Brilliant! I've watched dozens of dovetail videos by experienced craftsmen. This is far and a away the most efficient, elegant and inspirational method I have seen. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise.
Its great to see someone keeping the old skills alive. As an apprentice I met an old time proffessional dovetailer. He told me he could produce 8 drawers a day which is 32 sets of dovetails. He said that if you over ran with the saw you'd get fined.. Its always worth remembering that this kind of skill changes dramatically when you have to add speed. You get paid on production in the trade.
Beautiful shop, beautiful dog, beautiful home, magnificent dovetails... Quality and professionalism at it's finest. Great video.. Great smile as well.. i really enjoyed this video. Thanks for sharing
The 131 people that thumbs downed this video better have done that solely for the music. The guy is fantastic to watch and I’d love to study under him for years to learn I will never be as good as he is.
Fantastic work (I'm a pins first guy though, doing them like Tage Frid), thumbs up from me, although I wish there was a way to turn the music off. It'd be nice to hear what the tools are doing more clearly.
Bad Boy Becksvoort strikes again. That is a man who has cut a lot of dovetails. Love watching a master of their craft work, so effortless from so much hard work
I can watch this video over and over, every few months, without knowing really I'm doing it; like great songs from the 70's...cheers...rr Normandy, France
I've watched quite a few dovetail videos and this is the first time I've seen some chisel out the waste like that. Looks much easier than the other methods I've seen, but I'm 100% sure that's because he's done a million of these.
Why are we watching other dovetailers? This one makes the most sense, easily. He had me at the layout. Watch, practice,repeat. Oh yes, and sharpen my chisels
What an awesome video. I'm just starting carpentry. It's so nice to see someone so comfortable doing what they love. I hope I'm this effortless one day
Brilliant video. It's so nice to see a talented, production-level hand craftsman at work. I'd love to be a fly on the wall in Christian's shop for a few weeks. Every time I watch this, I notice something new.
Yes - Christian has done this once or twice. I love to hand cut my dovetails but take my time as I build things for home. My wife got so fed up with my glacial pace that she bought me a Leigh Dovetail jig. I then worked very slowly on some mortise and tenons and out of frustration she bought me a Festool Domino tool. I'm currently working slowly on my sanding (need a helical thicknesser), sawing (need a bandsaw) etc. Any suggestions welcome. Great vid btw - can never get enough of watching such masterly craftmanship. Cheers and thanks from Sydney, Aust - Dave
I feel very fortunate that I was able to attend two separate weekend workshops that Chris conducted at the Lie-Nielsen Toolworks. I learned more about hand tool dovetails during those two weekends than I could have learned in two weeks from most any other instructor.
This is my favorite video you’ve ever put out, Ben. For anyone criticizing the music, I completely agree, but the editor said that he had to put the music in to cover his own “wows” and little audible sounds of wonderment. 😂
What a joy !! So nice to see a professional doing what they do best without the need to explain everything in slow minute detail !! Just by watching this gives you so much !! I always find it interesting, you could see a 100 pros making dovetails and they would all do it slightly differently ,it just proves there's a lot of truth in the saying " There are many ways to skin a cat" !! Great stuff !!
Oh jeez, if i knew dovetails were so easy and simple I’d have done these a long time ago. Being sarcastic. That was quite a demonstration of some seriously honed skills. Nice video.
I was so amazed watching him make those dove tails, I didn't even realize 7 minutes went by. You make it look so effortless and create such beautiful work. Thank you for sharing.
Very good work. Clearly professional. I like the labour saving method of doing the two dovetails together. As a ‘purist’ I would have used a scraper plane or a hand scraper instead of sandpaper, but people won’t pay for that sort of detail. But wow, that looked like a 1950s sander. Lovely machine!
Chris, enjoyed your lecture last Saturday at the Hancock Shaker Village and I'm especially enjoying your Shaker Legacy book, see you at the LN open house in July.
