dovetail spacing

T

terry candee

Member
I'm planning on building a hope chest for my granddaughter prior to her June wedding. While I've built a fair number of such chests I've never been comfortable with dovetail spacing or perhaps I should say pin spacing. Like many I prefer small pins and I think all pins should be the same size. So should the pins be spaced equal distance apart, have smaller spaces between pins at the top and gradually be further apart the closer to the bottom, be the same on all four sides or be randomly spaced to avoid any particular pattern? Would you suggest using the Fibonacci gauge as a guide? I'm asking for what seems to be most esthetically pleasing.

Your input is appreciated.

Terry Candee
 
Terry, I think only you can answer the question "What is the most aesthetically pleasing". We all have our opinions, but ultimately its your project and what you like the most is what you should go with.

Personally, for a hope chest with exposed dovetails, I would probably make pins and tails the same size, a la Frank Klausz, for looks and for strength. Dovetails, in my opinion, are nothing magic, they are simply a joint that works exceptionally well, and they do not deserve the veneration many woodworkers give them. They are strongest when all parts are the same size, so I would do that and rely on my wood choice, composition, and hardware to make the piece beautiful.  In my opinion, outstanding dovetails will not improve the design if poorly executed, but poorly executed dovetails can ruin a design.

So make them in a way that pleases you. Aesthetics is a very personal choice.
 
Appreciate your response. I agree that equal sizes are strongest but I'm not  as concerned with strength as appearance and trying to guess what my granddaughter will appreciate the most.
 
Try looking at some older blanket chests/photos and pick one of the dovetail layouts that appeals best to you.
 
terry candee said:
Appreciate your response. I agree that equal sizes are strongest but I'm not  as concerned with strength as appearance and trying to guess what my granddaughter will appreciate the most.
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Terry, I totally understand that. I guess the point of my response is that I don't consider dovetails to be a design feature, so you might as well make them as strong as possible.

But, as I also said, only you can decide what you want. I can only offer my point of view.

Good luck with the design, and be sure to post what you come up with.
 
Here is how I think about dovetails. With thru dovetails you want to equalize the amount of exposed end grain, there by equalizing the moisture up take and expansion and contraction. With half blind as on a drawer using large tails and very small pins you are decreasing the amount of exposed end grain there by again cutting down on moisture uptake and expansion. Mr. Jack Plane has written about this on his blog hopefully he will chime in.
 
Fascinating. I have never thought about the exposure to moisture but it helps explain half-blind dovetails on drawers. Might help explain why full dovetails on such pieces as the blanket chest need to be more equal. Thank you. Most helpful.

Terry
 
The post millcrek referred to can be read here http://pegsandtails.wordpress.com/2013/02/18/drawer-front-dovetail-evolution/ (thanks Tom).

I agree, when it comes to boxes with through dovetails, evenly spaced tails and lands would be optimal in terms of moisture equilibrium, however, the only evenly spaced dovetails one sees in eighteenth-century work appears to have been executed by rank amateurs. I can't remember having ever seen any dovetailed boxes, coffers or mule chests, made by an eighteenth-century cabinetmaker, in which the tails didn't predominate.
 

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Thanks to all for taking the time to respond. From the pictures the tails dominate or, as I see it, the smaller pins stand out but in all cases they are consistently spaced. You have all been most helpful. Now on to the project.

Terry
 
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