Replies

1. 
   Major_H._Patterson | Nov 21, 2000 05:39pm | #1

   *
   Donald: I have never considered such a thing. But,Feeling as I do that very few things are impossible,here goes. You set up the jig as for a rabbeted half blind joint, as a drawer front.let`s say,for illustration, that the rabbet is 3/16".cut the pin sockets. Now get out the stock for the pin boards 3/16" less in thickness than the design dimension.cut the pins.Now laminate a piece of 3/16"show stock to the outside of the pin board,and flush up all the edges and make the assembly.Unless I have missed something along the way (a good possibility)you should have the joint you are seeking. I think a simpler solution would be a series of dowels with the grain in the rabbet shoulder,combined with a series of blind holes in the side piece.When this is assembled, it would be difficult to take apart. If you try this,or get a better solution, I would like to know how it turns out. PAT

1. 
   Ian.D.Gilham. | Nov 22, 2000 01:56am | #2

   *The joint you need is a "secret mitred dovetail" You'll have to look it up somewhere because it is too complicated to explain here.

1. 
   Sgian_Dubh | Nov 22, 2000 05:26am | #3

   *Donald, (there's a name from home) I'd like to be able to help you by passing on a nugget or two based on practical experience, but in truth I don't use a dovetail jig too often; and when I do I mostly just use one for rattling out half lap drawers, or through dovetails. I don't think they are really designed for producing either the secret mitre, or secret lap dovetail though, and I suspect that the Majors suggestion is about as good as you'll get, i.e., add a veneer of show timber. Somewhat related to his solution, but his suggestion brings to mind the number of Victorian pieces made of pine with through dovetails and then veneered with mahogany that used to come in for repair. Movement in the pine had telegraphed from the joints through the veneer to the point sometimes where the veneer had burst off. They did the same thing in the 'good old' days to save the cost of the fiendeshly expensive to produce secret mitred dovetail. It's flattering that you asked me to have a go at answering, but I'm afraid that this little example of a pitfall to watch out for is the best I can do. Sliante.

1. 
   Major_H._Patterson | Nov 22, 2000 07:15pm | #4

   *I am familiar with the joint to which you refer,but,the finished joint looks like a miter and not like the rabbeted joint that friend Donald asked about. PAT

1. 
   JimGG_ | Dec 17, 2000 01:05am | #5

   *The joint you describe is covered in Charles H. Hayward's book Woodwork Joints, p. 93, where it is called a double-lapped dovetail. Looking at the diagram, it appears that you'd still have to do some hand chisel work around the pins. The mitre dovetail is described p. 93-96. The book does not mention jigs.

2. 
   Danford_C._Jennings | Dec 21, 2000 04:56pm | #6

   *Donald,The blind dove tail is not really that hard to do and the only way to cut, that I am aware of, is by hand. The effort to come up with a jig to machine this joint, to me, was not worth the effort. The only jig that I use is a piece of hardwood stock with a 45 degree bevel that I use to pare the joint between the tails. If you are still interested in this joint, e-mail with your private e-mail or fax and I'll send you a diagram of the joint.Dano