How to make dado for drawer bottom when using through dovetails

[Matthew Curtis]

I want to make a drawer for a cabinet using through dovetails. How do I cut a dado for the bottom without making the dado visible on the side and the front? A locking miter or a half-blind dovetail would hid this, but not with through dovetails.

[John TenEyck]

Put the dado on the sides so it doesn't fall on a tail, and use a stopped dado on the front. Won't show.

John

[Cody Colston]

Put the dado on the sides so it doesn't fall on a tail, and use a stopped dado on the front. Won't show.

John

Or vice-versa.

[Charles Lent]

I use small diameter box bottom rabbeting bits from Lee Valley. With the desired bit in my router table and set for the correct height I dry assemble the box and set it over the bit, then just move it around to cut the slot in all of the box sides. This keeps from cutting out through the box and there's no need to position the dovetail for the box bottom. A slight rounding of the box bottom corners is all that is necessary before glue-up to make them fit perfectly.

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?cat=1,46168,46176&p=47818

Charley

[Steve Wilde]

I just did this with a dresser I finished the other day. I cut the dovetails first and then cut the dado using a Whiteside bit that is designed for 1/4" plywood, undersized of course. I set it up in my router table and made marks on my fence for the ends of the cuts and made sure I didn't cut through the dovetails, easy peasy....

[Bob Vaughan]

If using a dovetail jig that makes the dovetails 7/8" on center, keep the drawer size in increments of 7/8" starting at 2-1/2" and go up from there. That assumes the drawer bottom groove will be 1/4" and there's 1/4" below that.

[Prashun Patel]

You have to use stopped dados.

[Alan Schwabacher]

1. Glue on drawer slips instead of cutting grooves in sides and front. This allows thinner sides as well.
2. Use the Lee Valley router bit to cut stopped grooves in the drawer while it's dry-fit without the bottom.
3. Why would you want to do that?

[Charles Lent]

Why would I want to do that? Because it's very fast and accurate to make stopped dado joints in all four box sides regardless of where the slot falls on the dovetails or box joints. The small diameter leaves a curved dado in the corners that can be chiseled square, but it's easier to just round the corners of the box bottom or top to fit. The small diameter of these bits allows these corners to be completely within the box corner. A regular slotting bit can cut these dado slots the same way, but their large diameter will prevent them from cutting into the corners as well and chiseling will be necessary. I find that using these bits is a much faster and easier way to cut dado joints for box bottoms and tops that don't require a second step to get right, and there's no chance of the dado cut breaking out through the end as sometimes happens with conventional stopped dado cutting if you miss your start or stop mark.

Charley

[Pat Barry]

Since you want the through dovetails, not the half blind it takes a bit more planning work to ensure the dados end up in the right locations. Therefore you will need to plan out your dovetail layout to ensure you hit the right place on the fronts but the sides are going to need either: stopped dados or visible dados or plugged dados - your choice.

[Glenn de Souza]

I use small diameter box bottom rabbeting bits from Lee Valley. With the desired bit in my router table and set for the correct height I dry assemble the box and set it over the bit, then just move it around to cut the slot in all of the box sides. This keeps from cutting out through the box and there's no need to position the dovetail for the box bottom. A slight rounding of the box bottom corners is all that is necessary before glue-up to make them fit perfectly.

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?cat=1,46168,46176&p=47818

Charley

Thanks for this idea. That's a novel way to make a groove in a dovetail or box joint drawer. Yes it would be very quick to round over or dog ear the bottom conform to the rounded groove corner. I guess the only issue might be the time involved in dry assembling for routing and then dis-assembling each drawer for glue up. If it were a lot of drawers, taking the time to set up stopped dados on the router table might be more time efficient.

I know some people who rabbet the bottom of a drawer after it is assembled and just glue in the drawer bottom. Then again there are other who would hear this and it would make their skin crawl.

[Matt Radtke]

Another option is differently thicknessed tails.

Layout your baselines on your tail piece. Now plow your groves so it will fall on a tail. Do all your stock. Saw your tails and chisel out the waste. Using a chisel and/or router plane, thin the dado catching tail until the dado disappears.

Using you tail board, mark the full size pins on your pin board. Remove the waste normally. Once the full-sized tails fit correctly, start to assemble your joint/box corner. Eventually, your thin tail will hit the pin board. Mark normally. Mark a second baseline for the shallow socket that will match the thin tail. Remove the waste normally. Finish assembling the joint.

Ta-da, the dado is hidden. No holes to plug. You might be able to see what I'm talking about in the snaps of a tool tote I made several years ago.

335294335295

[Pat Barry]

Another option is differently thicknessed tails.

Layout your baselines on your tail piece. Now plow your groves so it will fall on a tail. Do all your stock. Saw your tails and chisel out the waste. Using a chisel and/or router plane, thin the dado catching tail until the dado disappears.

Using you tail board, mark the full size pins on your pin board. Remove the waste normally. Once the full-sized tails fit correctly, start to assemble your joint/box corner. Eventually, your thin tail will hit the pin board. Mark normally. Mark a second baseline for the shallow socket that will match the thin tail. Remove the waste normally. Finish assembling the joint.

Ta-da, the dado is hidden. No holes to plug. You might be able to see what I'm talking about in the snaps of a tool tote I made several years ago.

335294335295
Mighty clever!