# what other then dovetails for dresser drawers ??



## DanYo (Jun 30, 2007)

Started a fun project.

I'm batching 4 dressers for my grandkids.

Dressers are 18×24 x 48 tall with 6 drawers each.
Cases are 3/4 birch plywood and the drawers will be 1/2 plywood.
ball bearing drawer slides. side mount. medium duty.

what? other then dovetails, are good joints for drawers ?

I'm trying to avoid a lot labor.

I have a dovetail jig and have used it many times. ...want to do something different.

needs to be strong … kid proof and fast.

any good ideas ?


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## DanYo (Jun 30, 2007)

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## GaryK (Jun 25, 2007)

Do like I did for my night stands. Glue up your drawers, then drill holes and put in dowels.

It looks good and adds a lot of strenght, plus it's simple.

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/1849

Look farther down in the text and you can see an example I did on a slant top desk.

For added strenght do sliding dovetails on the rear of the drawers.


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## gizmodyne (Mar 15, 2007)

Try Lock Rabbet

They are pretty simple.

Or Finger Joints with another front covering the joints.

Or rabbet and dowel.


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## CedarFreakCarl (Apr 21, 2007)

I agree with Gary, the dowels work really well and look good too. 
Here's another option. Of course it still involves a dovetail…..








Not sure about using it with plywood though.


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## Dorje (Jun 17, 2007)

Tage Frid said the lock miter one of the best joints for plywood corners…takes a ~$40-50 bit to do the trick…


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## CedarFreakCarl (Apr 21, 2007)

Here's a design on the doweled theme. However, I'd rather dado slots for the bottom instead.


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## gizmodyne (Mar 15, 2007)

You can do lock rabbets on the table saw.

It is just two set ups.

Good video on Finewoodworking.com if you subscribe


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## CedarFreakCarl (Apr 21, 2007)

Here's some more options….......


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## gizmodyne (Mar 15, 2007)

Oh yeah. Sliding dovetail is a good one Carl.


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## woodtimes (Jun 14, 2007)

Check out Woodline's low cost, easy to use dovetail machine. It has about 7 or 8 different types of joints from waves to bears and others. I bought one last year, it works great. Joints are strong and range from traditional dovetails to many whimsical designs.
Bob

Check this out ----> http://www.woodline.com/p-1825-route-r-joint-precision-dovetail-joinery-system.aspx


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## che (May 18, 2007)

The Offset Tongue above is very simple if you have a dado you can set to 1/2 the thickness of your material. Set a tall fence on your table saw that is 1/2 the thickness of your material away from a blade that is also 1/2 the thickness of the material. The back is cut on end and the sides are cut with the inside face down. You can even cut the rabbets for the bottom with this setup. Glue on a face to dress things up. This is how I make all my storage boxes.


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## Tangle (Jul 21, 2007)

I used a lock rabbit like the first one in Cedar Freak's photo in the drawers in my saddle shop work bench. I used 1/2 inch pine and they have been abused for 17 years now with no problems.


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## DanYo (Jun 30, 2007)

with 6 drawers in 4 dressers I think I'll try a few of these ideas.

locked rabbits looks like fun. so do the doweled rabbit styles.

thanks everyone for the great ideas


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## roman (Sep 28, 2007)

simple dadoes, grooves, rabbets are far older then doves

and some still work


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## toddc (Mar 6, 2007)

The locking rabbet is easy to achieve on the tablesaw in batch operation and holds up very well. When people see it from the top it still gets comments of interest because they see that it is not just a butt joint.

I have used it for drawers that I had to make fast for remodel/repair and it has been very durable.


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## rikkor (Oct 17, 2007)

I have used the locking rabbets, too. They're relatively quick to build and seem to be plenty strong.


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## woodnut99 (Dec 17, 2007)

I was going to add something like cedar freak carl added. I was just looking at options last night! I'm building a standing tool chest from walnut and elm…ok a little maple in there too! I think a lock rabbit's look good for faster, and dowels fast and tough. ... HERE's A GOOD BOOK I USE : Traditional Woodwork, By: Mario Rodriguez… LOCK RAIL TENON. Or maybe just DADDOES & GROOVES W/ SOME DOWELS POPPED THROUGH… I don't know what I'm talkin about….I like carving 'freestyle'.. It's hard for me sometimes to get all joinery minded. I'd listen to Those.Angle , 17 Years w/ No problem. sounds pretty good and they look faster than the dovetails, for sure! I wonder what the strength difference is? I do believe dovetails are still the strongest? Good Luck.. I'd Better get off this computer and do some carving now myself… patrick


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## JoeLyddon (Apr 22, 2007)

Ever try simple Boxjoints?

They would work…


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## DanYo (Jun 30, 2007)

so far I've built 2 drawers. Both are the rabbet and dowel style. 1/2" birch plywood and 1/8" whitewood dowels. Rhino glue. Look pretty good.

next I'll try a couple of the locking offset tongue rabbet … example A: .... offered by cedarfreek


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## DocK16 (Mar 18, 2007)

I think Tom A. and Carl have the right idea with the locking rabbit joint. If you go to Fine Woodworking.com there's a video on how to cut this joint on the table saw. http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/subscription/SkillsAndTechniques/SkillsAndTechniquesArticle.aspx?id=30193.

Quick and easy, and a very strong joint, maybe even kid proof


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## Sandy (Aug 28, 2007)

I needed to make several drawers which were to be mounted in a European (frameless) carcase with side mounted ball bearing drawer slides. As the drawers were to have false fronts, what I did was to cut out the front, rear, sides, and bottom pieces. Then I ran dados on the insides of the front, rear, and sides using my router table. I slipped the bottom piece into the dados, then I used my Kreg jig and assembled the drawers using pocket screws, with the holes entering the side pieces from the rear of the rear piece placing those holes at the rear of the drawer, where they are not seen, and from the front of the front piece (which was ultimately hidden by the false front). I don't know any quicker way to do this, and the end result was a set of strong drawers, with accurate alignment, all done in record time.


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## marcb (May 5, 2008)

DAN,

I think you will like the locking rabbit. As others above have said, it will take a lot of abuse, and is easy to do in batch operations.


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