The following are the different types of dovetail joints: Through dovetail. Half-blind dovetail. Secret mitered dovetail.
How many types of dovetail joints are there?
The following are the different types of dovetail joints: Through dovetail. Half-blind dovetail. Secret mitered dovetail.
What is the most popular dovetail joint?
The through dovetail joint is the most popular dovetail joint because it is strong, attractive, and versatile. It is commonly used in furniture-making, cabinetry, and woodworking. The through dovetail joint is a traditional woodworking joint characterized by the interlocking triangular shape it creates.
What is the difference between English dovetail and French dovetail?
English dovetails are the most common. They have interlocking joints and allow the most amount of space – usually several more inches of room than you would get with French dovetails. This is because the dovetail groove cannot be put all the way at the edge of a drawer with French dovetails.
What is the difference between a dovetail and mortise joint?
First of all the mortis and tenon are straight cut joints as opposed to the dovetail which is angled (like a dove tail). The m&t uses a bolt to hold the joint while the glue dries. The dove tail uses the pressure of the wood against wood and can actually stay seated without any glue in place.
What is the most common dovetail angle?
Percy Blandford, who has been writing about woodworking for a long time, writes in “The Woodworker’s Bible” that any angle between 7.5° and 10° is acceptable. The ideal, he says, is 8.5° for softwoods and 7.5° when joining hardwoods.
What is an alternative to a dovetail joint?
Finger joints are an effective and striking alternative to traditional dovetail joinery.
What is an English dovetail joint?
A dovetail joint is a locking joint. The English dovetail construction tends to allow for the largest possible drawer storage capacity. French dovetail construction is used for more elaborate features such a curved, bowed design.
Are dovetail joints still used?
They are still used today by many experienced custom furniture makers. Dovetail joints are not only used to make a strong joint for drawer construction, but cabinet makers often use them to join the tops, bottoms and sides of cabinet cases, as was done on antique furniture.
What is the weakest wood joint?
A butt joint is the easiest of all simple wood joints, but also is the weakest. The cut end of one board butts up against the edge of another piece at a right angle. The key to every type of wood joint is having smooth, square cuts on the boards, and the butt joint is no exception.
What is a Knapp joint?
The Knapp Joint is a very strong form of drawer joinery but was only utilised from 1870 until about 1900, when it basically fell completely out of use. It was replaced by machine cut dovetails, which are still mass produced in factories today.
When did they stop using dovetail joints?
By 1730, through dovetail joinery was abandoned in English furniture making in favor of the lapped construction. As furniture became more refined, furniture makers began to take pride in the construction of their drawers as well.
What are the rules for dovetail joints?
The ‘pins’ are the bits of wood between the tails so there are two half-pins; one each side. The general rule is that they measure half the thickness of timber plus around a mm, so the two dots on the shoulder line are 7mm in from each edge.
What is an impossible dovetail joint?
Press a dovetailed board into another board with matching sockets, and you’ve created woodworking’s most iconic joint. The dovetails and sockets wedge the boards together, so the joint can’t pull apart; the only way to disassemble it is to lift the dovetailed board back out of the sockets.
What is the strongest mortise joint?
A tusk tenon creates one of the strongest mortise and tenon joints and it has the benefit of being able to be disassembled. The tenon is cut to protrude beyond the end of the mortise. As vertical slot is cut into the end of the tenon through which correspondingly shaped wedged key is inserted.
What are the different types of dovetail rails?
Dovetails come in several different types and sizes depending on manufacturer, but the most common are the 11 mm and 3⁄8 inch (9.5 mm). Some other less known, but currently commercially available dovetail mounts, are 12, 13, 13.5, 14, 14.5, 16, 16.5, 17 and 19 mm.
What is a Knapp joint?
The Knapp Joint is a very strong form of drawer joinery but was only utilised from 1870 until about 1900, when it basically fell completely out of use. It was replaced by machine cut dovetails, which are still mass produced in factories today.
What is a hidden dovetail joint?
Hidden dovetails are really no different that standard dovetails aside from the fact that you cut each half of the joint only part way through. The remaining material is used to conceal the pins and tails, while also forming the miter itself.
How deep should a dovetail joint be?
Typically we use 1 ½” – 2” deep dovetails that are about 2” less deep than the joist, and 4” less deep than the girt – but that is just a starting point – the loads and reactions have to be calculated from there.
Why are dovetail joints so strong?
Methods. The dovetail joint is very strong because of the way the ‘tails’ and ‘pins’ are shaped. This makes it difficult to pull the joint apart and virtually impossible when glue is added.
What is the angle of a 1 to 8 dovetail?
A 1:8 ratio – one unit horizontal with eight matching units drawn vertical – is an angle of 7.1 degrees.
Can you make a dovetail joint by hand?
Of the four types of dovetail joints (through dovetail, half blind dovetail, secret mitered dovetail, and the sliding dovetail), the through dovetail is the most basic method, and a perfect one for hand cutting. Contrary to what seems to be popular belief on the internet, they are not really all that hard.
How difficult is a dovetail joint?
Hand-cutting a dovetail joint is kind of a woodworking high-wire act; one slip of the saw or chisel and the joint either won’t fit together or will look sloppy. It takes a lot of time to master the ability to cut dovetails quickly and well (by hand or machine), without a lot of fussing around.
Are dovetail joints worth it?
Dovetail drawers are known for their durability. The joint’s design provides exceptional resistance to the stresses of heavy items, making them ideal for storing dishes, pots, and pans. The construction of dovetail drawers ensures that they will not come apart easily, even with frequent use.
Why do we say dovetail?
When things fit this way, you can say they dovetail — they fit easily and work well together. Your plan to dress up as a Jedi knight dovetails well with your brother’s Darth Vader costume, for example. Dovetails got their name from the tail feather-like shape of the joint’s pieces.
Do you need to screw dovetail joints?
1. Not only do they look beautiful, but they also hold timbers together without the need for screws or nails. These days cabinet makers add glue for extra strength, but that’s a ‘just in case’ because the shape and fit of these clever joints are enough by themselves.
