Strong and Handsome: Half-Blind Mitered Dovetails
Router jig simplifies a challenging joint
Synopsis: Half-blind mitered dovetails combine the visual effect of a miter joint, with continuous grain wrapping around a corner, with the strength and classic look of dovetails. The hardest part is creating a perfectly true mitered shoulder surface between pins. But Michael Fortune’s router jig makes the process more straightforward by holding the workpiece at 45° so the pins can be routed with a straight bit for parallel cheeks, then angled by hand using a trim saw and chisel.
When you use half-blind mitered dovetails to join a case piece or a table, you combine the visual effect of a miter joint-continuous grain wrapping around a corner-with the strength and classic appearance of dovetails. I used the joint on my sideboard, where I wanted a sleek, uninterrupted surface on top, but welcomed the visual punch of through-pins at the ends.
Typically, creating a perfectly true mitered shoulder surface between the…
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