Do I need to glue dovetails that are VERY VERY TIGHT ?

[Mark Valsi]

I just finished the joinery on my latest humidor. THe DoveTails are so tight that I had to use a hammer to get them to fit.

Do I need to glue the joints or not ??

Thanks in advacne

[Ed Looney]

Yes glue them.

Ed

[Andrew Hughes]

Its best to have some glue.You may want to pare the pins down a little to make room for the glue.

[geoff wood]

i would use epoxy, not wood glue. wood glue is water base and will swell the wood slightly... the epoxy will act more like grease.

[gary Zimmel]

Mark. If I have a joint that is a little tight I use a clamp to make sure it will not split.
I don't test fit my dovetails as most are pretty tight and taking them apart would most likely do some damage. Glue is always used.

196374


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[geoff wood]

if you are having trouble taking them apart in the test-fit put the dovetail side face down on top of a thick book on your bench and tap down with a deadblow hammer, it'll shake them apart. clamps as a spreader works as well but when you are fitting a drawer-bottom as well, you can't get the clamp on the other side. i dont like to test fit dovetails, but if i think i have to i try to do it only once because they start getting less crisp the more you fit them.

[David Keller NC]

While it is true that tight-fitting dovetails on a drawer would not need any glue to keep them from being pulled apart in the direction that the drawer is used (i.e., pulled and pushed), it's also true that dovetails use mechanical action to keep them together in only one direction. On a box where all four corners are exposed and forces will be exerted in all directions, the pins would likely come out of the tail boards eventually, particularly after a few humidity swings loosen them up a bit. There's a way to do this without any glue - you can drill a hole down perpendicular to the corner joint and drive in a pin (George posted a picture of this sometime back).