First Dovetail, how to center?

[Aaron Beaver]

I am wanting to join two pieces of 3/4" wood about 5" wide to form a "L". I have never made a dovetail so this may seem basic to some. I want the dovetail to run the width (5") of the board.

How do I center the male part of the dovetail on the vertical leg and then make sure the recess is in the correct spot on the horizontal so they are flush on the back when joined? I am wanting to do this on the router table.

Thanks for help

[Dave Richards]

Could you make a sketch of what you're up to?

[Aaron Beaver]

Could you make a sketch of what you're up to?

Here ya go, should of thought of that cause I wasn't sure I explained it well.

[Dave Richards]

That makes sense, now. The easiest way to center the the male part is to simply make one pass and turn the piece around for the other. Of course the challenges is to get the tail width to match the socket width.

What are the specs on the DT bit?

[Dave Richards]

Wait a minute. First cut the socket. Since the piece that gets the tail is 3/4" thick, the bit needs to be centered at 3/8 from the fence. Use a centering bit in the router to set the fence position.

Thenyou could add a shim between fence and bit (it would probably need a notch in it to clear the bit) to run the tail piece against. Rotate the piece of the second pass. It might be that you'd be better off to creep up on the exact fence position to get the tail width to match the socket width.

[Alan Turner]

Aaron,
I am not sure of your intended use of this piece, but there is not a lot of wood holding the male piece. If this is for a drawer side to front connection, sometimes the front is an overlay, which will allow more meat around the male piece.

[Norman Hitt]

Aaron, what you are wanting to make is called a "Sliding Dovetail", which work great in many applications, but as Alan pointed out, making one in this application is questionable because the female slot is so close to the end of the piece that there is not very much wood between the slot and the end of the board and it would break out very easily.

[Aaron Beaver]

Aaron, what you are wanting to make is called a "Sliding Dovetail", which work great in many applications, but as Alan pointed out, making one in this application is questionable because the female slot is so close to the end of the piece that there is not very much wood between the slot and the end of the board and it would break out very easily.

Originally it was for some bookends, and I wanted something to "fancy" it up when looking at it from the side. There is going to be something between the vertical and horizontal to act as a brace I just didn't draw it in. Now the vertical leg design might change so I wouldn't be able to use a sliding dovetail anyway. Thanks for the info though I will keep it in mind for future things.