01/06/07

The first thing to do, after cutting the front, sides, and back to the right length, is to cut a 1/4" dado near the bottom inside of each piece to receive the plywood panel that will be the bottom of each drawer.  A couple passes on the table saw takes care of this in quick order.

A dovetail jig shown at left, is used with a router and a dovetail bit, guided by the plastic guides, to cut the dovetails into both the front (top piece) and the side (toward the bottom of the picture) of the drawer components.  It only takes a few seconds to make the actual cut, as shown here, but it took several hours to actually setup the measurements, positions, and precise placement of the materials, in order to get a near-perfect joint.

The picture to the right shows the bottom drawer with the dovetail joint completed.  It makes an extremely strong joint, thanks to the increased surface area joining the two woods together.  The dovetail is mechanically very strong, and I've even been tempted to skip the glue, since most of it oozes out of the joint anyway!  But a glued dovetail, I think, is the closest thing to a permanent joint I can think of!  And it's certainly pretty to look at. 

The picture above is just the dry-fit evaluation.  Once both joints are cut, and the drawer is ready for assembly, gluing up the joints is accomplished by spreading the glue throughout the joint with a small disposable brush.  This will ensure that the joint won't be "starved" for glue.  A lot will squeeze out from the joint, as you can see below, but there is plenty remaining to make sure this joint won't come apart!

You can see the inside of the front joint...the dovetails "lock" the corners together, and once glued and pinned, nothing will make this joint come apart. The backs of the drawers are simply rabbets cut into the back pieces that the side pieces fit into.  The nails are really only used to act as clamps until the glue dries.  The glue is responsible for keeping the joint together.  However, since the nails are there, I used a nail-set to set the heads below the surface of the wood.  The finishing process will fill the tiny hole above the heads of the nails, and once completed the nails won't be visible.