Dennis McDonaugh
04-12-2004, 12:11 AM
No this isn't about the age old question of finishing or not finishing the inside of the drawers :). I made six drawers for the tool chest this weekend. The drawer front is mahogany and joined to the poplar sides by hand-cut half-blind dovetails. The bottoms are 1/4" poplar so the back is set in a dado at the sides, and sits on top of the drawer bottom to allow for wood movement. This is my first attempt at hand-cutting a lot of dovetails (there's going to be a total of 22) and it went surprisingly well. I like the contrast between the light drawer sides and dark front. Is there any way to stain the front without covering the sides. I thought about staining the front before assembling the drawer, but sanding the dovetails flush to the side would mess up the stain.