Sliding dovetails

R

rockinrolly

Active member
How are sliding dovetails made without a router?  What tools are used?  And what is the proper way to taper the joint parts.
 
A sliding dovetail of any length was not typically done in period furniture. What are you trying to do?
 
rockinrolly said:
How are sliding dovetails made without a router?  What tools are used?  And what is the proper way to taper the joint parts.
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A back-saw, chisel and old woman's tooth are the traditional tools for forming (the female) sliding dovetail. There is no set taper as carcase depths varied widely. 1/32" to 1/16" over the depth of a carcase works well.
 
msiemsen said:
A sliding dovetail of any length was not typically done in period furniture. What are you trying to do?
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I beg to differ. Sliding dovetails were well known to eighteenth-century cabinetmakers. For example, they were employed to attach chest-of-drawers carcase sides to solid wood carcase tops.
 
Cut a 1" or taller 1 1/2" board to your dovetail angle if you are not sure of your hand sawed case side angle. You can use this board (clamped to the case) as a reference to get the exact angle across the case side paring with a chisel. You can find an old Stanley hand router plane (modern old woman's tooth) at a reasonable price. Please remember to only cut an angle on the bottom ( or just one side ) side of your slideing dovetail for easy adjustment. Slide in from the back towards the front.
 
I just completed a Boston Block Front Chest. I hand cut all the dovetails of the drawers but used the router (electric) to perform the dovetailed joinery of the drawer blades and sliding dovetails that attach the top to the carcass sides. In my quest to learn how they constructed these pieces 200+ years ago I haven't a clue how they did it. I can picture Jeff's explanation of cutting the half dovetails of the carcass side, but what about the top?
 
It is much easier to execute a sliding dovetail with an angle on one side and flat on the other as long as it is hidden. I copied a Winchester Virginia serpentine front chest with a sliding dovetails on the top of the case side to hold the top on. The out side joint has a very vulnerable edge. Too close to the edge for me. But with 200 years who am I to question. If you are not living on the edge then you are taking up to much room!
 
Another example of where sliding dovetails are used: Six were employed to make this kneehole desk... http://pegsandtails.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/giiimkhd_190412_01a.jpg (although in this example, I have already lipped the front edges of the carcase, hiding the said sliding dovetails).
 
Two for the vertical drawer divider, two where the long top drawer divider meets the outer pedestal sides and two where the inner pedestal sides join the long divider.
 
Are you talking about a sliding dovetail that runs the width of the case side?  Or just the means of securing the drawer blade to the case side, ie a short sliding dovetail that only runs about an inch or so?  This would be the more typical usage in my experience.  These short dovetails can be cut with a dovetail saw and chiseled out in the same manner as an half blind dovetail.  A longer dovetail cavity that could not be sawn and chiseled in this manner would be time consuming to make.  I would imagine most period makers would have opted for a straight dado unless it was necessary to the structure of the piece.  Most of the sliding dovetails you see on the fronts of cases do not run the entire width of the case side. 
Rob
 
The sliding dovetails I was inquiring about are those that are cut to secure the top to the carcass sides.  I just completed a Boston Block Front.  I used a electric router to create the sliding dovetails (actually only one side is dovetailed which faces the interior if that makes sense). Anyhow, I was wanting to learn how to accomplish the same result with hand tools.
 
Hand Router Plane or witch's tooth and a cabinet saw with an angled board as a reference if needed
 

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Sliding dovetails also work for leg and post construction for bird cage tilt top tables and Dining table pedestal bases. Consider a metal spider as reinforcement.
 
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