13
After making a half blind dovetail, you may notice that the
joint looks symmetrical, but the edges of the two boards do
not align flush, see Fig. 38. This simply means that when
you centered the board using the method described in
your ownerʼs manual or
Incra Master Reference Guide and
Template Library, you were close but not quite perfect. Of
course practice makes perfect, but there is another method
for cutting the tail boards that will ensure a flush alignment
regardless of how well your board was centered. Just
make sure when you clamp the tail boards to the Right
Angle Fixture that the dovetail shaped rabbets on all the
boards face the cutter, see Fig. 39. Thatʼs all it takes!
Remember that even if you use this procedure, you should
still center first to ensure a symmetrical looking joint.
FIG. 38
Boards
not
aligned
flush
Dovetail shaped
rabbet cuts
face the cutter
Not
flush
FIG. 39
VARIATIONS
The drawings at right show a standard equally spaced
dovetail joint (Fig. 40) and several variably spaced dovetail
joints (Fig. 41). Although these joint patterns look quite
different from one another, they all have one thing in
common. They are all made using the same equally
spaced dovetail template. By learning the variations
technique described below, you can customize the joint
pattern produced by any template. This technique works not
only for half blind dovetails as pictured, but also for box
joints, through dovetails, and with a little study, you can
even customize the decorative Double and Double-Double
joints. In general, pattern variations can be designed by
observing a few simple rules.
Select cuts to be left out
Align the center of your board with the center cut you
plan to use on the diagram. Then choose the cuts you
want to leave off on one* side of the diagram. Determine
which side of the diagram will be the pin cuts and which will
be the tails (see Step 4 on page 11). Leaving cuts off of
the tail side of the diagram creates wider tails. (See
Example 1 on Fig. 41.) Leaving cuts off of the pin side of
the diagram creates wider pins.
*
Although a bit more complicated, cuts can be left off of both
sides of the diagram, resulting in a pattern variation that has
both wider pins and wider tails. (see Example 3, Fig. 41)
Always modify the pattern
symmetrically
For example: if you decide to leave out the
first
two “A” cuts
on your stockʼs width, you must also leave off the
last
two
“A” cuts.
Cut the joint
Any cuts left out on one side of a pattern will be used
to modify the other side. If you decide, for example, to
leave off cuts 2A and 7A when you are cutting the “A” cut
boards, just make cuts 2A and 7A along with all of the “B”
cuts to automatically modify the “B” cut boards.
BEGINNER’S TIP
2
3
FIG. 40
FIG. 41
Equally spaced
dovetail
Tails
Pins
EXAMPLE 1
Tails
Pins
EXAMPLE 2
Tails
Pins
EXAMPLE 3
FIG. 42
Designing
the pattern
variation
FIRST: Align center of board with “center cut” on diagram
SECOND: Determine which cuts will be pins and which will be tails.
(Step 4, page 11)
THIRD: Decide if you want the pins or the tails to be wider.
Example: Leaving out the “A” cuts will create wider tails; Leaving
out the “B” cuts will create wider pins.
FOURTH: Write down or circle the cuts you wish to leave out.
Center of
board
aligned
with
“center
cut”
Dovetail bit
1
