Dovetail

Leon wrote:

> If you are considering putting the nail in the side of the drawer I would
> not bother. If the glue won't hold it the headless nail certainly will not.
> Now if you put the nail in through the joints like a hinge pin you might add
> strength. If your joints are tight fitting the glue should be enough.


Orienting the grain right helps. Easy to remember
- The IDIOT acronym helps - Inside of Drawer
is the Outside of the Tree

http://home.comcast.net/~charliebcz/DoveTailDrawer3.html

Did a 7 drawer unit for under the drill press - drawers half
blind dovetailed together - front and back. No glue at all
and they've worked fine since late 2002. So far so good.

I suspect that the parts weren't flat to begin with

charlie b

"mr s" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> I made some handcut lapped dovetails to attach some drawer fronts. White
> Oak fronts onto Ash sides. They have broad tails - 2 per side. The
> results are OK however two of the drawer fronts had cupped and I had to
> use clamps to bring them together on glue-up. Now I am wondering
> whether in the future, stresses might force the joint apart. I
> thought about drilling 2.5mm pilot holes into the corner of each tail
> and then hammering in a nail with the head cutoff. I will then punch
> the nails below the surface & then fill the holes with a bit of
> filler. Now I know it ruins a bit of the appeal of the dovetail and
> should be unnecessary for a properly made joint however I reckon it
> must make a very strong and stable joint.
> Anyone think this is a good idea?

If you are considering putting the nail in the side of the drawer I would
not bother. If the glue won't hold it the headless nail certainly will not.
Now if you put the nail in through the joints like a hinge pin you might add
strength. If your joints are tight fitting the glue should be enough.