Through dovetails on a half blind template.

[toller]

I am aware that you can buy through templates that mount on half-blind jigs. That is not what I am talking about here. (I have one for my omnijig, but haven't tried it yet. Maybe if I did, I wouldn't be screwing with this nonsense.)

Today I cut some halfblind dovetails on an Omnijig with a 10 degree bit, rather than with the 14 degree bit they supply. The result was a much deeper, more attractive, dovetail. The depth of the dovetail is inversely related to the angle of the bit. If you had a set of bits, maybe 6-12 degrees or so, you could match the depth of the cut to the thickness of the wood. If you made them the same, you would have a through dovetail cut on a halfblind jig.

Has anyone tried this? The 10 degree is about 7/16", so I will haul my planner out to make some

7/16" wood and see what it looks like. Obviously it will be rounded rather than square, but that "might" look nice.

[toller]

If anyone cares, it doesn't work; at least not when both sides are the same thickness. The 7/16" is not thick enough to cut the pins. Oh well. It "might" work with the narrower template, and it might work with 8 degree dovetails, but I don't have either of those.

It is however rather pretty, with the half round contour, when unequal thicknesses are used.