Cutting the Tails
The last installment of this series I showed how I layout the tails. Now it’s time to do some cutting. When cutting Tails first, you really only need to concern about cutting perpendicular across the end of the board. If you can get this perpendicular cut dead on, you have solved most of your problems. The lines for the angle cuts on the tails really are just guides. If the angle is off it’s not a big deal. These cuts will be transferred to the pin board. Some people don’t even mark the lines for the tails, they just eyeball them.

I ganged the two boards together to save on sawing. This is the first time I’ve tried ganging boards together. These boards were only a ½” think each, so the overall thickness wasn’t that great. It worked out pretty well.

I used a fret saw to cut the waste between my tails. It makes pretty quick work of it.

I didn’t take pictures of doing the shoulder cuts and the chisel work needed to clean up the waste cuts. I need to work out a way to easily take pictures, while I have 2 tools in my hands. I’ll work on that and post some updates later.

Tail Transfer
The first step is to clamp the pin board into your vise. A good way to do this is put one of your bench planes on it’s side, and set the top of the pin board flush with the bench plane.

Next move the bench plane back some distance from the pin board, and use it to support your tail board.

Now remember when I talked about the 140-Trick in the layout post, this is where it comes into play. That shallow rabbet I cut with the skewed block plane, allows me to register the tail board precisely and easily on the pin board. If you didn’t use the 140-trick, you would have fuss and fiddle with the alignment of the tail board. I’ve done it both ways, and this trick is really slick. It saves a lot to time and helps the tail board stay put while marking out the pins.

Place a firm amount of pressure on the tail board, as it spans from the pin board and bench plane. Make sure your marking knife stays flat against the sides of the tails. I like several light passes over one heavy one. Several light passes tend not to follow the grain as much as heavy passes.

Cutting the Pins
The first advantage of cutting tails first, is that you only have to worry about the perpendicular cut across the end of the tail board. The angle cut of the tail can be off, without causing any problems. These means you only have straight vertical cuts on your pins.

If you cut pins first. The angle of your pins are transferred to your tail boards. Those angle cuts on the tails have to be dean on, as well you have to make sure your cut across the end of the board dead on (all at the same time). So you have 2 cuts, on the tail board, that have to dead on instead of one. I think the angle cuts on the tails are hardest to master for most people. So way make your life difficult when starting out. Once you think you have mastered the saw, try pins first. I will someday.

What has to be precise for these pin cuts, is splitting that knife line. If you leave too much of the line, you will spend a lot time with the chisel. If you take too much, your joint will be loose. I think learning to split that knife line is easier than learning to cut on two lines and at an angle.

The fret saw was used to cut out the waste between the pins.

I did pretty well on splitting my knife lines, but I did have to do a little clean up with the chisel to get the joint together. One thing I will say about using chisels at this time, keep them sharp. I find a sharp chisel will sit “still” on the wood while you chop. As a chisel dulls it tends to “slip” and not stay in place. When making those last 1 or 2 chops up the gauge line, this can be a big deal. I’ve had my chisel slip into the gauge one chop too soon, and mess up my base line. Keeping my chisels sharp seems to help prevent that.

The Fit
I still have some work to do to improve my skills but over all the joints came out pretty well.

I also need to get a camera that does good close ups. This is the best I can do at the time. There are a few small gaps you can’t really see, but they aren’t too bad over all. You can see that the tails are a little short, this was on purpose but maybe a little more than you need. I will plane the sides down flush when it’s all put together. Next time I will try and make this amount a little less. I will have less planing to do as result.

I said I was going to make 4 of these as Christmas gifts. It doesn’t look like all 4 will be done in time for Christmas. Some will be late Christmas gifts. I hope get into the shop this weekend, but it’s been pretty cold here in Seattle. I only have a small space heater, so we will see how the weather treats me. I’m also playing with a method of cutting the tails on my bandsaw. This might help me get the gifts done quicker, with a little less hand sawing for now.