Advice for designing with dovetails

[mayszs]

I have never built anything using dovetail joints so I'm unfamiliar with creating a design using them.
I am looking at designing and building three breadboxes using the same design using different lumber for my wife and her sisters.
I love the look of through dovetails on boxes so I would like to join all of the non-moving prices using them but I don't know what what the length of the joint is, from center to center, so the over all dimentions of the joint allows the beginning and end of each joint to begin and end halfway though a tail.
I'm also not sure how the corners would work since there would be dovetail joints on three different planes intersecting.

Any recommendations or advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Roy G]

Zack, I always cut out my boards to final size and then layout the dovetails. I am assuming you are going to cut these by hand. You can vary the spacing, size of pins so it looks good to you. If you haven't cut dovetails before, I would recommend you saw to the waste side of the line and then clean up to the line with chisel and files.

Roy G

 

[Woodmolds]

I have never built anything using dovetail joints so I'm unfamiliar with creating a design using them.
I am looking at designing and building three breadboxes using the same design using different lumber for my wife and her sisters.
I love the look of through dovetails on boxes so I would like to join all of the non-moving prices using them but I don't know what what the length of the joint is, from center to center, so the over all dimentions of the joint allows the beginning and end of each joint to begin and end halfway though a tail.
I'm also not sure how the corners would work since there would be dovetail joints on three different planes intersecting.

Any recommendations or advise would be greatly appreciated.

If you've never done dovetails or not lately may I suggest you do several practice joints on scraps pieces first. This would also have the added benefit of helping you to see how to determine sizes and layout.

Tony

 

[bluedawg76]

a through dovetail is the width of the connecting board. so for an internal dimension of a 5" length on a 1/2" thick board, the actual board length is 6" (5" + 1/2" + 1/2"). And yes, if you're cutting by hand or router for the first time, I'd highly recommend a number of test cuts. DTs are not hard to do, but do require some practice. My preference is tails ~ 1-1 1/4" wide w/ 1/4" spacing for the pins. I like 3/8" pins on the ends. (I use a chisel for the pin spacing and eyeball the tail width for symmetry).

Paul Sellars has some nice youtube videos on handcut dovetails for boxes. Note that his skill makes this look amazingly simple.

HTH,
Sam

 

[Mike Davis]

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...=ho66lkT3-POB7eSf4Zcuvw&bvm=bv.47534661,d.dmg

i think you are looking for a method of laying out the dovetails. I hope this link works, if not ill go to the desktop and try again.

 

[bluedawg76]

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=dovetail%20layout&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDAQtwIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DMUiPJF_jNEA&ei=_LqzUYSPJ_Ti4APvnoCwDQ&usg=AFQjCNHjEeNobgHk-l2HPBaLf4sQR9s9hg&sig2=ho66lkT3-POB7eSf4Zcuvw&bvm=bv.47534661,d.dmg

IMO, this is a bit cumbersome to walk them off, but to each his own.