# Cut dovetails

Cut through, half-blind or sliding dovetails between two parts, choose the spacing and slope, and print a 1:1 marking template.

> **AI credit.** Some steps use AI credit. Those are the steps that ask the assistant. You can do the other steps without credit. AI help is pay-as-you-go. No compulsory subscription. Drawing by hand is free for personal use. To add credit, open the account menu in the app. Prices: https://kerfcraft.app/pricing

The host gets the pins and the part gets the tails. For a drawer, the front is the host and the side is the part.

![Half-blind dovetail, the two parts apart](/docs/img/joints/dovetail-half-blind.png)

Half-blind dovetail: Drawer fronts: the joint shows on the drawer sides, not the front.

For the drawers of the bookcase, you do not add the joints one by one. Select the bookcase. In **All settings** of the **Layout** section, set **Drawer box corners** to **Dovetail**. See [Carcass parameters](/docs/reference/carcass/#joints). The steps below are for a drawer that you drew.

## Put the parts in position

For a **Through dovetail** or a **Half-blind dovetail**, the two parts make a corner:

1. Put the end of the side against the back face of the front.
2. Move the side so that its outside face is flush with the end of the front.

For a **Sliding dovetail**, put the end of the shelf against a face of the side, away from its ends.

![Sliding dovetail, the two parts apart](/docs/img/joints/dovetail-sliding.png)

Sliding dovetail: Shelves and dividers into sides, rails into legs, battens under a top.

## Add the dovetail

1. Click the drawer front.
2. Hold Shift and click the drawer side.
3. Right-click one of the parts, and click **Add joint…**.
4. At **Host**, select the drawer front. At **Part**, select the drawer side.
5. At **Kind**, select the dovetail.
6. At **Spacing**, select **Even** or **London**.
7. Click **Add joint**.

![A walnut drawer front and a pine drawer side at a corner, both selected in the 3D view.](/docs/img/how-to/dovetail-select.jpg)

![The Add joint dialog with the drawer front as the host, Half-blind dovetail as the kind and London spacing.](/docs/img/how-to/dovetail-add-joint.jpg)

The side gets longer so that its tails go into the front. A half-blind dovetail stops at the lap, so the outside face of the front stays whole.

![The half-blind dovetail in the 3D view, with the side pulled away from the front to show the tails and the sockets.](/docs/img/how-to/dovetail-result.jpg)

**Even** spacing is the look of a router jig. **London** spacing has fine pins and wide tails, which you cut by hand. To set the sizes yourself, type the number of **Tails** and the **Pin width**. The pin width is at the narrow end of the pin, on the outside face of the front.

You can also ask the assistant, for example "half-blind dovetail the drawer front to the left side, London pattern".

## Choose the slope

The slope is a ratio. At 1:6, the tail gets 1 mm wider for each 6 mm of its length.

| Slope | Angle | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| 1:4 | 14° | A half-blind dovetail jig with a 14° bit |
| 1:6 | 9.5° | Softwood |
| 1:7 | 8.1° | When you are not sure |
| 1:8 | 7.1° | Hardwood, for example an oak or walnut drawer |

If you cut with a router, type the slope of your bit at **Slope**. For a 14° bit, type 4. If you leave **Slope** empty, the slope comes from the material: 1:6 for softwood, 1:8 for hardwood and 1:7 if the material does not tell.

## Set the lap or the depth

- **Lap** (half-blind): the wood in front of the tails. The default is ¼ of the front thickness, so 5 mm on an 18 mm front.
- **Depth** (sliding): the depth of the socket. The default is ⅓ of the host thickness.

## Print the marking template

The workshop pack has a 1:1 marking template for each through or half-blind dovetail.

1. In the manufacturing panel, click **Pack PDF**.
2. Find the sheet **Dovetail template**.
3. Print the sheet at 100% (actual size), not "fit to page".
4. Measure the 100 mm scale bar. If it is not 100 mm, correct the print settings.

![The dovetail template sheet: the tail board face with the tails and the baseline, the pin board end grain, and the slope gauge.](/docs/img/how-to/dovetail-template.jpg)

The template shows the tail board face with its baseline, the end grain of the pin board, and a slope gauge for a sliding bevel. If the title says **REDUCED, NOT 1:1**, the template was too large for A4: do not mark the wood from it. A sliding dovetail has no template, so mark it from the part drawing.

Next: [Check a shelf for sag](/docs/how-to/furniture/check-a-shelf-for-sag/).