Warren in Lancaster, PA
A symmetrical dovetail is marginally stronger than a half tail. If you make a half tail that is 15 degrees the corner of the tail has short grain that is somewhat vulnerable. If you make a full tail, 7.5 degrees on each side, you get the same amount of flair but have much less short grain problem. One place we do have a problem with higher angle dovetails in general is that when we take them apart for repair (like a drawer for example), the extreme corner of the tail can break off and stay glued in the socket.