Dovetail joints through bridle joints ?

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

So I had some narrow stock kicking around, and made a couple of bridle-jointed frames the other day on a whim. I felt like I needed some practice sawing tenons, and figured doing bridle joints would give me twice the sawing practice. I think the muscle memory has kicked back in and I'm where I want to be again, after cutting 8 joints. I remembered I hate sawing these types of cuts in pine, and that in anything this soft, I can probably make a mortise and tenon much quicker than a bridle joint.

Anyway, now I have these two frames kicking around - squarish, basically a couple of frame and panel sans panel. I draw-bored the joints, and learned that if you're trying to pull the piece together in two directions with draw-boring, that one of the directions to offset is not what you think it is at first . . .

So yeah, it occurs to me that for some quick shop storage I need, I could put these practice pieces to use. Basically, I'd like to make a boxish thing, and use these frames as the side. Don't need anything closed in, just attached. Going to put tack some runners on these frames for a couple of trays with sockets to slide on. I could just nail some strips to the bottom and be done, but why not play around some. I'm thinking I'll cut some stretchers to length and add a dovetail to each end. Basically a half lap joint with a bit of splay.

Can I sink these tails into the existing bridle joint without disaster, or should I move them backwards into the stock of the frames?

[Brian Holcombe]

Pictures please :)

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Basically, I've got two frames made with these joints: 313778

I want to space them from each other like this: (with two on the top, two on the bottom)
313780

The top piece in the previous picture, I was thinking of attaching like this:
313781

But I wonder if that half-lap joint can be made through the bridle joint (so it's flush with the ends) or if I should space it out into the middle of the frame, so it's in the main part of the rail, and not going through the existing joint.

[Brian Holcombe]

Even if it works, I think it will look poorly planned. Moving it to the middle will look quite nice.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Yeah, that was kind of my gut reaction, too. The whole thing will look poorly planned - because it wasn't. (I mean, god, look at the knots in the stock I chose - this is getting painted for sure.) It's one of those, I was fooling around in the shop because I didn't have any projects and then realized this might be useful. It's a little undersized, but I'm just trying to get the decent socket set my dad bought me out of the *huge* blow-molded case and make some room on the shop shelves.

Either way, off to play with saws some more. I need some cash so I can get some decent wood and do something worthwhile. Maybe after the next house project ...

[Brian Holcombe]

Nah, it'll look good when complete. I go through some planning efforts for shop benches and such, but really anything else shop related gets the basics and then go right to work.

[Jim Matthews]

I used a similar layout on the stretchers to my outside picnic table. Its a better choice on the bottom where splay forces tighten the joint.

[John Schtrumpf]

Dovetail joints through bridle joints ?

I want to space them from each other like this: (with two on the top, two on the bottom)
313780

The way you have it laid out in that picture with the tail on the cross piece, pins in the bridle joint stile. I would have no problem doing, but I would make these two minor adjustments:

1) the cross piece would be the same width as the stiles of the frame (it looks wider in the picture).

2) I would make the tail narrower (or use 2 smaller tails), so that it closer to a 1/3 width used for the tail and 2/3 width for the pins (1/3 each pin).