Gary: I’m making a small chest and would like to dovetail the top drawer rail as you did. I’ve had no trouble cutting the tail, but lots of problems with the socket at the top of the post.
I’ve tried it sawing and cleaning out with chisels – poor results. Then I routed most of the waste out and tried to chop the sides to correct angle.
Any suggestions? Thanks and best regards, Geechee
Replies
Geechee,
Mount a straight bit first into your router table smaller than your dovetail bit and run your leg/ post along a fence into that bit to remove some waste. Then mount your dovetail bit to final depth and make that cut. Use a stop of course to limit your travel on these cuts. Chop out the bottom of that dovetail mortise with your chisel.
Then get your top rail and with your chest assembled, cut it to exact length. You can set it right into those two dovetail mortises to check. No slop.
Flip your chest over on your bench, support it well and mark out the tail shape onto your rail. Make sure the rail is lined up right. You can crosscut the shoulders on your table saw, but not too
deep, and then saw the tail by hand. Or you can try running it by the same dovetail bit on the router table again for a perfect match of the angle. Good luck. Gary
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