Carcass construction joinery question...

[jamie shard]

I'm working on a small desk valet -- a small set of shelves for my dresser, for wallet, keys, etc. The hardest thing for me to figure out is what sort of joinery I can use for the bottom board, given the other joints I want to use. Any suggestions? 258336

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

What about rabbeting the lower board around the bottom, and making a dado in the sides and back to accept that board? Or raising the the lower board in relation to the bottom of the dovetailed boards and attaching it in a similar fashion to the top board?

[Mark Dorman]

Depending on where your end grain is I guess I would do your dovetails on the bottom and cut rebates in the back.

[jamie shard]

Oh, maybe half blinds for the bottom board (!) ? That would give me the mechanical strength and still hide the end grain. Hmm...

[Steve Q Brown]

I'd use half-blind dovetails there, and the project sounds like one that could be amenable to one learning or practicing the technique. Of course, I don't know your credentials heretofore, but I haven't met many craftsmen who wouldn't appreciate a practical opportunity to hone their skills in this regard.

[Mike Henderson]

I'd use half-blind dovetails there, and the project sounds like one that could be amenable to one learning or practicing the technique. Of course, I don't know your credentials heretofore, but I haven't met many craftsmen who wouldn't appreciate a practical opportunity to hone their skills in this regard.
+1 Half blind dovetails will be strong and you won't be able to see them. So if you make mistakes, they'll still be strong but people won't see the gaps.

Mike

[Jack Curtis]

Half blinds would be fine, but it might be fun to treat the shelves as blades and do short sliding dovetails.

[Jim Koepke]

If you want the bottom shelf to be the bottom of the unit, then the half blind dovetails would be one of the better solutions.

Another solution would be to trim the ends of the shelf to be a tenon in a mortise (AKA stopped dado). You would want the tenon off center so the top plane of the shelf is untouched and the bottom side is cut to about half the thickness of the shelf. This will leave enough wood below the mortise to not blow out when putting this together.

Amazingly, the best way to hide the joinery on a shelf seems to be to open it up as in the picture below.

258343

just a simple 1/4 round on the corner done with a block plane or chisel.

jtk

[jamie shard]

Thanks all! I had been pondering this for a while and finally said, heck, draw a picture and post it and see what feedback you get. And it's ironic that I realized the answer within a few minutes of doing so! >forehead smack!< :D I'm going to work on a more detailed drawing now... Yes, this is going to be my first small cabinet piece and will be an opportunity to practice all of these joinery techniques in hardwood for the first time. I'm finally leaving the shop (making bench, storage shelves, etc) and entering the home (this small cabinet)! Expect joys and sorrows to ensue :)

[jamie shard]

Jim and Jack, the carcass will have a few shelf blades as well... I'm actually going to try to make it in a design similar to secretary/fall front pigeon holes/drawers, but we'll see if I change my mind along the way. In theory, I want to do dado with sliding dovetails at the front, but I may incorporate your technique Jim, simple and effective, thanks!

[jamie shard]

308428
Looking for more joinery advice... here's a more detailed version of the carcass of the desk valet. I plan to build it out of quartersawn white oak. (The lumber looks great!)

I'm VERY curious what joinery folks would recommend for assembling.

I was thinking that that A-C and C-a would be secret miters, to wrap the grain of the wood around the outside of the carcass.

I originally though A-G and G-a would be half blinds... but if I use secret miters on the outside, the half blinds will now be cross grain. Heck, I don't think there is a way to avoid cross grain due to the design...

So any advice on what joinery to use (or minor redesigns) that would remove/minimize/accomodate cross grain construction?

-jamie

[lowell holmes]

I would probably go with mortise and loose tenon joinery.