122 - How to Make Hand Cut Half Blind Dovetails

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Guild members will remember this small excerpt from the Shaker Table series. Its just a taste of some of the fun we have in the Guild.

Dovetails: very few joints are held in such high regard. Not sure why exactly, but there seems to be a nearly universal love and adoration for this flying vermin-inspired interlocking joint. And I don't care what anyone says, doves are just dirty pigeons in a lighter-colored outfit. To be fair though, the joint is beautiful, incredibly strong, and requires skill and attention to detail to cut by hand.

One of the most common variations of the dovetail is known as a half-blind dovetail. You'll find this joint most often on drawer fronts where you don't necessarily want to see the joint from the front. With a few tools, a little know-how, and a lot of patience, this beloved joint is well within your grasp.

And speaking of patience, what's the rush people?!?! It seems like some folks feel that if they aren't cutting their dovetails in three minutes, they aren't doing it correctly. I say put the breaks on and enjoy the process. After all, isn't that why you're cutting them by hand? If I wanted them cut in just a few minutes, I'd keep a dedicated jig set up and knock them out with my router. Take your time.....be one with the wood......

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[csavage]

The most succinct, clear and concise description of the a blind dovetail process I have seen. Thanks

[woodwhisperer]

@Knapper32927 Thanks for the kind words. Glad you liked the video. As for scribing, I would say only scribe twice if you don't feel the first scribe line is deep enough.

[pallysspot]

Oh this is the best tutorial i have seen, which i can use to work without having to own any mechanical tools, by that i mean jigs and routers etc etc. Pure excellence!

[woodwhisperer]

@evanwhitman haha no worries. I find it best to think of the function of a drawer and that you always want tails for the drawer sides. Looking at the functionality of a drawer, there is only way the joint would make sense in terms of resisting years of pulling forces....and that's with the tails on the side. Sort of helps me remember which is which.

[cMaXeJIJIo]

Excellent! This is what they`re called-HALF-BLIND dovetails!

I about to make a guitar speaker cabinet in the likes of mesa-boogie and they use the same joining technique. Stumbled upon your video purely by accident!

Great work!

[goodkarma]

Thank you for sharing your great knowledge and showing your skills in action. Helps a lot to see it done like this.

[youllregretit]

what an excellent video. i definitely didn't do it right yesterday. one thing to think about is when you set up your pins/tails you should consider the chisel sizes you have. i had a little trouble getting into the pins while doing a very short drawer. i made tiny tails.

[charleyandsarah]

Great video, thank you. Trying these half blind dovetails for the first time today.

[williamrussick]

This was an insanely informative video. I think you could go from zero to making your own hand cut dove tails with this video. Thank you.

[thelongboarder]

You make it look way easier than it is. However i'm sure with practice it wouldn't be too difficult. Im still trying and you make it look great. Great video. thanks for the help

[SgtBooker]

Wow Mark, that was great. The high school woodshop teacher never made it look that easy.

[knightlylad]

I must say Sir, this is one of your best videos!

[woodwhisperer]

@evanwhitman Thanks for the kind words. But I can assure you the terminology is correct. And if it wasn't, the other commenters would never let me live it down, lol.

[woodwhisperer]

@olinewoodworker Honestly, it all depends on the drawer. For a small one like this, these numbers seemed good to me. I don't worry too much about perfect dovtail spacing though since the eye usually can't pick up little discrepancies. But the easiest way I know to divide them up is using an actual divider. Short of that, you can just do the math or simply lay them out in a way that looks visually pleasing.

[TonyStrongman]

Thanks for that, it went over tips I'd seen in other vids but theirs always seemed sped up. Your's went a the right pace for me at least :) I've done a few DTs but you reinforced the rules to follow that I always manage to screw up.

[dustinfeigel]

Thank you for doing this video, it was very well done and shows me what I need to know. I do have to say I loved the beginning part about the 45min or longer dovetails.

[Skandoro]

Wish i could saw as fast as you :) Really nice video, good for improving precision.

[woodwhisperer]

@julioyaldonza Haven't tried that one yet. Looks very cool!

[woodwhisperer]

Hmm...that's a very broad statement. Figured or not, the species itself will probably play more of a role in how you work with the wood than the fact that it has figured grain. I would be caution with any wood until I get a feel for how well it works and proceed based on empirical evidence.

[woodwhisperer]

When cutting, try to keep the tool in the waste area.