Re: Half Blind DT
Denis Ch�nard, Orl�ans, Ont.
>Seems like there are as many ways to do dovetails as there are woodworkers, but here's my take:
"1 - I don't remember, should I saw to the waste side of the mark or on the mark?"
Leave the mark. And them some. It's always easier to trim some wood off than putting some back in. Note that this applies to the second part only (pin or tail board, depending on what you start with). The first board you can cut on the mark, it doesn't matter, it's when fitting the second part that you have to be precise. Notice that in most DT demos the woodworker usually hammers the joint home with a block and hammer, you wouldn't need to do that if the joint wasn't tight...
"2 - How should I lay out the dovetails? I kinda remember seeing a pattern someplace or a trick where you measure across the board or something? How should I do this?"
If you want to make consistent dovetails, one nice trick is using a set of divider calipers like Cosman does. Start with the tail board, determine the size of the half-pin waste at each end, and adjust your divider to that size. make an indentation at each end of the tail board, on the end grain. Then adjust the divider to give you the number of tails, and "walk" from one half-pin mark to the other (but don't leave marks. So if you want three tails, walk the divider three steps, you need to get past the other half-pin mark. The distance past the half-pin mark determines the pin size. Adjust the divider until you're satisfied with the pin size, and then walk your divider one last time, this time leaving impressions in the wood. Do the same thing again from the second half-pin mark back to the first one, leaving impressions in the wood again. Make a square line at each impression, and you have your tails laid out.
It's much more difficult to describe the process that to do it...
HTH,
DC