How deep should a sliding dovetail be?
Sliding dovetail cutter selection: If it is a full-width joint, the slot depth-of- cut should be no more than 1⁄3 of the board thickness, so as not to significantly weak- en the board.
What are sliding dovetail joints used for?
Sliding dovetails are used in many applications where traditional dovetail joinery is not possible, such as shelf to upright joints, bread board edges and drawer dividers. The interlocking strength of the dovetail is maintained and the joint can be decorative or made invisible.
Are sliding dovetails strong?
Strong and versatile, the sliding dovetail joint has many applications, from case construction to leg-and-rail joinery. Because both the groove walls and the tongue sides are angled like a dovetail, the joint has to be assembled by sliding the tongue into the groove from one end.
Do you glue sliding dovetails?
Sliding dovetails provide several advantages over a dado joint. First, they’re stronger because they don’t rely solely on glue. Second, the shoulders of the dovetailed piece hide the edges of the slot, much as a tenoned workpiece hides a mortise.
What is a 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.
Is it possible to make a sliding dovetail?
It’s possible to make a sliding dovetail of just about any size, as long as your starting pieces are large enough. While the joint’s socket (the trench that the dovetailed piece will slide into) will almost always run the entire length of the piece it’s going in, the width of the groove is entirely up to you.
How to cut a sliding dovetail tongue?
While the socket for a sliding dovetail can easily be cut using a handheld router, a larger, more stable router table is generally better suited for machining the delicate dovetail tongues.
How do you cut a sliding dovetail joint?
I cut the pins of the sliding dovetail first and really this is less a dovetail joint and more of a dado or housed joint. The pin is cut exactly the same as a dado with a saw to create the sides, a chisel to roughly remove the waste, then a router to finish and refine the floor of the joint.
How do you work out the proportions of a sliding dovetail?
Whenever you make sliding dovetails, it’s a good idea to draw the joint full size first in order to work out its proportions (Fig. 01). Proportions are primarily a matter of taste, but here are a few practical considerations: Don’t make the narrowest sections too thin and weak.