Why "through" dovetails on the back or drawers

[Larry Palanuk]

I was reading a dovetail jig review when I came across this statement: "When making drawers, I typically use half-blind dovetails to join the sides to the front, and through dovetails to join the sides to the back."

What is the advantage to this? I have always used half-blind all the way around.

[Paul Saffold]

When cutting them by hand, it is quicker to do a through dovetail. If you are cutting them with a router and jig I suspect it won't affect the speed. I don't know this for sure as I've only done them by hand.

[Stephen Cherry]

Maybe a little thinner material also.

[Mike Henderson]

You pretty much have to use half blind dovetails on the front of drawers - otherwise, the dovetails show from the front which most people find distracting. At the rear, there's a couple of reasons for using through dovetails:

1. The material for the back of drawers is usually thin compared to the drawer front so your dovetails will be small if you use half blind.

2. Half blind dovetails usually take a bit longer than through dovetails (to make) because they require more chiseling.

3. The back of the drawer doesn't get seen very often so the fact that one side of the dovetails is hidden doesn't matter.

Our ancestors were practical people, making furniture for a living. Through dovetails are faster so they put them at the back of drawers because there was no advantage to half blinds.

Mike

[Carl Beckett]

Our ancestors were practical people



Clearly you havent met some of my ancestors...... but thats another thread, and not woodworking related at all..... ;)

[Robert LaPlaca]

You pretty much have to use half blind dovetails on the front of drawers - otherwise, the dovetails show from the front which most people find distracting. At the rear, there's a couple of reasons for using through dovetails:

1. The material for the back of drawers is usually thin compared to the drawer front so your dovetails will be small if you use half blind.

2. Half blind dovetails usually take a bit longer than through dovetails (to make) because they require more chiseling.

3. The back of the drawer doesn't get seen very often so the fact that one side of the dovetails is hidden doesn't matter.

Our ancestors were practical people, making furniture for a living. Through dovetails are faster so they put them at the back of drawers because there was no advantage to half blinds.

Mike

Plus 1, what Mike stated..

[Kent A Bathurst]

At my spot on the time-space continuum:

1] I invariably put some kind of stop on the drawer, so it cannot be pulled all the way out of the case by accident. Favorite version-du-jour is a rotating key on the inside back of the drawer.
2] The drawer will likely go decades, if not generations or eons, without anyone bothering to remove the drawer. Assuming they even remember how.
3] Ergo, the joinery on the back will likely never be seen
4] Which, finally, gets me to my point: My hand-cut through dovetails are much, much, faster than half-blind, since I know they will never be seen. Fire up the dovetail saw, get a mortise chisel and the large hammer, and go get 'em. ;)

[Brian Tymchak]

IMHO, If the drawer is going to get a lot of use, and maybe carry a fair amount of weight, (I'm thinking of the everyday over-loaded flatware drawer in the kitchen with 3 kids in the house) I could see through DTs (tails pointing back) as a bit stronger mechanically than the half blinds. With low or well-mannered use, I see it just as an aesethics thing, or it comes down to time spent milling the joints. I would agree that if you are hand cutting them, through DTs would be faster. If you are using a router/jig, use the same set-up all around the drawer.

[Larry Palanuk]

Ok, thanks for all the input foks. Looks like I am not missing anything crucial by using half blinds all around. I was wondering if there was maybe an assembly advantage or something.

[Chris Rosenberger]

Ok, thanks for all the input foks. Looks like I am not missing anything crucial by using half blinds all around. I was wondering if there was maybe an assembly advantage or something.

As others have said, if cutting DTs by hand, I can see the advantage of doing TDTs on the back corners .

That said, I have been doing HB DTs on all corners of drawers for over 30 years using DT jigs. I have not had any call backs on them.