I am building a dresser where I want the drawers to have half blind dovetails but I also want to veneer the fronts. It seems to me that I would want to use a solid wood core because of the dovetails but I am having problems finding any information on the subject. What is the best way to do this? The tallest drawer will be 9 in tall. Could I use quartersawn poplar as the substrate?
Thanks
Replies
Try to match the veneer wood type
Do you want to veneer all surfaces of the front? That sounds like a lot of work and cutting the dovetails could easily mess up the veneer. I would pick a wood for the core that matches the color of the veneer and then just veneer the face. The rest of the drawer could be poplar and I think the contrast would look nice. I have attached a picture of a drawer I made that has Claro walnut veneer attached to a walnut front and the front is attached to poplar sides with half blind dovetails.
Re
I planned on doing exactly what you have done. I wanted to use curly cherry for the faces and tiger maple cockbead so most of the edges will be covered. What type of glue did you use?
Thanks Phil
Glue
I use pre-catalyzed urea formaldehyde glue for veneering. It forms an extremely hard glue line with no creap. I also use a vacuum press but cauls and clamps do the job too.
pls,
Quartersawn poplar would be perfectly acceptable for the drawer fronts.
Ray
pls, On drawers over, say 6
pls,
On drawers over, say 6 inches deep, I veneer both sides. I have had quarter sawn boards cup significantly when veneered on just one side, but that was an unrestrained door. Still, I would not count on quarter sawn stock to remain flat even when restrained by dovetails, if veneered on only one side.
Rob Millard
http://www.americanfederalperiod.com
http://www.rlmillard.typepad.com
Thanks everyone for the advice. It seems like this would be a good subject for a FWW article.
Thanks Phil
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