Thank you for putting this on UA-cam. For some reason, I’m no longer to see videos on your website? Perhaps the player is no longer compatible, but I never had issues until a few weeks ago. Glad to be able to see this now!
More videos like this from FWW would be amazing, just short bite size content from masters i've watched this video so many times and everytime i pick up on something new. I tried dovetailing the other day for the first time, and immediately thought of this video.
Love the 'forked' board to hang drawers for sanding. I bought a box full of old chisels for, I think 22 euros...which is probably the price of one of yours. (Although I did also buy 2 new Sweetheart chisels). I love recycling and it's cheaper, obviously. But take-away for this video for me is: use the groove for the drawer's bottom to register and mark the 2nd half of the dovetail.
What a pro. I especially love the use of the belt sander. It seems to make really quick work of the marking lines. I'm guessing this was about Christian's 2,000,001st drawer
Back in '91 when the FWW "Traditional Furniture Projects" came out I made his Leg-And-Apron Table of White Oak only dispensing with the leaf as I had to plane the top flat by hand and couldn't bear to cut into it. I also went un-Shaker by draw boring the tenons to improve the fit. That table went to a daughter and is still in the family with a 1991 Silver Dollar let into the underside of the top by my signature, a conceit I borrowed from another FWW master who's name I forget. We all owe a great debt to Mr. Becksvoort and the other craftsmen who passed along their knowledge in the pages of FWW, likely for peanuts. The only craftsman/journalist I know of being adequately compensated was the fictional Keith Stewart, the "Trustee From The Toolroom" of Nevil Shute. If you work with your hands and want to know what duty is, I can't recommend it highly enough. My copy is quite old and dog-eared.
By aligning the ruler at a whole number divisible by the (whole) number of tails, then marking at each division and carrying the line back up. Paul Sellers has a video on it I believe, and Becksvoort describes it in 'Shaker Inspiration,' which is impossible to over-recommend.
They say it's talent, but it takes decades of dedication and hard work to achieve that skill level. Beautiful work sir. If I could afford it, I'd buy your furniture :)
Engineering 101: tools don’t make the craft, the man does...love the old school belt sander too...when a generation still appreciates simple geometry...thank u for sharing 🙏🏻
Thanks for the inspirational video, Christian. It was interesting seeing you pick up that belt sander instead of the hand plane to finish everything up!
Notice at 4:07 the piece he's fitting doesn't have a dado, that's the back. Then again at 5:14 you can see it's shorter than the side. All to say, you just slide the bottom in from the back.
🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤 The ART of woodworking !!! In french I would say '' chapeau bas l'artiste '' ! What a pleasure to see someone who knows how to work with his... hands !?!!! Whaow !!!!!! 😱😱😱😱 A hudge BIGGG BLUE THUMB from France !!!
Wow. What a joy to watch a master do this work with such skill, passion, and smiles. Absolutely Inspiring and a Thrill.
I loved the pencil trick checking the tight spots. Very satisfying seeing a persons enjoying themselves using their talents.
Agree, I had one of those, "why didn't I think of that" moments seeing that.
The pencil trick was AMAZING!!!!
By "pencil trick" do you mean scribing the dovetail cuts?
3:52
AKA "chasing the smudge"...
Brilliant! I've watched dozens of dovetail videos by experienced craftsmen. This is far and a away the most efficient, elegant and inspirational method I have seen. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise.
all that beautiful handwork and then a belt sander....I love it!
Was thinking g the same thing. Haha
Its great to see someone keeping the old skills alive. As an apprentice I met an old time proffessional dovetailer. He told me he could produce 8 drawers a day which is 32 sets of dovetails. He said that if you over ran with the saw you'd get fined..
Its always worth remembering that this kind of skill changes dramatically when you have to add speed. You get paid on production in the trade.
When you do it a thousands times you get very proficient and mistakes rarely happen.
This is a great video and Christian's smile at 3.05 just makes it for me. The guy is having a ball doing his thing and kicking ass while doing it.
