When it comes to hand-cutting dovetails, precision matters. For the joint to fit well, the baseline shoulders and the tail cheeks must be square to the faces of the boards, and the pin cheeks must be square to the ends of the boards. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to maneuver a regular square into place to check those surfaces, especially with closely spaced dovetails. However, you can repurpose a rule depth gauge to do the job. Designed to measure the depth of dadoes, mortises, and other recesses, its narrow blade also easily slips into pin sockets to allow checking dovetail cheeks and baseline shoulders. Likewise, you can retract the blade and place the tool’s stock against the end of a pinboard to check pin cheeks. To locate the tool, type “rule depth gauge” into your search browser.
—Ric Hanisch, Quakertown, Pennsylvania
