Full Chisel Blog

December 1, 2009

Spinning Wheel Whorl

Filed under: Carving, Dovetails, Finishing, Hide Glue, Historical Material, Of Interest, Restoration, Spinning Wheel, Techniques, Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 7:05 pm

The whorl is the pulley with the left hand thread that is attached to the mandrel and causes the flyer (yoke) to spin at a different speed than the bobbin to cause the thread to ply on tighter, I guess.

In the previous post I showed the dovetailed end grain Dutchmen that were glued in place with warmed liquid hide glue.  After they dried I used a 1/4″ chisel to carve the end grain birch to the profile of the double pulley.  I kept the blade always pushing toward the supported wood in order not to chip out the end grain.  On the inside I had to take special care to get the proper shape and not damage any of the original wood.

I then used a fine tapered cabinet file to get the shape closer.  I also used a card scraper for some of the shaping.  The excess hide glue on the old surface did not adhere and was easy to remove.

The dull section in the center is years of accumulated mutton fat and lard lubricant.  I gently scraped off some but a little is always a good thing.  I have to clean the bobbin and mandrel of excess accumulations as they become sticky after years.

I then put on a coat of shellac (seed lac) and alcohol then after it dried I put on a coat of shellac and burnt umber pigment.  After it dries I will lightly burnish the surface with a bone burnisher to bring all surfaces smooth.  Now it is on to the flyer and I did a repair on the treadle today that I had overlooked.

I took a better look at the Ft. Ticonderoga spinning wheel and it looks like most of it is made of birch making its history look good.  It doesn’t appear to have ever been refinished and has enough wear to show its age.  It has been well taken care of but it doesn’t appear to have been used excessively and is in overall good condition.  I have similar repairs as above on this wheel as well.

Stephen

September 16, 2009

Seamstress Chest

Filed under: Dovetails, Drilling, Finishing, Furniture, Hand Planing, Hardware, Hide Glue, Historical Material, Of Interest, Techniques, Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 5:36 pm

Here is a pine chest that I made a couple of years ago, traded off a couple of months ago and finally got the right handles fixed to it today.  It is entirely hand made, all surfaces hand planed and scraped, the corners are dovetailed, although you can’t see them under the paint.  It is glued together with Hide Glue and some nails were used to fasten the top and bottom.

It is 11 1/2″ deep, 23 3/4″ long and 12 1/4″ high is made of pine and painted and grained to imitate mahogany.  It has gold striping, butterfly hinges on the back secured with clinched nails, an iron hasp secured with slotted iron screws and the lifting handles attached with clinch nails.

 

I first layed out the location and used a brad awl to make a hole without removing any wood.

I then pounded the nails through the handle and hole in the box.  I used the steel ‘anvil’ to deaden the blow when driving the nails home.

I then bent over the ends of the nails before I clinched them into the pine on the inside of the box.

 

This is how the iron lifting handles look from the outside.  The handles are from Van Dykes Restorers as are the nails.  The butterfly hinges and the hasp and padlock are also from Van Dykes.

A light coat of linseed oil and it will be ready to deliver this weekend.

Stephen

April 1, 2009

Prototype Dovetail Saw

Filed under: Carving, Dovetails, Drilling, Finishing, Furniture, Hand Planing, Hardware, Hide Glue, Historical Material, Laid Steel Tools, Mortice & Tenon, Moxon, Of Interest, Proper Tools, Publications, Restoration, Sawing, Sharpening, Techniques, The Trade, Tool Cabinets & Tool Boxes, Turning, Uncategorized, Workbench — Stephen Shepherd @ 5:29 am

I have finally come up with a solution to the controversy between Western Push style Dovetail Saws and the popular Eastern Pull style Dovetail Saw.  It was brought about when one day I was cutting some dovetails with a Western style Dovetail Saw while a friend of mine was watching.

He commented ‘if that saw had a handle on the other end, he could give me a hand’.  What a thought, my mind went back to the two handle whip saws of yore and put 2 and 2 together and got 22.  Now I think I have solved the problem with whither you prefer the Western or Eastern style handsaw.

Ultimate Dovetail Saw

The Eastern end is traditional with a tang and bamboo wrapped handle.  The Western end is a typical riveted handle that is octagonal and tapered.  This will surely set to rest the problem about deciding which to choose.  Just choose this one.