Beautiful shop, beautiful dog, beautiful home, magnificent dovetails... Quality and professionalism at it's finest. Great video.. Great smile as well.. i really enjoyed this video. Thanks for sharing
The 131 people that thumbs downed this video better have done that solely for the music. The guy is fantastic to watch and I’d love to study under him for years to learn I will never be as good as he is.
I still gave this video a thumb up but god the music is so loud
Fantastic work (I'm a pins first guy though, doing them like Tage Frid), thumbs up from me, although I wish there was a way to turn the music off. It'd be nice to hear what the tools are doing more clearly.
The best dovetail video from an amazing craftsman I've ever seen. That is a drawer anyone would be proud to have. Wow.
Wow. The level that a skill can be taken to. Bravo to the owner who takes it there.
Bad Boy Becksvoort strikes again. That is a man who has cut a lot of dovetails. Love watching a master of their craft work, so effortless from so much hard work
I can watch this video over and over, every few months, without knowing really I'm doing it; like great songs from the 70's...cheers...rr Normandy, France
Tons of tips and tricks to see just by watching Chris. Gosh hes so good. Love his furniture and personality.
The best thing about this video, to me, is the appearance of the Skil 449 locomotive to flush the pins with the tails. Such a cool looking tool!
I've watched quite a few dovetail videos and this is the first time I've seen some chisel out the waste like that. Looks much easier than the other methods I've seen, but I'm 100% sure that's because he's done a million of these.
Christian does more hand cut dovetails in a month than most of us ever will...
Love his work...
This is my favorite dovetail video! So simple, so easy. Well done! Thank you!
He knows the wood and how it'll behave without any visible effort. The experience he shows with his hands is amazing to see. Total badass.
That was way more than just another dovetail video! Seven minutes of gems!
I'm blown away. The man really is a master
Why are we watching other dovetailers? This one makes the most sense, easily. He had me at the layout.
Watch, practice,repeat. Oh yes, and sharpen my chisels
A true master at work ... music or no music, it was a treat to view!!
This is the most efficient guy i have seen. Every movement has a purpose.
What an awesome video. I'm just starting carpentry. It's so nice to see someone so comfortable doing what they love. I hope I'm this effortless one day
Brilliant video. It's so nice to see a talented, production-level hand craftsman at work. I'd love to be a fly on the wall in Christian's shop for a few weeks. Every time I watch this, I notice something new.
Yes - Christian has done this once or twice. I love to hand cut my dovetails but take my time as I build things for home. My wife got so fed up with my glacial pace that she bought me a Leigh Dovetail jig. I then worked very slowly on some mortise and tenons and out of frustration she bought me a Festool Domino tool. I'm currently working slowly on my sanding (need a helical thicknesser), sawing (need a bandsaw) etc. Any suggestions welcome. Great vid btw - can never get enough of watching such masterly craftmanship. Cheers and thanks from Sydney, Aust - Dave
I feel very fortunate that I was able to attend two separate weekend workshops that Chris conducted at the Lie-Nielsen Toolworks. I learned more about hand tool dovetails during those two weekends than I could have learned in two weeks from most any other instructor.
I like everything about this video including the music. I have read his articles too. True talent and craftsmanship.
Amazing artist! one day i might be able to make a dovetail joint so easily. Thank you for sharing your talents and skills!
His work has soul. My hats off to you sir.
Excellent! Thanks Ben for capturing and sharing these amazing craftsman at work.
This is my favorite dovetail video! Thank you!
This is my favorite video you’ve ever put out, Ben. For anyone criticizing the music, I completely agree, but the editor said that he had to put the music in to cover his own “wows” and little audible sounds of wonderment. 😂
Lafayette - NIterói Brasil - Thanks for your great lesson - formidable!
Beautiful video Ben. Thanks so much. Such amazaing skill.
Having just spent a couple of hours in the shop practicing dovetails this video is both inspiring and depressing.
