Friends:
I am building cabiet skills from a rather basic level — lots of carpentry, not much joinery. Was about to try to make a small table-top chest of drawers to hold my measuring and marking tools. This would give me an opportunity to practice dovetails.
I will be cutting the dovetails by hand.
Here’e the thing. I plan to use some birch plywood that I already own. Is it possible to dovetail ply? Are there any tricks or pitfalls I should know?
Edited 2/12/2007 10:10 am ET by Joe Sullivan
Replies
not a good idea. you'll get blowout of the veneer.
Expert since 10 am.
I was afraid of exactly that. So I guess I need to use butt joints with glue and screws?
I'd say that close to 75% of the drawers and bins in my shop - and there are zillions of them - as well as the drawers and bins we use for utility in the basement of my house, are made from Birch Ply joined with machine dovetails. On rare occasions, a drawer side blows out in the jig but only when I've been lazy about backing the piece up. Hand or machine cut (using a jig), you'll have to back up the side that shows horizontal grain. It's as simple as that.The real issue with Birch Ply is the glue used to adhere the laminations. It's brutal on tools. It's so bad that when we're building drawers, bins and the like, I'll buy a bit just for that project, then toss it when the project is complete. The glue dulls edges quickly and burns against the bit. I suspect that it will dull a handsaw in short order. If you must do this by hand, don't use a good saw.I'd go forward with dovetails. It makes for some VERY strong boxes.
How do you back it up? Would clamping the piece to a bit of scrap on that side work?
Exactly.
Ok, I have gone this far, so I might as well just unfurl my full colors as an ignoramus -- I guess for hand cut dovetails, that the marks would have to be made on the backing, or else you couldn't see them, right?
When making utility pieces with Birch Ply, I use a dovetail jig. It's simple and fast. I've never cut dovetails by hand in any ply but I suspect that tear out from a handsaw is less likely than blow out from a router, so a backer may not even be necessary. In that case, yeah, scribe the lines right on the ply. (I can't believe I just said that). Again, I've never cut DT's by hand on any ply, so...Number two pine would be an ideal practice stock.Then use the Birch Ply this way:http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/FWNPDF/011131045.pdf
Hey Joe,
If you score the cut lines real hard with a utility knife you may eliminate the blowout issue. Thinking about your backing board, why not sandwich two of them tightly over the plywood. If you precut your angles in the sandwich boards, you'll have a guide to help you cut your pins and tails. Optimally I'd use two 1/2 or 3/4 inch strips of plexiglass. You could even screw them into the waste portions of what you will chop out with your chisel.
ken
Regards,
Ken
"Do as you would be done by." C.S. Lewis
Good stuff, guys. Thanks to both of you, and to everyone who was kind enough to respond to my question. I am grateful.
You could certainly fiddle around trying to do handcut dovetails in baltic birch if you were looking for the practice. But here is a faster, more practical alternative:http://images.scrippsweb.com/DIY/2003/09/18/wwk104_3fb_e.jpg********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
Nice joint, but can you do it without a router table?
Hi Joe ,
Yes , That joint Nikki showed you can be made on the TS without a router .
As far as pitfalls of dovetails in plywood , I also have only used a jig and have not cut them in plywood by hand , but one thing to be careful of is dry fitting knocking them together to check the fit , then knocking them apart made the plywood break away and crumble off out of the joint area for me .
Bite the bullet buy a few boards of whatever is dry and flat and use wood , just my two cents .
good luck dusty
I make mine on the TS (with a dado) and a simple jig that straddles the fence, so the pieces can be held upright.********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
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