Stephen

February 17, 2009

What a Grind

Filed under: Dovetails, Hardware, Historical Material, Of Interest, Sawing, Techniques, Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 4:06 pm

I am unhappy with my modern electric spinning coffee grinder, the results are fine powder and large pieces of coffee beans.  And being as I had a nice reproduction cast iron coffee grinder, I thought it was time to make a box and drawer to put it to use.

I planed the boards flat and smooth with a fore plane and shot the edges square.

Coffee Grinder

I cut all of the wood from a piece of blue stained pine.  I ripped the board to the width I needed, I wanted the box 4 inches tall plus the base piece.  The piece I ripped off, I used for the front cross piece.

Rip

I set up the dividers (compasses) to the 5 inch mark, to fit the underside of the iron top and it provided a uniform measure without consulting a ruler each time.  I scribed a line against a square and cross cut all of the parts.

Cross cut

I used the tenon clamp/saw to cut the shoulders of the front cross piece as well as the pins end of the dovetails on the back of the box.  That is a handy tool, but it wouldn’t cut all the way to the depth I needed, so I did that with a crosscut saw.

Dovetail

I need to make the drawer to hold the grounds, but that will have to wait.

Stephen

November 3, 2008

The Catch

Filed under: Dovetails, Historical Material, Of Interest, Sawing, Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 3:23 pm

Here is the catch, or planing stop based on the Moxon illustration.  I found an old broken wrought iron nail that was just the right size for forging up a board catch.  The catch is then inserted into my wooden planing stop.  I can remove it when not in use.  My intentions is to make another wooden stop without a hole and keep these together, as the little iron catch could be easily lost.

Catch

I heated it up to a bright red heat and forged it to shape.  I used a cold chisel to make the splits then used a triangular file to work in between.  It took 5 or six heats to get it right, then I worked it over with a file to remove any sharp edges.  I also sharpened the teeth to engage the wood.

The first piece I planed was a piece with a miter cut on one end.  The catch held the square end fine and I was pleased that it also held the piece by the miter on the end.  I tried it all directions and I am glad I finally made one.

It is important to make it from wrought iron as it is soft and will cause much less damage than if it were made out of steel.  Steel, even mild steel can be hardened but it is impossible to harden the wrought iron like steel.  I did heat the whole catch up to cherry red heat and allowed it to cool slowly, insuring it is as soft as it can be.

 I also managed to make the mortises in both the clock case and the door of the clock.  I then give them a coat of paint.  I will grain it to imitate mahogany .  I still have to paint and number the dial, find some old glass and give the works a good cleaning.

Clock Case painted

I also had the help of Mike Moore Jr. who shot this video.  After looking at it I realized I should tighten the toggle tension another half a turn to avoid the blade jumping at the start.

Cranked Dovetail Bow Saw  

Stephen

 

November 1, 2008

Dovetail Bow Saw Blade

Filed under: Dovetails, Historical Material, Of Interest, Proper Tools, Techniques, Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 2:40 pm

 

There was a recent discussion over at WoodCentral on the Hand Tool Message Board about the cranked bow saw blade used for making dovetails, well at least the pins.  I first saw the blade in Salaman’s Dictionary of Woodworking Tools and put an illustration of the blade in Shepherds’ Compleat Early Nineteenth Century Woodworker in 1981.

I have made several of these blades and as a matter of fact I made two this morning and took some pictures.  These are 11 ppi band saw blades, not the greatest blades in terms of set but the number is good and the steel is good.

Blade in Vise

This is the setup in the vise, this is a shorter vise than I have used before by 1/2″, this one is two inch.  I heat the blade to cherry red to remove the hardness, allow it to cool slowly and it is annealed.  I then heat the blade between the marks, use chalk or soapstone to mark the blade in the center, and place it in the vise as above.

First heat

 This is the first bend, which I do with a small square face hammer, then heat the blade again and pound it over until it is about 45 degrees.

 Second heat

I heat the blade up again in the vise, be careful as the vise does get warm.  I then beat the blade flat over on the top of the vise making the 90 degree bend.  I use a brad punch to drop the teeth at the heel down to the vise top.  I then work over the teeth with a brad punch (nail set) to get some set back to the teeth I have just hammered.

I then sharpened up the teeth as needed and it is ready to go.  It is not that hard, you can use a forge or a gas torch to heat the blade, a vise and a square face hammer and nail set.  You will also need a triangular file to touch up the teeth.

 

 Dovetail Bow Saw Blade

Here are the two blades I made this morning, it took less than an hour to make them.  I had intended to make only one, but the first one is cranked the wrong way.  Make sure you are bending the blade in the right direction.  I had one in my bow saw in front of me and still got it wrong.  The odd angles of the blades is normal, when put under tension in the bow saw it straightens out.

