Customer Reviews

Dovetail a Drawer [VHS]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

This is not really a how-to video. This is more like watching a demonstration at a wood show.

I see this video gets a lot of 5 star ratings. These people are rating how well Klausz can dovetail a drawer, not how well this video can teach YOU how to dovetail a drawer (and I'm not saying that because I can't dovetail a drawer, I can).

Yes, Klausz is super-fast.

Yes, he does awesome work.

But... typical of most masters of their crafts, he is NOT a good teacher. Klausz is a master, and shows you how a master can build a drawer. He blasts through the process with no consideration to the fact that a beginner will encounter problems.

I watched this on DVD (there is also a VHS tape). Shot in 1984, this video is pretty grainy. The camera shots, production, and sound are WAY better than Taunton videos done in the last few years. Klausz is a native Hungarian, so he's got a thick accents but he's not hard to understand.

Overall, I'd wouldn't buy this video. I'd rent it and take some notes or get the book instead. Maybe you can get if from your local library... I'm glad I did.

After you will have watched this video from Mr Klausz, dovetails will never make you think of using a jig or motorised tool to make them... The way Mr Klausz shows how to proceed will make you wish you had learned this way of doing a long time ago. After a few times of viewing and taking notes to the shop, you will have perfectly fitting dovetails and pins! It worked for me and I think I am a slow learner! I highly recommend it.

I have the utmost respect for Frank Klausz. From his portion of a video with the Time Life series, I learned to cut dovetails and with practice have become a little more proficient. Dovetail a Drawer is almost the same as the other video, but what I liked was the little tips such as his measuring techniques that are void of a tape measure in all steps of drawer building. He is also clear about what step comes next up until he does final fitting with a plane. I've made many drawers prior to this and can see I worked too hard on them.

During the introduction when the voiceover is occuring, Frank cuts pins with blinding speed which is obviously for show, but it certainly reminds you that he is one to listen to. All in all, a very good video that encompasses great tips throughout.

Edit: 2/22/08 I have now made several drawers using this method. They are solid, square, fit great and didn't take an inordinate amount of time. No tape measure was used on any of them. It is my intent to use the same method for wall hung cabinets.

It does take a little sweat equity in practice, but the result is well worth it. Frank once said "Start with four 8 foot boards and start practicing dovetails - by the time you get it down, you'll have a nice little box for your shoe polish". For me, it took doing one a day for about 30 days and now they are cut much faster (and just as accurate) as pulling out the router.

when i began woodworking as a hobby, dovetail joints intrigued and challenged me. in the past, i used the stot's template master to create a router jig which allowed me to cut dovetails in several drawers that i made for a bathroom vanity as well as for a set of kitchen cabinets. i REFUSED to spend more than $50 on a dovetail router jig which unfortunately is what most of them cost!

after watching this dvd, installing a bench vise and acquiring some basic hand tools (cheap marples chisels from costco, a gent's dovetail saw from rockler and a veritas wheeled marking gauge) i decided to "go for it!" as frank klausz espouses in this video. sure, my first couple of dovetail joints were not the prettiest and definitely would not be considered fine woodworking, but i was ELATED that they actually fit!

this dvd has transformed my ENTIRE conception of woodworking which was previously overwhelmed by the din of whining power tools and smothered by sawdust. i've gotten much better with practice and have recently managed to cut a set of five drawers for a changing table that i'm building for a recent addition to the family.

you will simply NOT believe how RIDICULOUSLY FAST master cabinetmaker, frank klausz, cuts dovetails! the best part of this video is that klausz is a FANTASTIC instructor and explains very lucidly exactly what he's doing and how you can achieve the same (some day...) results as he does. along the way he covers the basics of drawer building including: measuring without rulers, drawer assembly and finishing with hand planes.

for most homeowners, cutting dovetails by hand will take as much time as setting up a router jig and wearing all the associated protective gear. it is IMMEASURABLY safer and bears greater CRAFTSMANSHIP. this dvd has inspired me so much that i bought all of his other videos and i am currently learning how to do all of my other my woodworking joints (mortise/tenon, frame/panel) by hand.

I NEVER write reviews, but I feel I must for this DVD. Most people get so swamped with the ideas of needing this jig or that machine. There was a time (crazy as this may sound) where all one needed was a good saw (and a few other hand tools), some skill/practice, and a good teacher to make quality work. This DVD gives you the skills and Frank is an EXCELLENT teacher. So, all one needs is a good saw and practice. Jigs are for the lazy or the production shop. As Frank states in the video, by the time one sets up a jig for a router, you could have already cut the dovetails.

When watching the video, there is a lot more than just dovetailing one can take away. Frank shows great techniques on:

1. Planing

2. Drawer construction

3. How to easily square-up the drawer

4. Order of operations in woodworking

5. Measuring/marking wood

It gives the viewer the opportunity to see how woodworking has been and should continue to be done. Frank teaches how to do work well, quickly, and with confidence of understanding what to do.

In closing, get this video, watch it over and over, and practice, practice, practice.

Dovetail A Drawer is an amazing video of an artist in action, moreso than a video of how to dovetail drawers. Frank Klausz' methods are time-tested; his actions precise; his advice well-worded, given in layman's terms, and incredibly useful. I bought a video I thought would teach me how to make hand-cut dovetails. But I ended up learning so much more, like some basic (but often overlooked) shop safety with power tools, chiseling techniques, hand saw techniques, planing techniques, workbench ideas, and some insight into the life and work ethics of a master woodworker.

I recently picked up another one of his videos on refurbishing hand planes, sharpening chisels, and fine-tuning saws (for some reason, not available on Amazon.com?). I love it more than the Dovetail a Drawer video!

You could safely say ANY Frank Klausz video would be a wonderful addition to your woodworking library.

This is the real thing. A true craftsman showing you the traditional approach can be the fastest, best, and definitely the most stylish! This is a classy and helpful video for any woodworker, and it's fun to watch to boot!