Questions on accounting for seasonal movement in table

[Scott DelPorte]

I am in the process of building a cherry end table with two drawers. Over the winter, I built a prototype out of pine to see what it would look like, and to figure out a few things about how to build and mount the drawers. On the pine prototype, I used sliding dovetails, but glued them the length of the joint, so there is 7.25 inches of cross grain (on the back and sides) glued into a dovetail slot to the long grain on the leg. When I mounted the drawer slides, I inletted them into the legs, and then glued and screwed them to the sides. They aren't going to move, but I am now thinking that might be a problem if the humidity changes much. Someone commented that that much width might make create problems due to typical New England seasonal movement, so I tried to take it into account with the cherry one I am building now.

So on this one, I am still using sliding dovetails to fit the sides, back, and front stiles to the legs. However, on the sides and back, I only glued the top 3 inches of the 7.25 inch dovetail. I also left room at the bottom of the slot for the sides and back to expand and contract. Even though the whole dovetail is not glued, it seems plenty strong.

Then, when I mounted the slides, I inletted them to the legs, and then glued and screwed them to the legs only. This allows the sides to expand/contract beneath the slides, and makes sure the slides are always aligned with the stiles. The geometry of all the joinery is such that the drawers hold the slides in place even if there was no glue or screws, so I am thinking it will be strong enough.

Heres a couple pictures showing how it is going together. I keep wondering how the originals were put together such that they held up so well, and is there a better way to do this. Please share your thoughts on this.

Thanks
Scott

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