First try: one tail & two half pins...

[Roy Wall]

I have reservations about posting....

But we all love pictures so here we go:

First shot at a half blind DT. The thru DT's have gone pretty good considering, so I gave it a shot!! Don't be shy about the critique....I'm here to learn!

My biggest mistake was starting the half pin (left one in the photo) with too much angle on the saw cut...I tried to adjust but knew it was cut at a steeper angle than the tail... and just a touch shy on the shoulder cut of the tail piece.

The good part is I'm learning to sharpen my chisels, use the bench, handle the planes....it's a lot of fun regardless:)

[Mark Singer]

Roy,

This looks very good! Remember only the outer face shows on half blinds so you can undercut slighly and saw tight to the outside. Let me say again this is excellent! To improve from here you must really practice your sawing . Mark a scrap piece on the end and edge with a square and just keep cutting. Relax the grip and move the saw in line with the shoulder..point your index finger.. Another trick is to angle the board so all your cuts are vertical.. You sligtly overcut the crosscut on the tail board....cut tighter tap together easy and pare the shiney spots. don't try to make them it in one try....That makes a big difference....That is really terrific for a first blind dovetail!

[Roy Wall]

Hey Mark,

Are you saying ..."undercut the saw line on the tail section"...so that it's "tighter" at the critical top viewing point?? Never thought about that....

I didn't us a marking knife either....just a .5mm pencil to lay out the pins... I knew when I started cutting the pins I wasn't in the waste side of the area enough. I've been practicing the "through dt's" with the pencil and getting a feel for how to saw against the pencil line.

I did tilt the board for vertical cuts this time on the tail - it worked much better than me trying to 'angle' the saw...

I'm trying to just cut em out with little or no paring at all- just tap them together as is and evaluate.


It seems easier to cut the walnut....less "slop" than with the poplar tails. I'll work with some hard maple tails next...

[Mark Singer]

Roy,

Get rid of the pencil (Use a marking knife) and think of making them fit in 4 or 5 trys...paring between trys on the shiney spots. If you can't see the knife marks get a good light and then run the pencil in the knife scribes.If you force them together it will split. When you fit them have your chisel and knife handy to trim . Sawing and scribing are the most common problems. Don't hold the tail board to scribe the pins....clamp it...with the pin board in the vise...These are the things that will make subtle difference and improve the fit...Your doing great!

[Alan Turner]

Looks pretty good for a first effort. As to the tightness of the shoulder on the half pin, what I do is to cut it wide of the scribed line by a very small amount, but enought to see the mark. I then use a paring chisel to cut to the scribed line, undercutting in the center area just a drop. I can rip to the side of a line, but crosscutting, with the fuzziness, I can't get it dead on. Hence the paring.

[Jim Becker]

Looks great, Roy! (I haven't tried half blinds yet by hand...)

A couple end-grain walnut slivers will make those tiny gaps completely disappear...it worked really well for me on my recent mantle project given my saw wandered all over the place!

[Jon Olson]

Great first try...I also haven't tried half blind DT yet, but your first is rather inspiring. I absolutely love the contrasting wood look. (light wrapped by dark.)

Mark, great suggestions this thread will saved for future viewing...

Good luck on the 2nd, 3rd, etc tries...from where your starting, you'll have awesome HBDT in no time!!!!

Jon

[Lou Morrissette]

Roy,

Great first try. Makes me want to go to the shop and try one.

Lou

[James Carmichael]

Nice job, Roy.

Ditto what Jim said about the shims. I haven't tried HCDTs yet, but that worked very well to fill the gaps in my first mitered joints, you can't even see it.