Half Blind DT Problem

Mike Gabbay

Member
Messages
180
Location
Herndon VA
Yesterday I was practicing a half blind DT in preparation for installing the apron on my work bench. I'm using 1 1/2" stock so everything is oversized. I got the tails cut first with no issues. When I cut the pin side everything was going well until the fitting. One of the 2 tails was being pushed out of the joint as I drove them in leaving about a 32nd gap along the top edge of the tail. The other tail was nice and tight. I would think that the joint would pull together more than push apart.

I checked the walls of the pins and the one that was having the gap issue was slightly sloped by a degree or so. Once I squared everything up I re-assembled and the gap was basically still there. I could pull it together by with a few blows of the mallet but not all of the way.

So what's going on here???? :huh: When I checked everything it all is square.

Help!

Thanks for the feedback.
 
Make sure you undercut slightly so there is no wood on the tail pushing out the pins. At 1 1/2" it may be better to cut them on a bandsaw....that way you don't have to worry about thhe square issue if the blade is square to the table
 
Mark - you mean the cutting the tails on the BS right? I was also going to try to under cut the pin sockets a little as well. It seams the size is magnifying the issue.
 
Mike,
Dovetails in larger stock is a little tricky....if you are off you are really off... The bandsaw keeps ypu 90 degress. On half blinds the pins ned to be cut by hand...just start on the angle and stay on the scribe
 
Mark -

I try to cut the pins on the inside a little and then pare back to fit with a chisel. Easier to under cut than to over cut.

I'll make a DT tail jig for the BS and try it that way.

Thanks for the feedback.
 
Mark - I checked the sockets tonight. As luck would have it, the one that was fitting tighter was actually the one that was not at 90 degrees. Once I fixed that they lined up much better.
 
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