Thread: type of dovetail

Hey Delbs,
It's called a half blind dovetail. The Leigh dovetail jig is a well known jig that produces this type of dovetail.

Cheers,
Andy

Hey thanks for that, im aware of a half blind dovetail as ive got a jig that can do that. i cut both boards at once. so its just the spacing that makes the 2 dovetails? my current jig doesnt allow me to this my spacing is fixed and cant seem to find another bracket for my jig

i guess this is where buying a well known brand like leigh makes a difference

The Leigh D series (D4, D4R, and discontinued D1600) and Superjig series allow you to adjust comb spacing for variable spacing, but to achieve this you are cutting the parts of the joint seperately. The SJ will also cut single pass halfblind as per your existing jig with the combs arranged side by side so no variable spacing. The jigs are good but not cheap, but you need to use genuine Leigh or very high quality aftermaket bits for accurate fits. Hear off a few people who have bought cheapo bits and discovered after use that they are not accurately sized.

Is there a dovetail router bit that is narrow enough to create that tail? (And it is not that narrow).

Most dovetails like these are typically cut by a handsaw and chisel.

Regards from Perth

Derek

derek, there is a good range of dovetail router bits available from woodrat
that have the same profile as the pictured one

This is a couple of the WoodRat router bits.
Delbs knock up a template and use the router bit that came with your dovetail jig.

Regards
Harold

The picture in original post is from cover of most recent Fine Woodworking (#232), and pertains to the shaker chimney cupboard project in the mag. Salient points, drawer front 3/4in thick x 3inch height (approx 19mm x 75mm). Scaling the parts from the mag cover, I make the pin approx 11.5mm at widest, 6mm at neck and abt 14mm deep. This is pretty close to the Leigh 80-8 8 degree bit which can be used for through and half blind dovetails.

In the article, they mention only that the doors and drawers were made by traditional methods, so Derek is correct in questioning whether they are routed. However, it would seem that there definitely is a Leigh bit which would produce similar, if slightly less steep dovetails with their jigs.

Photo on the cover shows drawer with 1 full and 2 half pins, while drawings and photos in the article show 2 full and 2 half pins, so there is some reconsideration somewhere in the evolution of the project and article.

Originally Posted by delbs

hey can someone tell me the proper name of this type of dovetail? and what jig is used to make this? i just think it looks great and wiukd love to give it a shot. thanks in advance

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as others have advised, it's a half-blind dovetail

I think the only jig that can cut pins that fine is the WoodRat -- others may be able to advise if Woodrat bits can be used with a Leigh D4 jig to cut pins that fine.

If you're making less than about 4 drawers, cutting by hand is almost certainly quicker than settng up a jig and if you are looking to buy a jig to make a joint that refined and $$ are a consideration, the break even number is possibly as many as 20