Single-lap Dovetail The single-lap (known to many folks as a half-blind dovetail) is the best known of the dovetails since it’s used to join the front to the sides of a drawer.
What is the most popular dovetail?
1) Through Dovetail Also known as the plain dovetail, this is the most common and basic type of dovetail joint. Through interlocking tails and pins, this joint showcases consistent angles, revealing the wood’s end grains on external surfaces.
What is the most common dovetail bit?
The MATCHFIT System was designed around a standard ½”, 14-degree dovetail profile because it is one of the most common dovetail router bits on the market. Despite its benefits, readily available dovetail bits presented a challenge – they cut to a sharp tapered point.
Which is better English or French dovetail?
While both English and French dovetail construction are very sturdy and high quality, English dovetail construction is slightly sturdier with the trade-off of being more expensive and time-consuming to produce.
What is a standard dovetail?
Standard Size Dovetails. A standard size dovetail is as tall as your lumber is thick. This assumes you are joining boards of the same thickness with through-dovetails and that you intend to have them flush with the finished corner surfaces on both legs of the corner.
What is the basic dovetail joint?
The dovetail joint is made up of two parts. The tails are the flared, triangular shapes, cut through the thickness of one board. The pins are the more slender projections, cut along the grain of the other board.
What is the strongest joint in woodworking?
Mortise and tenon joints have stood the test of time for their remarkable strength. This traditional joint involves a projecting piece of wood, called a tenon, securely fitting into a corresponding cavity, a mortise. It can be reinforced with glue or wedges for stability for a stronger hold.
Are dovetail joints worth it?
Making sure that you pick a drawer joint that can withstand this type of wear and tear is crucial to the longevity of your kitchen cabinets. Dovetail joints are considered one of the strongest joints used in kitchen cabinetry construction and are the best solution for a kitchen cabinet drawer box.
Should you glue dovetail joints?
Michael Dresdner: The only areas that require glue on dovetails are the diagonal faces. All the diagonal faces are long grain, all the square faces are end grain, and all the flat faces abut end grain. Therefore, you need only apply glue to the diagonal faces on the tails or pins, or both.
What is the easiest dovetail jig to use?
The TD330 is easy to use. The e10 guide bushing guides the router with installed bit in and around the comb of the template to rout the dovetails.
What size dovetail should I use?
Your tails should be around 18mm > 35mm for fine work like drawers and 35mm > 55mm on larger work like a chest.
How do I choose a dovetail bit?
Through Dovetail Bit Selection The dovetail bit’s working depth must be equal to or slightly greater than the thickness of the pin board or drawer front. Always choose the smallest dovetail bit relative to the pin board thickness, along with the matching straight bit, for that hand-cut look.
Is a finger joint stronger than a dovetail joint?
For box joint, some people put a lot more fingers than it is possible to do with Dovetail. In this case, the gluing surface is larger, and the joint is likely stronger. Also, some find a way to hide a finish nail in the joint. Dovetail has the advantage of a mechanical lock independent of the glue.
Are dovetail joints still used?
Through dovetail However, dovetails have become a signature of craftsmanship and are generally considered a feature, so they are rarely concealed in contemporary work. When used in drawer construction, a through (or blind, mitred, or lapped) dovetail joint is sometimes referred to as an “English dovetail.”
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.
What is the common dovetail ratio?
With regard to what to use, a common recommendation is 1:8 for hardwoods and 1:6 for softwoods. These recommendations are based on some arguments related to strength. However, people use a lot of different ratios depending on application and aesthetics.
What is the difference between 11mm and 3 8 dovetail?
The 3/8 Inch is measured across the bottom of the dovetail whereas the 11 mm is measured across the top of the dovetail. A 3/8 Inch dovetail is about 12.7 mm across the top. The measurements 3/8 and 11mm are not the same for this reason plus the angles are different.
What is the ideal dovetail angle?
Answer from the experts: Clearly, there’s no shortage of advice about the “best” dovetail angle: Some woodworkers recommend using 12° for “coarse work” and 7° to 10° for decorative joints.
What is the difference between 1 6 and 1 8 dovetail?
A 1:6 ratio – that’s one unit horizontal with six matching units drawn vertical – lays out as a 9.5 degree angle. A 1:8 ratio – one unit horizontal with eight matching units drawn vertical – is an angle of 7.1 degrees.
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.
Is 11mm dovetail the same as 3 8?
A: What’s the difference between an 11mm dovetail and 3/8″ dovetail? The standard 22 tip-off dovetail in the US is 3/8″ at the bottom and up to 1/2″ at the top. The European 11mm dovetail is typically 11mm at the top and perhaps 8mm at the bottom.
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.
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 is the common angle for a dovetail joint?
Although softwoods are more compressible than hardwoods, you needn’t change the dovetail angle to add strength to the joint. Any angle between 7° and 15° will work, regardless of the wood. But stay within that range. If you go below 7°, you’ll start to lose the mechanical strength of the dovetail.
What is the weakest joint in carpentry?
A butt joint uses a simple technique whereby two pieces of material are joined together at their ends, without any special shaping or cutting. Although it is simple, the butt joint is also the weakest of the wood joinery types.
What is the simplest joint in carpentry?
The simplest of joints is a butt joint – so called because one piece of stock is butted up against another, then fixed in place, most commonly with nails or screws. The addition of glue will add some strength, but the joint relies primarily upon its mechanical fixings.