I don’t harden the blade again after I am finished, because I don’t think it was that hard to start with.  Now while most of the work I do is in pine, it works well on poplar, so I am not too concerned about hardening the teeth again.  The first part of the blade is rip, when I do touch up the teeth at the bend I do put a bit of an angle to them, I also whet the entire blade, both sets of teeth to insure a smooth cut.

The hardest part of making the blade is getting the crank in the right direction.  Give it a go, it is easy.

I had problems putting up this post, I got dumped a half a dozen times and thought it might be an omen, but I don’t believe in omens.

Stephen

 

September 9, 2008

Emergency Dovetails!

Filed under: Dovetails, Of Interest, Techniques, Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 3:44 pm

This was the word on Sunday last, two (2) Dovetailed drawers for a good client of a friend of mine, Mike Moore.  We glued the wood together Sunday and worked for 8 hours Monday and 5 hours today. 

 

 You will notice the unusual surroundings for me, there is a makeshift vise on the end of this table and the adjustable one is handy for people who can’t decide what height their workbench should be.

Dovetail drawer 1

These are unusual sized drawers and the bottoms are fit in.

Dovetail drawer 2

Here is the third picture.  These are the two drawer fronts with the hardware installed.  I designed this bar and specified this hardware.  This will become evident later when you see the entire bar.

Dovetail drawer 5

This is Mr. Mike Moore, my new student as he finishes off the stopped grooves for the bottoms of the drawers.

Dovetail drawer 4

 

Now I was of the opinion that he wanted me to make the drawers, although I don’t have access to my tools, he said he had enough, so I was ready.  What I came to learn on Monday morning was that I was going to teach him how to make hand cut dovetail drawers.  That together with not having my own tools resulted in the drawers taking approximately 24 man hours to make.  This is not my best speed for sure, but it was an altogether fun experience.  The two drawers are for this Bar I have briefly mentioned and the clients are very nice people, and very patient. 

 

Both drawers are self guided, the large one for bar towels and other light items, but what the small drawer will be used for is still a mystery.  It may have a cut out on the side to allow access.  The drawers need to be strong to survive a good bar fight, so they are constructed of 3/4″ pine, sides and bottom.  The bottom is let into a groove running around the bottom on the inside of the drawer.  It is not like a normal drawer in that it is completely contained, is loose and floats. 

 

So the emergency has ended, both drawer boxes are under clamp and will be finished off on the morrow.  Smoothing the corners and a good coat of shellac will take care of the boxes.

Stephen

July 21, 2008

Folding Lap Desk

Filed under: Dovetails, Hand Planing, Historical Material, Techniques, Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 9:55 am

These were very common in the nineteenth century, it is in effect a briefcase or laptop of the period.   Most were constructed of common secondary woods, pine, poplar, chestnut, etc and covered with fancy veneer such as rosewood, mahogany, etc. and even stringing, inlays, marquetry and metal mounts. 

When folded up, it had a lock to keep it together and private, and when opened provided a slanted writing surface plus two storage areas for papers, ink, quill, sander or blotter and other accouterments needed for proper correspondence to conduct business in a neat manner.  They were for use in the household, at the shop for business or while traveling.

The construction of the carcase varies from through dovetails to half blind dovetails, like I selected for this example.  Again another one of those items I can cross off my list of things I have always wanted to built.  If that list wasn’t getting bigger when I see new things, it would be getting smaller because I am actually building many projects that I have planned to do sometime in my life.

I will make a variation on this particular one as I will just paint on the veneer and the stringing.  There are painted examples (a few leather covered also exist) but most are veneered.  So don’t say anything about the dovetails, they will be filled with putty and painted and you will never see them.

I started out with the four sides glued together, held with a rope tourniquet and toggle.  I use ropes and toggles for clamping all kinds of objects, especially chairs and for repair work.  A mostly overlooked technique, it is as about as cheap a clamp as can be had.

