Half-Blind Dovetail (半隐燕尾榫) in Chinese Drawers
Lapped dovetail · 一面露榫的明榫
Pull out a drawer and look at its front corner. From the front you see a plain board. From the side you see dovetails.
That is a half-blind dovetail: a joint that shows on one face only.
- Chinese
- 半隐燕尾榫 · bànyǐn yànwěi sǔn
- Also called
- 一面露榫的明榫
- Joins
- Drawer front to drawer side
- Found in
- Drawers
How it works
Tails on the side
The end of the side board is cut into dovetails.
Sockets that stop short
Sockets are cut into the back of the front board, but not right through to its face. The dovetails slide in from the side.
One face shows
Wang Shixiang ranks drawer corners: open straight tenons that show on both faces, then this joint that shows on one face (the term he cites is a modern woodworkers’ name), and finally the fully hidden dovetail.
How it's made
Step 1Front and side
A drawer front and a side.
Step 2Tails
Cut dovetails on the side.
Step 3Sockets
Sockets stop short of the face.
Step 4Slide in
Slide the side in from the end.
Step 5From the side
The dovetails show from the side.
Step 6From the front
The front shows only a plain face.
Variations
Fully hidden
The fully hidden dovetail (闷榫) shows nothing at all.
Can you CNC this?
Possible, with design or setup changes
Half-blind dovetails are a classic router-jig job with a dovetail bit; on a 3-axis CNC the board usually has to stand upright. The sockets come out with rounded inside corners, which may need squaring by hand.
General note: a round cutter cannot leave a sharp inside corner, so every recess keeps the tool radius. Round the mating edges or add dogbone reliefs. Sloping faces, undercuts and curves may need special bits, extra setups or more axes.
Free STL downloads (one file per part)
- Drawer front 抽屉脸 · banyin-yanwei-drawer-front.stl
- Drawer side with dovetails 带燕尾的侧板 · banyin-yanwei-drawer-side.stl
Proportions are illustrative, not measured dimensions. The files are unitless: scale them to suit and check fits and allowances before cutting. Each file is a closed (watertight) solid with its mortises and slots already cut, exported in its assembled position, ready to import into CAM or modelling software. Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit: Chinese Joinery).
Related joints
Open Straight-Tenon Corner
míngsǔn jiǎo jiēhéStraight tenons cut open on the board ends, interlocking at the corner and showing on both faces.
Hidden Mitred Dovetail
mèn sǔnDovetails hidden inside a mitred corner: once closed, only a single seam line shows.
Dovetail Joint
yànwěi sǔnA tenon wider at the tip than at the root, so it can’t pull out: found in boxes, drawers, tables and temple beams.
Questions
What is a half-blind dovetail?
A dovetail whose sockets stop short of one face, so it shows on one face only.
Where is it used?
Drawer corners.
Is it better than open tenons?
Wang Shixiang ranks it above them and below the fully hidden dovetail.