Esteemed GG's:

I had my first go at cutting dovetails today.  I'm practicing for their
use in a tool box to be done soon.  I used Tage Frid's methods of
marking and cutting pins first then marking tails from the cut pins.  I
formed the angle by marking out 6 equal increments, etc.  I found that I
could cut the pins fairly well after a few tries but continued to have
difficulty with the tails.

I used a small DT saw of indeterminate origin (Thanks, Vlad, it cuts
very well), a marking gauge and my pocket knife followed by a fine
pencil line and blue Marples chisels that have SS mirrors on backs and
bevels.  The wood was scrap 1x6 nom. poplar.  I found that marking the
tails was awkward and difficult to get precise enough for tight joints.

The pins were cut with the saw held perpendicular to the plane of the
end of the board but angled from the planes of the edges of the board.
The tails, however, required the saw to be moved at an angle to the
plane of the end of the board.  I found this difficult to do.  I tried
angling the board in the vice to effect a cut perpendicular to the floor
but had little success.  Suggestions for technique improvements
welcomed?

After cutting and chopping out, I examined each board; pins seemed ok
with very little paring needed to split the layout lines, but tails were
nowhere near as close.  I ascribed this difficulty to the lack of a
reference line on the back of the cut for the tails and difficulty in
following the angle of the tails.

After several attempts, I made the following observation:  Layout for
the pins is easily done with bevel and square on the three surfaces to
be cut.  But, layout for the tails is done only on two of the surfaces
to be cut (unless someone can correct my technique and show me how to
carry the angle of the tail cut to the outside edge of the joint
accurately.

This means that I have 3 lines to use to guide the saw for pins and only
2 for tails.  What results is tails pins that look reasonably well done
and tails that have gaps.  The joints were all strong enough but
aesthetically unpleasant.

I would greatly appreciate and gratefully accept any and all advice.

Bob Hutchins
Central TX