Help attaching bottom to a dovetailed drawer

[Jim Colombo]

This may be a stupid question but how do you attach (joinery) the bottom of a box to the front of the box when the front is dovetailed to the sides? I have dado slots on the sides and back but I can't dado the front because of the dovetails.

Thanks,
Jim

[David Eisenhauer]

This may end up being a pure hand tool task.

[Jim Becker]

"Think outside the table saw"...cut the stopped slot with something else, such as a router or hand tools.

[glenn bradley]

The DT's don't preclude your groove. You just have to plan for it when you layout.

DT drawer.JPG

[Lee Schierer]

You can cut the slot on your table saw and after assembly you can fill in the void in the dovetail with either wood putty or a pieces of scrap fitted to the hole, glued in and then trimmed to fit after the glue sets up.

[Robert LaPlaca]

It’s a little late now, but typically the drawer bottom dado’s are placed where the tails of the half blind dovetail on the sides will cover them..As JIm has suggested, you now need to perform a stopped dado on the front to contain the bottom. Hope this helps

[David Bassett]

Other replies show how you can handle this if you plan from the beginning. Solving this mid-project means some of those don't work. Something that may are "drawer slips", usually for thin drawer sides, but which you could probably use on the back of your drawer front. E.g: Megan Fitzpatrick posted an example from David Savage's book Drawer Slips

[Jim Colombo]

Thanks guys. I haven't started on the drawers yet. This was all in the planning stages. I have the parts cut to but have not started on the dovetails yet.
Glenn, thanks for the diagram. I think that's what I'll do since I was planning on having the front of the drawer be made of solid wood and the rest of the drawer plywood.

[Jamie Buxton]

.. I was planning on having the front of the drawer be made of solid wood and the rest of the drawer plywood.

In my experience, cutting dovetails into plywood drawer sides is dicey. The plywood doesn't cut nicely with a chisel, and it tends to chip out with a router. You'd be much better off if you make the drawer sides solid wood too.

[Derek Cohen]

I recall Norm making dovetailed drawers with plywood, but then he used a router and dovetail guide.

It all depends on what the drawers are for. If for the shop, and you plan to use plywood, then just biscuit or domino the sides together, and glue on a false front. If fine furniture, then I use solid woods, hand cut dovetails, often slips for the drawer bottom, and a solid bottom with boards that run front-to-back of the drawer to control expansion. I also do not hang the drawers on runners. Different designs for different situations.

Drawer with slips (one of 8 in a chest):

First without a drawer bottom ...





And with a drawer bottom ...









More recent build with a drawer (one of 24) and drawer bottom in a groove ..









Regards from Perth

Derek

[Ken Krawford]

I've done lots of dovetails with my Leigh jig on plywood. You MUST have a sharp bit and they'll turn out fine.