9. The side
is held in position on the end, and the dovetail saw is inserted and
drawn out of the saw kerf, thus leaving the exact mark on the
drawer-back.

Other workers prefer a pounce-bag instead of a saw. A pounce-bag consists
of a piece of fairly open woven muslin filled with a mixture of French
chalk and finely-powdered whiting; the muslin is tied up with a piece of
thin twine like the mouth of a flour sack. All that is necessary is to
place the timber in position and bang the bag on the top of the saw-cuts,
when sufficient powder will pass through the bag and down the saw kerf to
mark the exact positions of the lines.

SAWING THE DOVETAILS.--After marking out the pins on the drawer sides, we
proceed with the next operation, that is, sawing the dovetails ready for
chopping out the waste material. The drawer side is taken and firmly
secured in the bench screw and sawn as at Fig. 281; it is most important
that the saw kerf is kept _inside_ the line which has been scratched by
the marking awl. See Fig. 280, where the dotted line represents the gauge
line and the outside lines indicate the scores of the marking awl.
Failure to observe this condition will result in faulty dovetailing, and
it will also prove the necessity for using a finely-toothed and
thin-bladed dovetail saw.

To cut out the waste wood (or core), the usual procedure is to saw away
the half-dovetails as at Fig. 275. With care, this can be accomplished
with the dovetail saw, thus avoiding unnecessary labour and the use of
the paring chisel.

After sawing, the drawer side is placed flat upon the bench, one end in
contact with the bench to prevent the drawer side from slipping away; a
chisel (preferably bevelled edged) of suitable width is now taken and a
small channel is cut as at A, Fig. 282. The method of cutting this
channel is shown in the same illustration. The chisel-cut is started
about 1/8 in. from the gauge line; the cut is made right up to the gauge
line, which (when gauging) was made 1/32 in. deep so as to cut the cross
fibres of the timber. A small piece of waste wood will therefore come
away as at A.

The object of cutting this small channel is so that, when the chisel is
held vertically on the gauge line and struck with the mallet, the chisel
will have no tendency to force its way backward and overshoot the gauge
line. The waste or core is now removed by holding the chisel
approximately vertical and applying sufficient power to drive