Michael Dresdner: The only areas that require glue on dovetails are the diagonal faces.
Do you glue sliding dovetails?
Sliding dovetails provide several advantages over a dado joint. First, they’re stronger because they don’t rely solely on glue. Second, the shoulders of the dovetailed piece hide the edges of the slot, much as a tenoned workpiece hides a mortise.
What are the rules for dovetail joints?
The general rule is that they measure half the thickness of timber plus around 1 mm along the shoulder line. So these two awl dots are 7 mm in from each edge. These two dots, which mark the corners of the half pins, are now converted into a 1:8 slope at each side.
Do you need to clamp dovetails?
No clamps, cauls or hassle, and because the carcass is used as a form, the face of the drawer will be perfectly aligned and require no further fitting.
What is the weakness of dovetail joint?
The disadvantages of dovetail joints are that they can be fairly difficult to mark out and cut, and if they are made badly these joints lose the advantages listed above. Depending on the project, function, and design, there are a number of different types of dovetail joints to choose from.
How do you take apart a glued dovetail joint?
Heat the area around the joint with a heat gun. Continue to move the heat gun over the joint and soften the glue holding the joint together. You can purchase a heat gun online or at a hardware store. If you don’t have a heat gun, you can use a hairdryer on the high setting.
Are dovetail joints worth it?
Making sure that you pick a drawer joint that can withstand this type of wear and tear is crucial to the longevity of your kitchen cabinets. Dovetail joints are considered one of the strongest joints used in kitchen cabinetry construction and are the best solution for a kitchen cabinet drawer box.
Is a finger joint stronger than a dovetail joint?
It depends on the application. For box joint, some people put a lot more fingers than it is possible to do with Dovetail. In this case, the gluing surface is larger, and the joint is likely stronger.
How deep should a dovetail joint be?
so with our current scenario of 3″ we would have 2 x 3/16″ = 3/8″ plus the full pin of 3/8″ so 3/4″ pin accumulation. This then leaves 2 1/4″ for two tails so 1 1/8″ dovetails. As I said, for me, generally, I simply use 3/8″ equally for all of my pins as my standard size in my more general work.
How tight should dovetails be?
If you can use your fist as a hammer to nudge them together, they’re just right. By the way, when you realize they will fit nice and snug, (hopefully by the time they are less than half way down) take them apart and don’t put them together again until you glue them.
Are dovetail joints difficult?
This type of joint is used in box constructions such as drawers, jewellery boxes, cabinets and other pieces of furniture where strength is required. It is a difficult joint to make manually, requiring skilled workmanship. There are different types of dovetail joints.
What is the weakest joint in carpentry?
A butt joint uses a simple technique whereby two pieces of material are joined together at their ends, without any special shaping or cutting. Although it is simple, the butt joint is also the weakest of the wood joinery types.
Are dovetails the strongest of all joints?
Dovetail is arguably the strongest joint in millwork. It’s made so that it can’t be twisted or pulled in any direction except for one. This means that it’ll take more force to break or damage the joint. Because of the preciseness of each piece, this joint is held into place without the need for extra reinforcement.
Is dovetail joint permanent?
The strongest and most permanent right-angled joints made in wood are the ‘dove-tail’ joints, as illustrated below. The so-called tails and pins fit together to form a secure joint.
Do you glue a tongue and groove joint?
For example, since tongue in groove joints are not glued together, and are left to expand and contract freely, food particles could find their way in there. I wonder if you are thinking about using splines to help align table top boards to help with gluing.
Will a heat gun loosen wood glue?
The two things to try are heat and moisture. Heat will soften cured PVAs so I would warm the area well with a heat gun if you can, being careful of the finish needless to say. If you don’t have a heat gun but do have a hairdryer use it, it’s better than nothing.
When did they stop using dovetail joints?
So manufacturers moved away from dovetails. Hand-cut dovetailing was the default until 1860 when uniform machine-cut joints were introduced. But fine cabinetmakers persisted in fitting their joints by hand until the early 1900s, and cabinetmakers in Europe cut dovetails by hand well into the 1930s.
Why do people use dovetail joints?
A dovetail joint is a joinery technique used in woodworking, traditionally used to joint wooden furniture. Dovetail joints are known for their inherent strength and resistance to being pulled apart (tensile strength).
Is a sliding dovetail strong?
The sliding dovetail joint has a number of advantages: it’s mechanically strong, provides a decent amount of glue surface, is reasonably easy to machine and is attractive when assembled.
What is the most popular dovetail joint?
Single-lap Dovetail The single-lap (known to many folks as a half-blind dovetail) is the best known of the dovetails since it’s used to join the front to the sides of a drawer.
Is dovetail the highest quality?
Dovetail drawers are considered a sign of quality, a hallmark of solid construction, and are generally recommended for anyone in the market for cabinets.
Which is better English or French dovetail?
While both English and French dovetail construction are very sturdy and high quality, English dovetail construction is slightly sturdier with the trade-off of being more expensive and time-consuming to produce.
What is the strongest joint in carpentry?
MORTISE AND TENON JOINT Mortise and tenon joints are widely regarded as one of the strongest and most reliable woodworking joints. They involve creating a mortise, or a hole, in one piece of wood and a tenon on the end of the other piece, which fits into the mortise.
What is the strongest joinery joint?
A mortice and tenon joint is generally recognised as the toughest around. As a result, they are sensible to use for commercial joinery projects. In simple terms, it allows two pieces of wood to be connected together.
What is the most complicated woodworking joint?
Dovetail Once linked, a dovetail joint has superior resistance to being pulled apart. Historically, the biggest drawback to dovetail joints was how difficult they were to craft by hand.
Are 3 8 and 11mm dovetail the same?
However, that is not the only difference between the two dovetails. They also have different groove angles as shown below. The 11 mm dovetail has a 60-degree angle, while the 3/8” dovetail has a 45-degree angle.