Box, glued up

Here is a view from the side showing the half blind dovetails.

side view

Here is a view on the inside, alright, I did saw past the score line, but it is on the inside, so who cares.

saw marks

 

Here is what the box looks like all closed up.  The top and bottom are cut to fit, glued and nailed in place.  Should I worry about cross grain, yes, just as much as the original craftsman did.  And most of the time on old lap desks there are problems caused by this.  Together with the fact that most are only veneered and finished on the outside, but with smaller pieces, this single side treatment isn’t much of a problem.

closed

And this is what it looks like open with the hinges installed.  I made a fundamental mistake when laying out the position of the dovetails, can you spot the glaring mistake?  If not I probably won’t say anything.

open

Now I thought that the second set of hinges I ordered were like the first set, but oh no, the leaf in between is bigger, so it left a big gap at the back.

hinge

This required me to remove the hinges and re-mortise them a bit deeper to remove the gap.  Wow, that nasty mistake rears its ugly head, won’t do that again, and I have another set of hinges so I will build at least one more.  I want to copy the one that is in Baltimore that was used by Edgar Allen Poe.  It is a big one and has a table base for use when not traveling.

I am fashioning the writing surface(s) from some thin soft maple I have, the hinge will be either leather or cloth, depending on what I choose for the writing surface.  If I use cloth, I will paint it to look like leather, with a little glycerin in the paint to keep it flexible.  I will also add a bit to the hide glue for that same purpose.

Stephen

 

June 26, 2008

Cross Cut Saw verses Rip Saw

Filed under: Dovetails, Sawing, Sharpening — Stephen Shepherd @ 7:44 am

The great debate, the endless questions, the historic evidence, the ideas and theories, the dilemma, rake, fleam angle, taper, belly, grip,  set, down to the saw bolts has been discussed where ever woodworkers gather and talk saws.

I will be discussing saw sharpening only briefly (if that is possible) as it is covered elsewhere including here.  I will talk of set (oh wait I did that part) but I am going to discuss whetting or side joining saws as the final and I believe important step in properly saw sharpening.  I will get to hammer straightening a bent blade which I should have done earlier but there is nothing I can do about it now.

A cross cut saw is used to cut across the grain of the wood and are sharpened like knife points to score then shear the fibers of the wood.

A rip or splitting saw is used to cut with the grain and are sharpened like chisel points (or little tiny plow plane blades) to excavate the wood from the groove.  Usually with fewer teeth per inch and larger gullets to remove the dross.

Now in order to blur the line a little, here is a RIP/CROSS CUT saw blade in a nineteenth century American pattern bow saw, curly hickory arms, maple handles, white oak stretcher and the walnut and mahogany toggle is inspired by Eric Sloane.  The blade is after one illustrated in Salaman.

Rip / Cross Cut Bow Saw

And while it may be difficult to see the blade is cranked at 90 degrees in the middle of the thin blade.  The portion on the right is sharpened rip and the portion on the left is sharpened rip.  I use this saw to remove the waste between the pins when finishing my dovetails (tails first, as I gang saw the tails).  It is surprisingly easy to use and astounds people when I demonstrate how it works.  It cuts (rips) down to the score line, then when the crank (with its tapered transition) is pushed it begins to cut (cross cut) to finish the removal.  Attention must be paid to the angles of the pins and sawing is done on the money side (the one that shows). 

Tooth count: the general reference for the coarseness of saws is TPI or teeth per inch.  Now there are PPI or points per inch and I don’t know why there is a difference, perhaps a saw maker could respond?  Rip saws usually have fewer teeth per inch with larger gullets to remove the dreck rapidly as is their want.  Cross cut have finer teeth and vary remarkably as do the teeth of rip saws.  And here is a general guideline (I avoided the use of the word rule), finer tooth patterns are for thinner boards and coarser tooth patterns are for thicker wood.  This helps eliminate the saw dust easily.  Fine toothed saws, either rip or cross cut will tend to bind up on thicker boards.  Finer teeth produce finer cuts and are more suitable for thin pieces of wood.

Some blades are taper ground with the teeth being the thickest and the back being thinner.  This helps reduce binding and allows for little or no set to the blade and still cut and not bind.  Some open hand saws are tapered in the same way but also tapered to be thinner at the tip and tapering to thicker at the handle.  This of course makes the nicker nib nice and thin and capable of breaking off.  (It is easily filed back into the tip of the blade).  That nib works just fine, it doesn’t need to be as wide as the teeth, all it needs to do is make that fine nick on the edge of the board to start the cut. 

And the reason for the blades being wider at the handle or heel and narrower at the toe?  Because you can use the narrow toe to correct any errors in sawing as the narrower tip allows for correction to an arrant saw kerf.  Like a narrower blade can make a tighter circle, a narrower part of a blade can do the same thing.

