[Newbie] Dovetail bit Sizes

[joe_m]

I'm hoping this isn't selected as dumbest question of the week, but when I'm shopping for a dovetail bit and it says the diameter is "1/8"x45 degree" then that means the fattest part (the bottom) is 1/8" wide. Right?

I ask this because although I've acquired a bunch of dovetail cutters, I'm now shopping for a small one - 1/8"ish. I found this one:
http://www.maritool.com/Cutting-Too...-dia-X-45-degree-M42-Cobalt/product_info.html

It says it's a 1/8" dovetail, but that it has a 1/2" shank. I'm looking at the pic and just can't wrap my mind around how that's possible. Is it maybe just a generic pic or am I understanding the measurements wrong? I'm checking under couch cushions for enough change to buy the tooling, so I figured I'd rather embarrass myself here rather than buy the wrong one.

Thanks, Joe.

 

[Tom Griffin]

Yes, the diameter of a dovetail cutter is the major diameter. I think you'll find that the 1/8 cutter in the link has a 1/4" shank, not 1/2".

Tom

 

[joe_m]

Thanks. I did read the shank part wrong - it is 1/4". So the picture must be generic because 1/4" is still twice as big as 1/8". (Not that the picture matters, I just needed to be certain that 1/8 was the major diameter.)

 

[dickr]

No that's not a dumb question at all ! I thought that was pretty smart and a lot less expensive if you had bought it before. Here' a dumb question

Please send money when ever you extra.

dickr

 

[Rbeckett]

I caught a great sale on the three piece dovetail cutter set from LMS. they had that and the Fly cutter set on sale and I snapped up both for like 26 bucks IIRC. Nice wooden boxes for fitted storage, quick shipping and them fellas do a great customer service job too.
Bob