How to Hand-cut Half-Blind Dovetails - A Free Video from the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship

Half-blind dovetails are dovetails that are only seen on one face, often used in drawers and case construction. They help keep a polished look while hiding a very strong joint.

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In this video, Tim Rousseau, an instructor at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, demonstrates how to cut Half-Blind Dovetails. As with through dovetails, accuracy is everything.

Like all woodworking, sharp tools and a thorough set up; precisely measuring and marking, can make or break a project. And even more so with half-blind joints. There is room to make design choices in terms pin and tail layout, but make sure to have one dimension, scribed at the same time for the tail/shoulder length and pin depth. The pin board is thicker stock because it is the drawer front. A good tip is to layout tails based on chisel size and make sure to mark the waste.

Take time to get comfortable with the dovetail saw on practice pieces. Angle the board so cut is vertical, cut shoulders but not into the tail. Scoop out remaining pin waste with a fret or coping saw, chisel shoulders clean with seen face up, work your way down to the line with a very sharp chisel at a straight angle. Carefully clean out shoulder line and check the joints for square. Then use the clean-cut tails to layout the lines of the pinboard.

This video has many great tips on how to use your saw to get to right to the cut line, angle yourself to the piece to make straight cuts, set up ideas for accuracy, and great techniques for getting waste out from around pins aka excavating.

Check out the video above for a step by step walk through of how we cut Half-Blind Dovetails at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship.