I’m hoping someone has dealt with the same issue I am dealing with. Any suggestions or random comments more the welcomed!
I’m making a small sewing table for my wife based on the design principals in Will Neptune’s sideboard article in Fine Woodworking. https://www.finewoodworking.com/FWNPDF/011138042.pdf
I’m using the variation shown on page 48 with a step up in the middle adding a small center drawer. Now that I’m about ready to cut the tenons for the center partition, I’m worried about the sturdiness. The two vertical center partitions are just mortised into the case top. It seems to me that with all the stresses vectored downward, that leaves the mortise and tenon in tension and might not last very long. Would a tapered sliding dovetail make sense?
Any thoughts or suggestions?
Bill
Replies
No Mechanical Strength
Bill,
The design does rely exclusively on the glue to hold the joint together. This is probably adequate given the large amount of glue surface in the joint but does not offer any mechanical strength which I always like to see in joinery.
Two possible solutions in addition to a sliding dovetail: Drill and install a pin from the edges of the top through the tenons closest to the front and rear edges. Another possible solution would be to slightly taper the sockets and expand the tenons with wedges as is commonly done on chairs.
Sliding dovetail was not an easy solution
Thanks, John, for your response. Unfortunately, I had already cut the tapered dovetails. That was a mistake. With so much joinery (tenons into the top, mortises for the center horizontal piece) the dovetails needed to be very precise. Even a few thousands of an inch off either made it impossible to assemble or too much play in the joint. After much fine tuning, I got everything together tightly but your solutions would have been more practical and probably stronger.
Regards, Bill
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