Dovetails

Joe Scharle

New User
Joe
I don't see any reason to glue the DT. Which, btw being a profile bit must be cut in a single pass. I would imagine that the stretcher has a peg tenon on each end to help prevent the legs from rotating as well as controlling the centering of the legs. If I were to build that bench, I'd rout the female DT, then rip the piece into parts because it's easier to slide narrow pieces on a DT than one wide board. Then sneak up on the male part until I have a good fit. Shown here is how I build case work. The dust webs are supported by sliding DTs in the stiles on each end. It would be difficult to get the sides to match if I didn't cut the DTs in a larger board and then rip the stiles. Never glued.

1602773374239.png


Then here is a front rail of a cabinet or table. No glue here. Wide DTs are not uncommon in casework.

1602775788400.png


.
 

BKHam

Bradley
User
????? Brad, I don't know what you mean. Thanks.

if you glued this stretcher on one side the other side would move in and out. half the year it would either be proud or sunken in. seems like he said he's not gluing it, i'm sure partially because of that
 

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
For those interested, won't do a build on this one, but here are the plans and the procedures, using parametric design with Solidworks

top.jpg


cross stretcher.jpg


long stretcher.jpg


legs.jpg


consol table.jpg
 

JohnnyR

John
Corporate Member
Given the stress on those legs I'd make the leg tenon as big as you can without compromising the cross stretcher! It also looks like you have more of an angle on the legs than in the picture. Always enjoy your instructive posts!
 

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
Given the stress on those legs I'd make the leg tenon as big as you can without compromising the cross stretcher! It also looks like you have more of an angle on the legs than in the picture. Always enjoy your instructive posts!
Yep, I may tweak that a bit. The challenge is she wants it shorter than the one in the picture, so the height and the width makes it look more square.
 

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
Updated this to get closer to her drawing. The legs now have a 2 degree compound angle, both directions, which can be done on a compound miter saw, before cutting the tenons on the table saw using a jig.

On the real piece the edges will be rounded, so it will look a bit better than the drawing.

consol table.jpg
 

JohnnyR

John
Corporate Member
Looks good. Wondering, not so much for this project but in general, would gluing a thick veneer on the end of the cross pieces hold up, having no stress on the end grain glue joint? Obviously it could be done with a larger dovetailed joint as there's not much movement.
 

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
Looks good. Wondering, not so much for this project but in general, would gluing a thick veneer on the end of the cross pieces hold up, having no stress on the end grain glue joint? Obviously it could be done with a larger dovetailed joint as there's not much movement.
Not sure I am following your question?

Gluing to end grain is never a good idea, a weak adhesion plus different wood movement ratios.

If we want to hide the dovetails, I would use a different design to eliminate them.
 

JohnnyR

John
Corporate Member
Wouldn't want to hide the dovetails but have face grain about a sixteenth proud. Just playing around with ideas, the kind that keep me up at nite:rolleyes:
 

Hmerkle

Board of Directors, Development Director
Hank
Staff member
Corporate Member
The whole time, I am thinking - that looks like a saw bench!
 

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