And apparently not all saw were provided straight as many had bellies (breasted) with the teeth being higher in the center.  Now I am not talking those floor or veneer saws but open hand saws, cabinet and panel saws (maybe there is a distinction there).  And the P.S. Stubbs blade I have, albeit a web blade has a belly.  I am not sure it could be called breasted because the entire blade as a belly (convex), the back being slightly concave.

And of course there are those progressive toothed saws, finer at the tip and coarser over the rest of the blade, this is to assist in starting the cut after using the nicker nib.

And there are examples of both cross cut and rip in open and framed.  The open saw is lighter in weight but can have a much thicker blade than a framed saw.  The frame saw has the advantage of using thin and narrow blades for certain applications like cutting curves, they can also be used to hold thin and wider rip blades for splitting boards with a thin kerf.  The disadvantages of framed saws are weight (which isn’t that much of a disadvantage) and most importantly limited cutting because of the frame.  At some point, unless ripping off the edge of a board the frame will get in the way.

The advantage of the open saw is that it has no frame (and no back) so it can cut through pieces of wood that could not easily be done with a frame saw.  Speaking of back saws, as many of you know I am not a big fan of backed saws, I am down to only one very small brass backed Gent’s Saw that I use for fine work.  Larger back saws have always felt awkward in my hands and I never found one I liked, and I have gone through a couple dozen.  I think this is another marketing ploy by manufacturers, ‘a thinner saw kerf’, I think less saw, more money.  Why would anyone in the nineteenth century worried about the size of the kerf?  Ok, marquetry, but that is a different saw.

When I saw dovetails, I use my widest (kerf) unbacked dovetail saw, the more wood I can saw out the less I have to remove with a chisel.  If I did finer work, maybe I would want a thinner saw.  But my dovetail saws are all used for general purpose ripping of small pieces, I grab the big rip saw to rip the big boards.

Then there are the saws that need to cut both cross cut and rip, like a fine turning saw, compass saw, coping saw, fret saw, &c, how are these sharpened?  Half and half, the teeth are filed with the hook of a rip saw and the fleam or side angle of 80 degrees.

Stephen

April 24, 2008

Dovetailing Drawers

Filed under: Dovetails, Uncategorized — Stephen Shepherd @ 2:53 pm

The Dovetail Joint Half Blind Dovetail

We have a different view of the dovetail joint than they had in the nineteenth century, and I am pretty sure in the eighteenth century and before as well.  Today we revere and honor the almighty dovetail as the end all of craftsmanship.  When in fact in the nineteenth century it was just a good joint and its application was for specific purposes.

In fact I would guess better than 90% of the dovetail joints were not seen until the drawers are opened.  Probably the second most common joint after a chair socket, the dovetail provided a self clamping and self squaring joint, all things being equal.  Ideally suited for box construction, its most common application was for making drawers.  This accounts for the bureau or chest of drawers being the most expensive item for sale in a Cabinet Shop in the nineteenth century.  A fancy chair would sell for $6.00; a common Windsor Sheraton would sell for $4.00, a rocking chair for $8.00 and a bureau for $26.00 to 31.00.  A farmer or labor could make $0.35 to .50 per day, a skilled craftsman $1.75 to $2.50 per day, so the chest of drawers would have been a major expense during the 1850’s.

People are intimidated by dovetail joints because they want to make them show, while most dovetails as in drawers are hidden.  Practice on drawers before going on to class 1 joints that show.  People are intimidated by chairs as well; I will deal with that later.

Dovetailed drawers are wonderful things to practice on as they hardly ever show.  Drawers are good practice for dovetailing and there is no better way of learning than by having to repeat the task over and over again until it is second nature.

There are a lot of jigs, guides and fancy tools to help in the dovetailing process.  I will not mention them as I don’t use them but they might be of benefit to beginners and anything to make it easier for those just starting out is a good thing.  I don’t even use an angle jig anymore as I am only concerned about the square cut (the most important cut), the angle will take care of itself.

Because I always gang saw, in other words I clamp both sides (and pairs of sides) together and cut them all at once, so I cut tails first.  I know some people cut pins first, but doing a lot of half blind dovetails on drawer fronts, I find this cumbersome.  Tails first for me is the way I learned, the way I do it and that is what I will be talking about.

Once the pieces for the drawer are made up, I use ¾” to 1 inch fronts, with ½” thick sides and back and a ¼” bottom.  Sometimes I use a thicker bottom and feather three edges to fit the plough (plow) {groove} on the drawer front and sides.  The back has no groove and is not as wide as the sides to allow for the bottom to slide in from the back and secured only with a single nail, so it floats free in the grooves.  In most cases the grain of the bottom is from front to back, but on wider drawers the grain can go from side to side.

