Through Dovetail The most basic method of creating a dovetail is called a through dovetail. Here, two pieces of wood are joined together at their ends with a finger-like interlocking method which is seen from all outside surfaces. This method is used in everyday practice for joining the corners of frames, boxes, cabinets, and other items.
|
Half-Blind Dovetail A half-blind dovetail enables the woodworker to hide the joint from the front end. The tails are housed in sockets in the ends of the board that is to be the front of the item so that their ends cannot be seen.Half-blind dovetails are commonly used to fasten drawer fronts to drawer sides. This is an alternative to the practice of attaching false fronts to drawers constructed using through dovetails.
|
Secret Mitered Dovetail The secret mitered dovetail joint (also called a mitered blind dovetail) is used in the highest class of cabinet and box work. It offers the strength found in the dovetail joint but is totally hidden from both the inside and outside corners by forming the outer edge to meet at a 45-degree angle while hiding the dovetails internally within the joint.The mitered corner dovetail joint is very similar in design, but it has just a single dovetail and is used for picture frames and other similar joins.
|
Sliding Dovetail The sliding dovetail is a method of joining two boards at right angles, where the intersection occurs within the field of one of the boards that is not at the end. This joint provides the interlocking strength of a dovetail. Sliding dovetails are assembled by sliding the tail into the socket. It is common to slightly taper the socket, making it slightly tighter towards the rear of the joint, so that the two components can be slid together easily but the joint becomes tighter as the finished position is reached.
|