I could watch him do this for hours. Extremely satisfying to watch.
What a joy !! So nice to see a professional doing what they do best without the need to explain everything in slow minute detail !! Just by watching this gives you so much !! I always find it interesting, you could see a 100 pros making dovetails and they would all do it slightly differently ,it just proves there's a lot of truth in the saying " There are many ways to skin a cat" !! Great stuff !!
Larry David is so multitalented!!
That pencil trick on bruising the pin board is awesome. Using that for sure!
All respect, a truly master. i bet he can dovetail faster than anyone trying to set a dovetailing jig and router.
Total respect watching a master craftsman work.
I have learned so much from you and finewood working over the years thank you.
Oh jeez, if i knew dovetails were so easy and simple I’d have done these a long time ago. Being sarcastic. That was quite a demonstration of some seriously honed skills. Nice video.
I was so amazed watching him make those dove tails, I didn't even realize 7 minutes went by. You make it look so effortless and create such beautiful work. Thank you for sharing.
Very good work. Clearly professional. I like the labour saving method of doing the two dovetails together. As a ‘purist’ I would have used a scraper plane or a hand scraper instead of sandpaper, but people won’t pay for that sort of detail. But wow, that looked like a 1950s sander. Lovely machine!
Not seen them done like that before, also the finger board for sanding the sides a great idea that sames on clamping it to a bench.
Chris, enjoyed your lecture last Saturday at the Hancock Shaker Village and I'm especially enjoying your Shaker Legacy book, see you at the LN open house in July.
Ok, Probly the best dovetail video i've seen yet
He made that look so easy. That is a true professional!
That locomotive sander at 5:40 is AWESOME! It even has the smoking effect with the bag. Very nice!
Thank you for putting this on UA-cam. For some reason, I’m no longer to see videos on your website? Perhaps the player is no longer compatible, but I never had issues until a few weeks ago. Glad to be able to see this now!
iiTz DrumStiX there was an issue with iOS 11 and our video player. That has been resolved. Let me know if you're still not seeing videos.
FineWoodworking I was in the beta, so that would explain it.
Amazing! I couldn't stop smiling all the way through the video.
Love the technique of blackening the pins to determine where to trim. Simple idea.
Well that was an utter pleasure to watch. Thank you.
I'd FAR rather hear him work, and possibly some comments, than have any music whatsoever.
graymouser. Agreed. The music doesn't fit the video at all and would be far better without it.
All a matter of taste. I liked the music.
couldnt agree more, would have been a better video without the music and better camera work
Ahh, complain too much. Video was great. A master at work my friends.
@@krabenaldt7605 Exactly. Schön richtig.
What a pleasure to watch. Man I'd hate to know how many dove tails he has made.
Chris, you're the Master! Thanks for all the knowledge and inspiration over the years.
Had to google this name after seeing Ron giggling on parks and rec lols.
More videos like this from FWW would be amazing, just short bite size content from masters i've watched this video so many times and everytime i pick up on something new. I tried dovetailing the other day for the first time, and immediately thought of this video.
That was beautful!! We all need to find someone like that guy to learn from! There are so many skills that may get lost down the line if we don't!
by far the best dovetail video I've seen
Love the 'forked' board to hang drawers for sanding. I bought a box full of old chisels for, I think 22 euros...which is probably the price of one of yours. (Although I did also buy 2 new Sweetheart chisels). I love recycling and it's cheaper, obviously.
But take-away for this video for me is: use the groove for the drawer's bottom to register and mark the 2nd half of the dovetail.
What a pro. I especially love the use of the belt sander. It seems to make really quick work of the marking lines. I'm guessing this was about Christian's 2,000,001st drawer
An icon in his element. Outstanding.
Back in '91 when the FWW "Traditional Furniture Projects" came out I made his Leg-And-Apron Table of White Oak only dispensing with the leaf as I had to plane the top flat by hand and couldn't bear to cut into it. I also went un-Shaker by draw boring the tenons to improve the fit. That table went to a daughter and is still in the family with a 1991 Silver Dollar let into the underside of the top by my signature, a conceit I borrowed from another FWW master who's name I forget.
