This is the most pleasing
arrangement to the eye and
also the strongest joint.
If your drawer height is not an
even increment of twice the jig
finger spacing, you will still
have an 11mm half pin at the
top and either more or less
than that at the bottom edge of
the drawer. That unbalanced
arrangement looks awkward
to most people and the lower
pin can become so small as to
be weak and break off during
assembly or use.
The easiest way to calculate
the height of a drawer on
which half blind dovetails will
be properly centered is simply
to multiply the template
spacing (22mm for the SZ-14)
times twice the number of the
male fan shaped tails or female
recesses showing. If your
drawer will show only one
male fan shaped tail when
viewed from the side, the
drawer will have an 11mm
half pin at the top and bottom
and one 22mm female recess in
the middle so it will be 44mm
high (about 1 ¾”). This is
about as small as it is practical
to make a drawer and still
leave room for a bottom.
Drawer height for
template SZ-14 = 44 x t
Drawer height for
template SZ-20 = 64 x t
where t = the number of tails
(and female recesses) showing
from the side.
See the “Table of Drawer
Heights Which Will Result in
Properly Centered Joints” on
page 43 for these calculations
from one tail showing to the
maximum size drawer which
can be built on the VS-600
using these templates.
One more note on drawer
height: The slot you will cut
into the inside of the front,
back and drawer sides to
receive the drawer bottom will
be centered on one half the
template spacing up from the
bottom of the drawer
components (11mm for the
22mm spacing on the SZ-14
and 16mm for the 32mm
spacing on the SZ-20).
So, the actual inside depth of
your perfect drawer cut with
the SZ-14 template will be
11mm plus one half of the
thickness of the drawer bottom
less than the overall height of
your drawer. The distance
from the bottom edge of the
drawer sides, front and back to
the underside of the drawer
bottom will be 11mm less one
half of the thickness of the
drawer bottom -- nice and
strong while still maximizing
inside depth for your prefect
drawer.
Cutting the slot on a center
line that is 11mm from the
bottom edge will put the
drawer bottom slot (or dado as
some might prefer to call it)
exactly in the center of the
male fan shaped tails and
female recesses so it will not
show from the outside of the
drawer and will be as strong
as possible.
So, pick a drawer height that
is an even increment of twice
the template finger spacing,
44mm (2 x 22mm) for the SZ-14
template & 64mm (2 x 32mm)
for the SZ-20 template. Cut
all your flat stock to that
width.
Thickness - The two sides
must be the same thickness,
which can be of any thickness
within the range of thicknesses
16
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