sliding dovetails by hand *LINK*

Re: sliding dovetails by hand

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>Thanks for the link, George. A very detailed article - I'll be saving the link for my future projects list.

I was surprised that you installed the shelves from the front - for some reason, I always think of sliding dovetails coming in from the back, but I don't know why. What were your reasons?

Re: sliding dovetails by hand

R.J.Whelan

>Very interesting.

I saw a demonstration of this technique at Williamsburg several year ago - this particular iteration used the tapered sliding DT to build a knock-down shelf (no glue).

Thanks for the entertaining link ... rj

Re: sliding dovetails by hand

Richard Gillespie

>Thanks for the very interesting demonstration on hand cut, sliding dovetails. I've always wondered how the female section was cut. I also, saved the information to my favorites.

Re: sliding dovetails by hand

George Huron

>I guess you can reverse the taper but the way I do it the joint is tightest in the front where everyone will see it. If done correctly the joint is tight all around. If a beginner is not very good at matching the taper (this is done by eye but close is good enough because the male will compress to match the female) there will be gaps in the back of the joint. These can be tightened with little wedges which you don't want to show in the front. The best way I found to match the taper when cutting the male is to cut the female consistantly and when cutting the male watch the shoulder of the tapered side of the sliding dovetail. It should go from 0 to about 1/8 of an inch width (judged by eye). Like I said, you just have to be close, the wood will conform under pressure.

Re: sliding dovetails by hand

George Huron

>I use the glue only to keep the joint from sliding apart. Under normal use, I probably could get away without using glue at all. Too much glue and the female will swell and the joint can actually seize up before you get the shelf all the way in (bad situation).

Re: sliding dovetails by hand

Jim in Burlington Ontario

>George thanks for posting. What are the chances of having blowout towards the front of the dovetail when your assembling. During a dry fit should they need to be forced together or just tight by hand?

Re: sliding dovetails by hand

George Huron

>There really is no "dry fit" per se. You do need to see that the joint begins to lock together about 3/4 assembled but you don't want to hammer it together and then try to get it apart. I have never had a problem with blowout.