I am building a china cabinet in quarter-sawn oak and aspire to use Chris Gochnour’s elegant half-blind mitred dovetails (featured on the cover of FW #277) on the four corners of the case. I am equal parts excited and anxious about the prospect of replicating this joint.
Q1: Has anyone else attempted to make this joint or something similar? If so, I’d be grateful for any advice beyond the excellent information in the original article.
Also, my cabinet is larger than the original, measuring 58″ wide, 48″ tall (plus a small plinth), and 18″ deep. It will have two vertical dividers running top to bottom, fixed open shelves about 15″ from the top, and three doors covering the bottom portion which will have adjustable shelves. While the dovetail/mitred joint appears to be very strong, I wonder if I need additional internal bracing given the size and weight of the case. So….
Q2: Does anyone have experience that would aid in determining if the design as described here is strong enough or if it needs some additional anti-racking bracing?
Many thanks!
Replies
I haven't had occasion to use that joint but it looks pretty simple when you break it down into its elements. His method is far simpler than Fortune's jig-based solution, but that's just my personal preference.
As for racking, I presume you will install a sheet in the back of the unit; that will add shear strength that will resist racking no matter what joints you use. If you're not using a sheet in the back, some small gussets here and there would be helpful as well.
Thinking about dovetails and mitered joints, or mitered dovetails, none of them would be my choice for the best anti-racking. I'd want something in the structure to resist racking. Dovetails are stronger in tension, which is why they make such great drawer joints.
Thanks, I appreciate those thoughtful comments and agree with all of them.
The mitred corners are a fixed design constraint - my wife really loves the look. The Gochnour article came along at just the right time as I was certain that the mitres alone would be unable to resist even moderate racking. Still, some discrete gussets or other lateral bracing are likely to be required.
I also agree that the hand-tool approach is simpler than Fortune's machine method. I purchased a fret saw to help with the tight corners and have watched the author's current video series in which he makes through and half-blind dovetails. Very helpful.
The milling and panel glue-up process is almost complete. I'll be ready to dive into the dovetail phase of the project next week. Fingers crossed ...
I'd love to see pictures of the project when you get it going. I'm trying to think of what project I could do in the future that would use that joint as I really like the look of it, and the challenge of a new kind of dovetail. I use a lot of quartersawn white oak and love to work with it, but have also been doing a lot of work in various types of maple as well as sapele, two species which go together quite well.
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