Stock too thin for dovetail jig

[David Tolsky]

Although I typically use a dovetail jig to make my boxes, a few of the boxes ended up thinner than 1/2". For these boxes I decided on rabbet joints where the sides will fit in to the front and back. After glue-up however I don't trust these joints to be as strong as dovetails so I want to drill holes and insert decorative wooden or brass pins for reinforcement. I don't have experience with plug cutters and not sure if I can cut the right size little dowels with them. What do you suggest, and what is a good source for brass pins if I decide to go that rout. Also, if I went with dowels, I would not want the end grain but the surface grain. Any suggestions?

[Bradley Gray]

Make some trunnels - wooden nails if you split them from the same wood you drive them into they won't split.

drill an 3/32 - 1/8" hole, crosscut a 1" length of scrap from the boxes and split out the trunnels with a chisel (hold against the edge of a bench to shape the ends)

[Lee Schierer]

I don't think a surface grain dowel is going to add any strength to your joint. You could use regular dowels and leave them just below the surface that shows and cap the holes with a face grain plug. For the future a locking rabbet joint is nearly as strong as dovetails in thin boards. 333817

[keith wootton]

i was inspired by greene and greene furniture to use brass screws that i filed the slots off after driving. worked but had problems with cheap screws breaking. find good quality screws and experiment on scrap before committing to your project.

nearly tossed my project in the recycle bin in frustration. i finally resorted to 1/8" dowel rod to pin some of the decorative box joints. nobody who sees the completed lap desk notices anything amiss.

keith

[Lee Schierer]

worked but had problems with cheap screws breaking. find good quality screws and experiment on scrap before committing to your project.

Brass screws are pretty soft and break easily no matter who made them. It helps when driving them into hardwood to drill properly sized pilot holes and lubricate the threads with beeswax. If possible, drive in the same size steel screw first. Don't use soap as it can stain your wood. The beeswax rubbed on the threads will make the screws drive in with far less effort and less breakage, it also works wonders on steel screws.

[David Tolsky]

333825333826Excellent suggestions guys, thanks very much! Never thought to make locking rabbet joints. Do you cut them with a router? please explain how to achieve perfect interlocking rabbet joints. My rabbets currently look like this.

[Richard Young]

I built drawers for two full kitchens with 1/2" soft maple sides using the locking rabbit joint that Lee shows above over 20 years ago and not a single joint failed, both kitchens still going strong. Easily done on my Unisaw with a flat top ripping blade to make a flat bottom dado.

[David Tolsky]

I built drawers for two full kitchens with 1/2" soft maple sides using the locking rabbit joint that Lee shows above over 20 years ago and not a single joint failed, both kitchens still going strong. Easily done on my Unisaw with a flat top ripping blade to make a flat bottom dado.

There's got to be a way to make sure the male piece fits into the female piece perfectly snug right? Or can you cut both adjoining pieces at the same time somehow? Previous diagram looks like a table saw jig of some kind. Keith, I bought a couple of 1/4" pine dowels as a fail safe :rolleyes:

[Jim Dwight]

My most common material for dovetailed drawers is 1/2 Baltic birch plywood. It is a little under 1/2 thick. It dovetails fine with a jig like this, however:

http://www.harborfreight.com/dovetail-machine-34102.html

The bar at the back is the key. It limits how far into the front piece the router bit cuts. You probably can't go much under 1/2 but I don't know what the practical minimum is. If you stock is close, in other words, you may be able to dovetail.

I use the above jig but I use a template guide from Grizzly. The HF template guide is for 1/2 inch spacing and is cast (at least mine is). My Grizzly template guide is the 7/16 spacing I wanted and machined. Even with the added template guide it is inexpensive and mostly metal - quite sturdy. If you get one, search online for the instructions. What you get from HF isn't very useful.

[Jon Nuckles]

I pinned some rabbetted drawers using brass rod stock that I bought at Menards IIRC. They are small drawers, but they are still tight after several years.