Product Details

• Format: Color, Live, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Taunton Press
• VHS Release Date: December 3, 1990
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301919203
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #443,089 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Back to Basics, March 30, 2004

By 

David S. Robbie "dsr51262" (NJ United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dovetail a Drawer (DVD)

This is a great tutorial. Frank is a master and works so effortlessly and fluidly. He is a joy to watch. He offers great tips too. This age old technique of cutting dovetails by hand and by eye is something most anyone can learn. It took the mystery out of it for me. I was all set to go out and get an Incra Jig. I am glad I did not. Instead bought a Two Cherries dovetail saw (Frank uses this straight handle saw) for $25 and saved about $600 in jigs, router, bit and router table. It is far more economical for the weekend woodworker to buy the hand tools and learn how to use them than to buy the latest Leigh or Incra jig that will make joining patterns you will never use. How many drawers do you plan to make anyway ? Why not make the drawers you need by hand cutting the dovetails ? I know it will take some time and practice to learn to cut good dovetails, but it will be great fun. I can also work in my garage at 5AM and not wake the neighbors with the whine of the router. The power tool companies probably don't like this video. I like Norm Abram, but he always has another electric tool (provided by a power tool company) to use. I wish he worked more with hand tools, but then the show would lose its sponsors. My point is, learn how to use hand tools. If sharp, they are cheaper and safer to use for the hobbyist and almost as fast. You won't need a $500 dust collection system except for a dust pan and broom for the shavings and chips. I want to go out and buy all the Frank Klausz videos now because I am so impressed with his teaching, skills and practical tips.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simple empowerment, October 12, 2008

By 

Michael H. Young (ILLINOIS, USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dovetail a Drawer (DVD)

Well fitting handcut dovetails are an accepted hallmark of woodworking craftsmanship. In his signature style of understated simplicity, Frank Klausz walks the viewer through building a 20 minute dovetailed drawer in this 60 minute video. While there remains much to be said for his decades of daily practice and experience, the individual steps are each simple, achievable, and described and demonstrated in very fine detail. After squaring and sizing the stock, he proceeds directly to cut the pins by eye without the commonly prescribed, obsessively laborious measurement and marking.

Aside from squaring and cutting the stock to size, you'll need a good backsaw, a couple of sharp chisels, and a suitable workbench with vise and hold downs. The only real skills needed are the most bssic of basics: sawing to a line, and chiseling down on a line. While not strictly a prerequisite, his other video on hand tools HAND TOOLS - DVD -By Frank Klausz demonstrates how to put the required sharp edges on the tools.

I found the video simply inspiring and empowering, by removing the complexity and mystique surrounding hand cut dovetails. He also talks a little about how he approaches and builds carcases. A mahogony veneer desk provides the context for the drawer and the demonstrations.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very instructional, January 20, 2005

By 

Andrew Violette "A Customer" (Hoffman Estates, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dovetail a Drawer (DVD)

I was truly amazed with the dexterity and skill with which he was able to cut the dovetails and how perfectly they turned out in the end. After watching this video, I had the confidence to cut dovetails by hand. In fact, it takes me less time to do it by hand now (for one drawer) than it does to set up my router to do it, and it's much more rewarding. The key in doing this, is following his technique of eye-balling the measurements, rather than meticulously laying out the dovetails.