In 1999 Norm Abram visited Cincinnati, at the request of Sam, to film a New Yankee Workshop segment on reclaiming urban trees. The Cincinnati Park Service arranged to cut down a street tree for the filming. The felled oak tree was then sawn into lumber by the WoodMizer demonstration team. The WoodMizer guys even put it in their big ol’ pickup and hauled it to my garage in one trip. It took Sam and me three trips in his Ford Ranger to get the wood to his house.

After letting the 8/4 lumber dry for a few years, I made him a traditional cabinet maker’s workbench based on one described by Frank Klausz in Scott Landis’ The Workbench Book. Updated plans for the bench are also available from The Woodworker’s Journal.

To make my rendition unique, I added walnut end panels, vice caps and shoulder block.

The only addition I have to the original is a power tool method for making the large dovetail joints on the ends and vices.

After milling to size the pieces to be joined and making sure they are straight and square, set up the table-saw with a ½” dado set and set the blade height to the thickness of your tail boards. Attach a backer wider than your height of cut to the miter gauge.

In my case, the boards were thicker than the 8″ dado set could go (a maximum of 2¼”), so I ended up trimming the back of the dovetail like a tenon. Next, set a bevel gauge to about 10 degrees and mark the pin board. Keep in mind that the narrowest part of the dovetail should be at least 1/8″ wider than the dado blade.

Use the bevel gauge to set the miter gauge to the same angle and clamp the pin board on end to the miter gauge board with the widest part of the dovetail facing the blade. Use a wooden clamp, just in case. Keep firm downward pressure on the pin board and run it slowly through the saw. You’re taking out a lot of material at once. Now use the bevel gauge to set the miter gauge in the other direction and run the piece through again. With these two cuts you define the pins. It isn’t critical that the two pins be identical. Later you’ll use them to define the tail.

Next, return the miter gauge to 90 degrees and turn the pin board so the narrow part of the tail space faces the blade. Start with the blade about 1/16″ shy of the pin then clamp and make several passes to hog out the remainder of the waste. A last pass from the wide end of the tail space may be needed. Because my miter gauge wobbled slightly, the back face of the tail space needed a little clean up with a chisel. A tight miter gauge and a zero-clearance insert may help. To make the tail board, align and clamp the pin board in place on top and use a marking knife to define the four edges of the tail. Use a pencil to darken the knife lines. On the bandsaw, very carefully cut along the lines. If you are confident in your bandsawing, you can cut the knife lines in half so the joint will go together tight with no clean up.

Alternately, cut outside the lines and fit the joint with a chisel and a shoulder plane. Either way, it is critical to keep your dado blade and your bandsaw blade perfectly perpendicular to their tables. With your saws well tuned and a couple sharp hand tools, here is that strong, beautiful joint quickly and cleanly.