Best Adhesive And Filler For Fixing Old Dovetails?

fit the crevices. You'd have to do trim the excess glue when done.

Please explain your comment "If that didn't work".

If you were doing this, what exactly would be your plan to see if epoxy "worked" and then move on to Gorilla-type glue if it didn't?

Any "woodworker" could/would tell immediately...and go to the construction details on seeing the piece for the first time just to observe how were done. "It's what we do!" :)

The epoxy/resin glue does essentially as much damage to the value of the piece as the screw would.

I was/am presuming this is _NOT_ DD's piece; that it is part of the previous piece he was asked to repair by someone else. His objective (and imo obligation to the owner) is to do as little irreversible as possible.

If the owner of the piece is ok with "whatever", that's something else again, but if it appeared to me the piece had any real value at all, I'd have to have direct orders to resort to such and would probably decline.

This is, after all, the 'rec.WOODWORKING' group; working wood with some skill and precision would be kinda' the goal. Even developing some new skills/techniques would seem useful.

On 2/24/2019 11:07 AM, dpb wrote: ...

Sorry picture w/ cell phone but...

The bottom you can see I replaced entirely because the soft pine had worn down so badly over the years the drawers would barely function at all...doesn't look like those are so badly worn.

The gap showing in the drawer at bottom is the groove for drawer bottom; they were cut through. You can see the material added to the bottom of the third pin.

I didn't take exquisite care here but the fit wasn't much better than yours when I started...now they are tight, no nails, no epoxy, no filler...

It's somewhat tedious hand work but really not _that_ difficult.

On 2/25/2019 5:14 PM, dpb wrote: ...

But I can assure you'll have a _great_ feeling of reward/accomplishment when done! :)

Might I suggest stabilizing/locking the joint by drilling up from the bottom and inserting/gluing a 1/4" (?) dowel in each corner? Even a drill point screw might work with a proper pilot hole (may have to work from the top as well). Once stabilized you could work with shims/epoxy/filler of your choice to pretty up the appearance... Unless of course, I am missing the entire point of the thread (which I have been known to do ;)

I don't think that you are missing the point of the thread - which is to repair a drawer - but considering that I've barely got 5/16" of material to work with, there's not much that I could "insert" into the joint.

Nothing more than a finishing nail - and like I said before, you better pre-drill even that.

Give it up. There won't be anything other than some type of adhesive and possibly some wood if I decide to add veneer to the dovetail pins.

Sorry, didn't realize the drawer components were so thin...As someone else mentioned, scale down the reinforcing "pin" accordingly...

On 2/26/2019 10:31 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote: ...

Don't try to "shim"; apply more than you need and recut/shape the pin to fit its socket.

I've already started building this jig to help me reshape the pin.

On 2/27/2019 11:51 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote: ...

Good; you're going to need it!

I was just commenting that it's much easier to trim/pare back to line with a little extra material to work with than it is to try to manufacture a tiny little sliver to fit the necessary space...and the added piece is then also much less likely to fracture into dust while you're doing the trimming.

_Sharp_ is the key, of course.

On 2/25/2019 5:14 PM, dpb wrote: ...

Actually, the recollection now arises (it's been 10+ yr now) that the sides had worn to the point the groove for bottom panels had morphed into a rabbet as there was so little material left the bottom edge had broken off, dropping the bottoms out of the drawers...hence my using the oak for the new pieces.

There is virtually no wear on the drawers. Here's the drawer itself...

...and here's the desk:

Note the thumbtacks(?) that were used as glides. Original? Don't know, but I'll bet they helped keep the bottom of the drawer sides from wearing.

I also found that all of the center rails were screwed in at the front but floating at the rear - although they all had nail holes at the rear. Just as a test, I tried putting a tack at the rear of a couple of the rails, making sure I hit the original hole in the carcass of the desk, but all that did was make the drawers bind. They are back to floating and the drawers work as smooth as can be. At least they do while empty, I haven't tried them loaded.

Back to the drawers: If you look closely you'll see that the bottom of the back panel is beveled to allow for easier insertion into the carcass. That's a nice touch.

Those "buttons" were fairly common but I've not seen a source for them in years...I'd be pretty certain they are original. They're heavier than just a thumbtack head but very similar and your presumption on purpose and effect is spot on...

The angled rear reduces drag quite a bit and ensures don't hit any catches at the rear cross rail joints if the move just a little. Indeed a nice touch but not totally unique ime; I've seen similar before.

All it takes is the tiniest of movement to throw the carcase or drawer out of square or not get them _quite_ aligned and pinning the slide can easily cause the binding symptom. Need to be able to have the drawer in place and locate the neutral position for the slide and then pin it there to avoid. Leaving free if the slide fits the matching groove reasonably well and the drawer pockets are snug enough the drawer doesn't get off-kilter is the simple expedient...looks like started out pinned and somebody took them out at some point...

While I had the back open, I played with the slides a bit and have decided to agree with whoever decided to take the pins out.

Speaking of having the back off, take a look at this thread when you have a chance. That thread is about the back panels of this piece. Another curiosity on my part.

Back Panels On Desk - Cutting Error, Modification or Design Feature?

That construction looks so very very much like a maple " childs / youths" ? desk that we had until recently ! Ours, no doubt, was passed along through many families - serving us < and them all > very well. The glide buttons seem original - the only modern replacements that I've seen are "plastic" - I would not recommend them.

Often - for sticky drawers - once the structural issues have been addressed - a light sanding or steel wool rub - - to clean the years of grunge - of all the gliide surfaces - followed by some teak oil or similar - will do wonders ! John T.

Could be...

Steel drawer tacks are still available:

Not needed in this case, but good advice.

How deep are the drawers compared to how deep the carcass cavity is? If t here is some carcass space (1"?) at the rear, maybe there were vertical boa rds along the back (side) edges, that the back panel attached to, rather th an their attaching to the sides of the carcass. I don't see any nail/scre w holes to support this idea, but maybe the vertical board attachment evide nce are somewhere unseen in your pic.

Sonny