Half Blind Dovetail Joint Depth

[Barry Munsell]

I'm using a Rockler Jig for drawers with 3/4" sides front and back. I want the half blind dovetails to be half the thickness of the side or 3/8" deep, but it seems that the jig with a 1/2", 14 degree bit will only allow a 1/4" deep joint. Am I missing something? The weird thing is that I built a whole kitchen full of drawers on a borrowed Rockler Jig a couple of years ago that I thought was identical to the one I bought and those half blind joints are all 3/8" deep, I've gone back and measured them. Any suggestions?

[Chris Rosenberger]

A 1/2" 12 degree bit will give close to a 3/8" depth of cut. If you want to go a little deeper, use 1/2" 10 degree or 1/2" 8 degree bits.