Dovetail

Dovetail joints mechanically lock two components from parting in one direction. This makes them the obvious choice for attaching drawer sides, and tying the sides of casework together.

Fan shaped sections (the dovetail 'tails') on the end of one component, are inserted sideways into the fan shaped recesses (the spaces between dovetail 'pins').

There are a few variations, which determine how much of the joint structure is visible once assembled.



Through Dovetail
Lapped Dovetail 

3 comments:

Jeff said...

Hi Mitch, I've very much enjoyed your tutorials thus far, I wonder if you would consider one for a compound miter dovetail with handtools? There doesn't seem to be much instruction out there for this joint.

Thanks for your efforts in the past and your consideration of this idea.

Best,

Jeff

Mitch said...

Jeff, That sounds a good idea. I haven't done one for years, so it'll be fun to see if I can nail it straight off.

Mitch said...

Jeff, I've just posted a video and instructable on this joint (aka Bevel Dovetail). I'll add instruction to this site asap.
Thanks for the suggestion,
Mitch