I then set a marking gauge to the thickness of the sides (half inch) and mark both ends of the sides and back.  I also mark the back of the drawer front on each end gauged from the sides and the side of the drawer front with the fence on the back side.  I know that the plow or groove will be near the bottom within 3/8” or ¼”, so I make sure the bottom dovetail on the side of the drawer front will cover the groove. 

I then space the dovetails by eye make a few pencil marks on the drawer side.  I clamp up the sides (up to 8 half inch boards), usually two so that everything is square.  Then with a square I mark out the lines over the end grain of the boards as these are what are important.  I place a mirror on the opposite side of my vise so I can see the back side allowing me to saw to the score lines without stopping and looking on the other side to see if I am close.  With a rip saw, I cut the dovetails, using the nicker nib if necessary to get the cut started.  I also lift the handsaw on the pull stroke to avoid premature dulling of the teeth.

I will remove the waste with a chisel or sometimes a coping saw, the former is easier, the latter is faster but subject to needing paring, which I avoid.  Because I use a marking gauge for the layout, I cut to the line in both cases, and if I have to pare the joint I have words with myself.  About 85% to 90% of my joints (dovetails, I have better percentages with Mortise and Tenons) go together on the first try.  I am not bragging, no I guess I am, but I have had a lot of experience.

When I chisel, I use the score line to orient the chisel and go from there.  Using a wooden mallet I strike the chisel straight down then split off a bit of wood then strike again.  I reverse the board and repeat.  With the little piece left a light blow and it is clean and on to the next.  With sawing I insert a narrow coping saw blade in the rip kerf and begin cutting near the bottom then to the line, again using the mirror to see I am sawing to the line.  This is the hard part, the money side which is where all of the cuts are made from is easy it is the off side that can be off, and the mirror helps.  I reverse it and finish off the little bit I couldn’t get at the start and the joint is clean.

I then use the tails to lay out the pins on the drawer front and drawer back board.  The groove should already have been ploughed and the bottom side tail should cover the groove if everything is right.  With the side square and positioned I use a striking knife to make the transfer marks.  This avoids the vagaries of a wide pencil line.  The score line also gives a positive starting place for both chisel and saw.

I lay the drawer front flat with the edge towards me and secured to the bench and using my rip dovetail saw I make the cuts for the tails.  I have in the past scribed the square lines, as they are more important, the angles already established with the pins, but in most cases I don’t.  I also do not stop at the thickness gauge mark on the back of the drawer front.  I go beyond the score mark to make the chisel work easier.  I do stop at the mark on the side of the drawer front to make for a better looking joint.

I then use a chisel and remove the waste.  I have a quarter inch wide chisel that has heavy bevels on the side for dovetails and use to remove the waste material.  The saw kerf helps locate the angle on the inside back edge and the heavily beveled chisel gets into those tight corners.

The drawer back is positioned just flush with the top of the groove to allow the bottom to be inserted, removed and repaired or repositioned if it dries out.  I then cut the pins after marking them from the drawer sides.  These dovetails are usually a bit smaller and are almost never seen as drawers are seldom pulled all the way out.

With proper layout and cutting everything should be flush on dry fit up.  I also make sure that it fits into its opening and make any adjustments before gluing up the drawer box.  I then take the drawer apart, apply glue and reassemble.  I wipe off all excess glue with a wet rag at this point as I don’t want to glue the drawer into the cabinet.   I check for square, insert the drawer bottom loose and place the drawer into the opening where it will go to dry.  Dovetail drawers are self clamping and it helps for the drawer box to dry in situ.  If the opening is slightly out of square, the drawer can be wracked a bit to fit.

I usually make my drawers square (they can be rectangular but they are still square), because they tend to be square anyway and make any adjustments by planing off the drawer front.  Also adding cock bead to a drawer front will make any irregularities go away.

Some drawers have lips and overhang the cabinet, so it is important that they fit up good and the drawer can be racked to work and allowed to dry.  I make sure the drawer runners are on the drawer guides and there is no twist, paying attention to detail now helps make good working drawers.

When the glue is dry and being one would only use hide glue, that would be the next day, I remove the drawers, run a scraper or if necessary plane to smooth off any raised grain and then nail in the bottom.

 

Stephen

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