We all owe a great debt to Mr. Becksvoort and the other craftsmen who passed along their knowledge in the pages of FWW, likely for peanuts.
The only craftsman/journalist I know of being adequately compensated was the fictional Keith Stewart, the "Trustee From The Toolroom" of Nevil Shute. If you work with your hands and want to know what duty is, I can't recommend it highly enough. My copy is quite old and dog-eared.
Great video. Excellent ingenious tricks. No BS, what a pleasure. Thank you Maestro.
The pencil-mark a bit lower than the edge as fit-control is a good tip, thanks.
That trick with the pencil while fitting and paring the pins blew my mind!
nice to see the old skill sander...I still have mine since 1967, going strong when I need some quick removal.
I've still got my Porter Cable 3 x 24 locomotive from 1947 and use it regularly. Have the receipt too for $97.00. That's $97.00 in 1947 money.
What was that diagonal line he measured earlier to get the placement of the tails? I've never seen that!
By aligning the ruler at a whole number divisible by the (whole) number of tails, then marking at each division and carrying the line back up. Paul Sellers has a video on it I believe, and Becksvoort describes it in 'Shaker Inspiration,' which is impossible to over-recommend.
great video. i really liked his layout approach and gang cutting. i really loved the Cowboy Junkies poster on the wall at 2:45 and 4:38.
loved watching a master at his craft. Whose chisels are you using?
They say it's talent, but it takes decades of dedication and hard work to achieve that skill level. Beautiful work sir. If I could afford it, I'd buy your furniture :)
You cant teach an old dog new trick. You already know them! Best chizel work I've seen to date.
I love it, I have the same belt sander...a skill I bought in 1977, still working well but somewhere along the line I lost the knob on the front.
David Parry, a trifle lighter than the Porter Cable locomotive, maybe that a good thing. Both could last forever. Wish I had one now.
I always liked his tool cabinet wish I could get ahold of a plan.
great song.
I like the way FWW produced this video, meat & potatoes, no fluff.
you can tell he's done thousands of dovetails during his career
I’d like to spend a month with this guy he’s probably forgot more than I know
Most beautiful sander i have ever seen.
Engineering 101: tools don’t make the craft, the man does...love the old school belt sander too...when a generation still appreciates simple geometry...thank u for sharing 🙏🏻
Using pencil mark to highlight the tight spots on first fitting is really smart. Never seen that before.
A true master of his craft
Where did you get the hold downs you were using? Thanks for the content.
Thanks for the inspirational video, Christian. It was interesting seeing you pick up that belt sander instead of the hand plane to finish everything up!
How did he put the drawer bottom though!? Crazy amount of precision. Loved the whole video.
Notice at 4:07 the piece he's fitting doesn't have a dado, that's the back. Then again at 5:14 you can see it's shorter than the side. All to say, you just slide the bottom in from the back.
Watching a master at work is mesmerizing. He didn't have to say anything
Very beautiful and clean work. It's a pleasure to watch. Thank you.
Well I guess that’s how ya do it!! Wow!!
🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤
The ART of woodworking !!! In french I would say '' chapeau bas l'artiste '' ! What a pleasure to see someone who knows how to work with his... hands !?!!! Whaow !!!!!! 😱😱😱😱 A hudge BIGGG BLUE THUMB from France !!!
Is this the man Ron Swanson was giddy over on Parks & Rec.?
What kind of clamps are used to secure the wood on the table?
This man has the coolest belt sander I’ve ever seen - it reminds me of those classic airstream caravans
It's so retro it's futuristic
So this is the man ron swanson has spoken of :)
What an honor to watch thank you.
Something to aspire to ..... And wonderful to watch! Thanks for sharing.
A real artist at work . Thank you for the video
Love the way he made looks so easy