Question About Dovetail Jigs

[Leon]

As a P.S. here, I cut the rabbets on the sides about 3/16" deep and or about 1/3 the thickness of the wood.

[Leon]

No, because 98% of the cabinets that I build have the door outside the face frame. The drawers fronts are also outside the face frames. The 1/2" thick drawer box front does not go past the back side of hte 3/4" thick face frame.

That is correct. However this is much slower to do and if you are doing this for a living it cuts into the profit so to speak. Don't get me wrong here though. If my drawer ever comes apart I fix it no questions asked. I did my kitchen this way in 1990 and the drawers hare holding up just fine. Occassionally I use my kitchen to show a client and they want their drawers done this way also. Most factory prefab cabinets that most builders use these days simply do not hold up. Aslo, and this does happen, if the customer decides to change the style of the kitchen doors and drawers, I do no have to charge for rebuilding the drawers again.

Are you talking about inset Dove Tails, Dove Tails that are not flush with the drawer front? I can post a pic of a night end table with that joint if you like.

[D. J. Dorn]

I think I understand what you are saying - the back of the drawer front is completely flush with the face frame on cabinets - therefore, the real 1/2" drawer front is flush with front of the cabinets minus the face frame.

That makes sense - never thought of that. How do you attach the false front to the 1/2" front so securly to hold up over 15 years?

Yes, that's what I'm talking about - sure, I'd like to see the pic. BTW - when I see your name on a post, I generally open it because you're a great resource of info here - thanks for that.

Don

[Leon]

Yes. The drawer storage area extends into the back of the face frame 1/4".

I use a minimum of 4, 1-1/8" long pocket hole STYLE screws from the inside of the drawer into the back of the decorative drawer front. Easier said that done. In real life aligning the face and attaching is difficult unless you know the trick. Typically you want to attach the drawer front to line up with a cabinet door below it. To do this the drawer must be closed so that you can use a straight edge along side the lower cabinet door to align the drawer front from side to side. I place a block of wood behind the drawer so that the front of the drawer box remains flush with the face frame and not push back farther into cabinet. I put in the 4 screws from the inside of the drawer box until the points of the screws just come through the front side of the drawer box. I then align the decorative drawer front and press it firmly against the drawer box and the 4 screw points. This gives me indexing locations so that I know where to mount the decorative drawer front with the drawer open. I open the drawer and realign the decorative drawer front with the screw points and drive the screws all the way into the decorative front. I prefer to use self tapping screws with larger washer heads similar to pocket hole screws.

Thank you Don. I posted a picture of a walnut night stand with the inset, rabbeted dovetails on a.b.p.w.

[George]

Try it with some hot glue to tack the front to the drawer. Works a treat.

Clamp a straight edge below and mark your references on the scrap for centering. Pan head machine screws work well.

[Leon]

I may try that on the next job. I have often thought of using hot melt glue but always thought that the glue would create a gap between the drawer box and the decorative front.

The reason that I use pocket hole "Style" screws is to insure that the screw threads are no longer in contact with the 1/2" front of the drawer box. The smooth shank on the head end of the screw will let the drawer box snug up tight against the decorative drawer front. If the threads are in contact with the drawer box there is normally a gap between the two and I end up having to unscrew and replace the screw several times.

[G.E.R.R.Y.]

Sorry for sounding dense, but I'm having trouble visualising where you would use those screws. Do you mean just the screws or actual pocket holes? In either case, where do they go?

Gerry

[Leon]

No pocket holes, just pocket hole STYLE screws. They are self tapping, have a large washer head and are 1-1/8" long. The screws go through the front of the drawer box "from the inside" to the outside and screw into the Decorative drawer front. If the screws were longer, they would come through the front surface of the decorative drawer front. Think of how drawer knobs and pulls are mounted and the direction that the screws point.

[George]

I bore the holes in advance, and of course, they're larger than the threads. That way I can also do them on the DP where they're square to the surface.

Glue's on the edge, where it peels. Though I suppose doublestick would work between, I've not used it.

[Brian]

Here's a nice one:

Brian.

[JLucas ILS]

some good questions. Go to

- use internal google to get your answers