New way to secure dovetails...NOT!!!

[Troy Turner]

We picked this up at an antique store this weekend. It's made by Ballman-Cummings Furn Co Ft Smith Ark.

Well, I get it to the shop and start going through it. So you all know that special place for people that repair chairs with nails, there needs to be a place next door for people who repair drawers with nails.

Instead of trying to reglue the dovetails back together, they decided to nail them together. I know not everyone knows how to repair stuff properly, but dang...really?!? These were just in three of the five drawers.

I'll have some more questions and pics later, but after pulling the nails, I decided to close up shop for the night.

242991242992242993

[Peter Quinn]

I have a repair in my shop now where somebody sured up the tenons on a little splayed leg writing desk with sheet rock screws. Rusty, black sheet rock screws. Really nice work. I'd have preferred nails I think, though the screws come out rather easily.

[Larry Edgerton]

Thats not at all uncommon with the highly overrated dovetail joint, in fact nails in old dovetail drawers is probably more common than not. I have moved away from dovetails unless requested. I get better service out of the lowly box joint.

Larry

[Troy Turner]

Least with the screws, you had something to work with :) Some of the nails I had to whittle away around the edges just to get something underneath to pry them out. Others back themselves out as I would knock the pieces apart. Course, I don't have a screw sized hole to fix either ;)

We've refurb'd a few pieces in the past and yeah, there were nails in places there shouldn't have been, but this is the first time I've seen any, let alone that many, in a DT joint.

[John Coloccia]

You should see what I have deal with on some of the guitar repairs I do. I should start adding those to the repair blog section of my website. I'm working on one right now where the neck separated (from putting steel strings on a classical guitar) and they tried to glue it back together with what looks like ambroid glue. What a mess. I have another with a similar condition, except they used glue AND a metal strap. I haven't seen one with nails in it yet, though I have to think it's out there somewhere.