hello all,
i have to cut out dovetails for 8 drawers and this is the first time I am cutting them by hand instead of using a dovetailer which i normally do at school. anyway, i have cut dovetails before for projects so, cutting procedure, paring, and assembly isnt new to me but actually laying out the actually dovetails is believe it or not.
The reason i am handcutting these ones is I need the practise (as you can probably tell) and i want to feature small tails on them which isnt possible on the dovetailer in the workshop. i want to have 2 full dovetails and 2 half dovetails on the edges of each corner as normal and 3 or four full and the normal 2 on the edges for my bigger drawers at the bottom. so how do i go about this? do i just get a uniform distance between the base of the tails (e.g. to fit one of my chisels) or do I determine it by the width of the stock by the ammount of dovetails needed?
thats in advance
Replies
IUF,
It's late. I'm up with my chronic back pain again (looks like another all-nighter). So this might be my exhaustion-dulled (even more dulled?) brain processes speaking, but I'm not sure I understand what you're asking. Are you asking how to space the dovetails? how large or small should be the pins and tails? how many pins/tails you ought to put on a drawer of a given size? or exactly what?
Alan
Alan, i think he is referring to the space between dovetails in relation to the width of the stock. i.e. how many dovetails would fit the width of the stock and what spacing should be used.
ITSUNFAIR: i would answer this question myself but would be afraid of putting you on the wrong course as i am not to good at the whole dovetail deal.
Edited 6/26/2002 2:07:31 AM ET by ADELMO_SNR
Layout of the dovetails seems today to be in large part a matter of personal taste. Certainly you want to be able to fit a chisel into the bases of the pins and tails - this would be a minimum size. I don't like pins or tails wider than about 1.25" (a maximum size) but that is a matter of taste and judgement. You can vary the width and/or spacing of tails within a piece for a different style or look. Although I consider myself still a relative novice, I read extensively and have never seen any "rules" for dovetail layout, other than one angle for softwoods and another for hardwoods, and even that seems less emphasized today (perhaps because of the prevalence of dovetail jigs?). I would suggest following your judgement to keep the joint strong, but consider trying different layouts to see what is appealing to the eye and works within your overall design.
Hullo again,
Agree with Don's comments, but have a few questions:
What timber are you using?;
How wide are the 'wide' and 'narrow' drawers?, and;
What is the thickness of the drawer front and sides?
Can give you some pointers if you let me know these answers.
Also, did you get the info on tool suppliers that I emailed you today?
Cheers,
Eddie
I lay my dovetails out using a set of dividers. I start by figuring out the size of my half pins and the divide the distance between the two half pins by the number of tails I want. I do this by adjusting my divider and walking it across the end of the piece both ways. I cannot remember ever learning about the spacing between pins and tails or sizing, but I have heard a lot of people tell me what they like and don't like. But as with all thinks there are no right or wrong answers just personal taste.
Scott C. Frankland
Newfoundland Wood Worker
Scott, I'm a new woodworker and have been interested in learning to cut dovetails. Not so much for their known superior strength but for the aesthetic reasons you seem to be describing. I'm wondering if possibly the 5 and 8 rule might also apply to dovetails in this type of implementation.
Edited 6/27/2002 11:33:15 AM ET by Bernie
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