I need to cut half blind dovetails in 1-3/4" maple. My baseline scriber does not produce a good base line. In your DVD on dovetails you briefly mention putting a double bevel on your scribe pins. How can I easily do that in my shop?
-Jerry G.
Port Ludlow, WA
Our Expert
The baseline plays an important role in the process of cutting a clean, precise dovetail joint; it provides an incision for positioning the chisel when chopping the waste areas of the joint. Most new marking gauges simply do not scribe a baseline which is deep enough to prevent over cutting this important part of the joint. And many are simply dull and do nothing more than tear and scratch the wood.
To scribe a clean baseline I use an long-discontinued Stanley #65 gauge. The gauge has a steel pin which I grind to a double-bevel. To safely and accurately grind the pin I grip it in the jaws of locking pliers.
