Through Dovetail Question

Bill, when you make something as small as a jewelry box there is no need for dovetails, except for decoration. A rabbet joint will work just as well, there’s more than a few other choices of joinery as well. New router bits give you a load of choices although you can make plenty of joints with hand tools. It depends on the time you want to spend making them and what you want it to look like in the end. I use dovetails because, well, it looks good. For me, with a jewelry box, the smaller the pins and tails, the better. Smaller dovetails doesn’t necessarily mean stronger but strength is not what your looking for, it’s the racking you’re trying to prevent. If the bottom of the drawer is nailed to the front, sides and back it prevents racking. It makes the drawer stronger but it looks horrible. Large drawers full of clothes or heavy objects need dovetails or some kind of joinery (dowels, finger joints are 2 other choices) that will put up with the stresses of opening and closing (slamming) full of a heavy weight. Tails first, always!!!

Bill, Fancy is exactly what a jewelry box should be! I usually trap thin ply in a small drawer because it won’t see much expansion or contraction and cutting a groove along all four sides is fast. You just have remember to stop it so it’s not seen. I’ll bring the bottom up almost 1/4″ so I can glue a few 1/4″ strips of wood to the inside underneath as additional support for the bottom. The extra wood also adds an “extra” joint and helps to prevent racking as well.

Bill, think of the tail as a hand grabbing the back or front of the box and holding it. The palm of your hand is resting on the side of the board. The tail is your palm and your fingers reach around to grab the back board. It’s not looks that determine the location but physics. Most of the stress when pulling a drawer out is on the front and back, especially when it’s full. There should also be a half pin at the top and bottom. If the tail is at the top and bottom the glue could fail. There’s a good chance it will fail due to the fact that the’s nothing mechanical holding it back from stresses, it will start to pull away and cause problems with the fit. Pins on back and front and tails on the sides. If you have full tails on the front joint you will see the end grain so the front of most boxes are made with half blind dovetails.

Also there’s an acronym… IDIOT = inside of tree should be outside of drawer. It makes sense and has to do with the cupping of the wood. Not too important for small boxes but bigger boxes it can make a difference.

Traditionally, the pins go on the front, or on the top if it’s a top to a chest. Those are done for engineering reasons, but for a small jewelry box or similar, it’s strictly what you prefer. I do think when you “stray” from tradition, the box might not “feel” right in some people’s eyes, even if they don’t know why. If he joints are being cut by hand, it’s a bit more work to make it a box joint, since then every single angle must be square. You miss a degree in a dovetail, it won’t matter if the joint is tight. If using a router, then a box joint is easier.

And to me, I don’t worry if I do pins first or tails first. I’ve done both, the interesting one is when I do a dovetail within a dovetail (I brought that joint to the last show in the demo I did). Then you are sort of doing both at the same time. It’s something that might be really good for a box, if you want to accentuate the joinery. And also make a two day project last a month.

All of this is one primary reason I don’t care for dovetails in things like a fully exposed box. Personally, I prefer symmetry in such objects – miters or box joints. Oddly, I find box joints more attractive in boxes since both sides of the corner look the same. Miters can be reinforced for larger boxes if necessary but again, they look the same all around. I find dovetails to be conflicting to the eye. But of course, that’s my taste.

A technique I’ve been using lately is quite simple and very strong. Similar to Charlie’s drawers, I glue a piece of veneered plywood to the bottom of the box providing exceptional strength. I then trim the outside, bottom edge of the assembly back about 1/4 x 1/4″ all around the perimeter. Then, in that rabbet, I glue in strips of solid wood, mitered at the corners. These are slightly oversized to be trimmed flush and are of a complimentary wood of choice. Very pretty and symmetrical.

Ditch the dovetails. Keep ’em in your drawers. 🙂

Joe, keep it up and you will have to be expelled from the FKDES (the Frank Klausz Dovetail Everything Society).

Talk about perfect timing, Strother Purdy just posted on Facebook a wenge box he made, complete with dovetails. In truth, it’s dyed or colored so dark, it could easily have been a box joint. Nice box though, Stother’s work is really nice.

The project came out great, Bill. Very nice.

Love it. Makes me want to rejoin scouting. About 65 years ago, …

Great job, Bill. I’m sure William will be as proud of it as I am sure you are of him. Eagle is no small accomplishment. Congrats!

I made a very, very similar square box not too long ago. Of course it doesn’t have the beautiful marquetry you’ve included. But I did inlay a couple of thin banding strips around the perimeter. The upper one falls just at the lid so that the seam is invisible. It makes it very difficult to tell how it opens. One of my favorite features. But I like your artwork more. Nicely done.