking.com/aug11
joint. The router is removing very little slideshow: See a slideshow of this pro-
material, so it’s easy work, and you can cess with additional steps.
use a light touch. article: Read a review of the Bench-
Use a chisel to clean the waste from crafted vise hardware.
the rounded areas in the corners where web site: Visit Jameel’s web sites for ouds
the bit couldn’t reach. These are easy and workbenches.
areas to work because they are below to buy: “Dovetail Mastery” with Charles
the surface; you don’t have to fuss with Bender.
in our store: “The Workbench Design
making them perfect. Be careful to not
Book” by Christopher Schwarz.
split out the pin board. The platform
here helps to prevent this. Our products are available online at:
Pride of the flock. The rest of the world’s
To help ease the joint together, cut a uShopWoodworking.com
dovetails will be jealous when you plane the
chamfer on the back corners of the tails. finished joint.
popularwoodworking.com ■ 53
