Firstime with dovetails, Help...

[Will Hon]

Tonight was my first night making dovetails, this was the third one i did, and i'd like to know how it looks... it may be to tight? it took a little tapping with a hammer to get it in there, but i was curious if i should be able to just slide it together w/o force. Thanks in advance.

Will

[John Morrison60]

Will

Those look pretty good to me. Especially if they were your first.
Just curious, what jig did you use to make them?

John

[Wilbur Pan]

Now, that's just showing off.

Nice job!

How did you make these?

[David DeCristoforo]

Oh, man those are way too tight. I don't see any way to get even a really thin feeler gauge in there! Where is the glue gonna go? :):):)

Actually your DTs look just fine.

[Will Hon]

hand carved..... with a porter cable 4212 and a bosch 1617EVS ;)

[Will Hon]

ha, thanks. I guess ive just read a lot about leaving room for the joint to expand as well as for glue, and i havnt yet got one close to dry-fitting, but some decent coaxing with the hammer has gotten them to go together.

[Dewey Torres]

Will,
They do look great to me!

One thing to consider trying on your next ones is to make the pins and tails longer to better show off the dovetail angles. Example: In the pics they almost looked like box joints but then when you clicked and expanded the pics it was a different story.

I will say that if you had to use a hammer to make them fit, chances are if any glue at all got in the joints they will outlive both of us!

Great job and thanks for posting.

[Matthew Hills]

The fit will depend on the wood species and any swelling from glue. Pine (and other softwoods) will deform more, allowing a tight joint to still be fitted together. Hardwoods aren't as forgiving. In the end, you do want a nice tight joint, but you gotta be able to assemble it with glue. So give it a shot.

Matt

[Dewey Torres]

The fit will depend on the wood species and any swelling from glue. Pine (and other softwoods) will deform more, allowing a tight joint to still be fitted together. Hardwoods aren't as forgiving. In the end, you do want a nice tight joint, but you gotta be able to assemble it with glue. So give it a shot.

Matt


Matt,
My guess from the pics is RED OAK.

[John Grossi]

Will, very nice. I've been told by an old timer that if you get your dovetails that close, glue is not needed. His goal was to get them that close. Question to Dewey. To make the pins and tails deeper, is it done by setting the cutter lower? At what point, percentage wise, would you go before you threaten the strength? In other words, if the wood is .500, would you go as much as 75%, or .375? John

[Robby Tacheny]

I think 2/3 of the width is generally ok for half blinds. There should be slightly more strength from racking because you'll end up with a bit more glue surface area.

You'll notice that most mortise and tennon joinery divides by 3rds as well. I haven't done a lot of dovetails though, so make sure you followup with someone that knows more than me, since my advice on this is theoretical.

-R

[Will Hon]

Will,
They do look great to me!

One thing to consider trying on your next ones is to make the pins and tails longer to better show off the dovetail angles. Example: In the pics they almost looked like box joints but then when you clicked and expanded the pics it was a different story.

I'll definitely try that... a couple of my first tries were a little deeper but still very tight, so i backed up the router bit a little to see if i could loosen them up a bit.


Matt,
My guess from the pics is RED OAK.

you are quite correct.

[Joe Scharle]

How deep a DT bit can properly cut is not a function of how far the bit protrudes from the router base with these jigs, but relies on the geometry of the bit itself. Most of the manuals don't really explain this; at least the ones I've seen. The actual cutting length of a given bit determines how 'long' the tails can be. The distance that same bit cuts down into the wood, determines how tight/loose the joint will be. So if the bit you're using can cut a 1/2" tail socket and the joint is too tight, you would pull the bit further into the router. This causes the pin 'slot' on the tail board to be wider, due to the ever widening effect of the bit geometry. However, the bit will always cut the bottom the same width, usually 1/2" or 17/32" for your jig if memory serves.
"Bit higher is joint tighter" and "Press ON/Tap OFF"
BTW, your first effort is far better than I remember mine!