Andrew Pitonyak
02-09-2016, 3:21 PM
My stock was flat and square.... and then I cut the boards to size for my drawers and they were still square. I did not test again for flat, but they sure looked flat.
I then created hand cut dovetails, cut a groove, cut a piece of plywood for the base, slammed it in, glued it up, and never checked it for square. I have never had a drawer that was not square doing this. Well, I managed to create a parallelogram. No idea why I did not check it for square. Wait, I know why, I am obviously lazy and not very smart.
I probably did not check the base to be sure it was square. i intend to cut this thing apart to see what I can figure out. I should have tested for square. I did not notice until I went to put it on the wood runners and the left side was set back about 1/2". The sides are very much parallel, or at least they fit without significant clearance and no rubbing. So, over a bit over 16" it is out about 1/2" so, that is roughly 1/32" for each inch.
The optimist in me says that I get more experience with hand cut dovetails.
The pessimist in me says that it will take less time to plane, cut, and prepare my mahogany drawer fronts (ignoring applying finish). I am trying to decide if I want to use Waterlox or shellac. i can obtain a similar finish with both but the Waterlox is more work and I think that it looks a little nicer.
I then created hand cut dovetails, cut a groove, cut a piece of plywood for the base, slammed it in, glued it up, and never checked it for square. I have never had a drawer that was not square doing this. Well, I managed to create a parallelogram. No idea why I did not check it for square. Wait, I know why, I am obviously lazy and not very smart.
I probably did not check the base to be sure it was square. i intend to cut this thing apart to see what I can figure out. I should have tested for square. I did not notice until I went to put it on the wood runners and the left side was set back about 1/2". The sides are very much parallel, or at least they fit without significant clearance and no rubbing. So, over a bit over 16" it is out about 1/2" so, that is roughly 1/32" for each inch.
The optimist in me says that I get more experience with hand cut dovetails.
The pessimist in me says that it will take less time to plane, cut, and prepare my mahogany drawer fronts (ignoring applying finish). I am trying to decide if I want to use Waterlox or shellac. i can obtain a similar finish with both but the Waterlox is more work and I think that it looks a little nicer.