Hello All! -

Well, I've been off-line for a bit, between the troll storm here and the
trolls in woodshop... more on that one later, but long story short, the
classes are doing pretty well - about 20% of the students are genuinely
interested in learning skills and building things... Better than par, from
the feedback I've been getting - more in a separate post...

So, to the subject - I am building a couple of cabinets - an entertainment
center, [appx 66" tall (30"t base, 36" t chest) , 36" w 24"d] and was going
to dovetail the top and bottom of the carcasses to some poplar
"H"stretchers, if that's the right term - the cabinet shelves will be dadoed
into the sides, and I wanted to put a framework at the top and bottom of
each carcass that would hold the sides in. Both cabs get tops and trim
that'll hide the DTs... If it translates, here would be a typical top view.
Back
side framework side
| ------------------------- | Poplar stretcher ~ 6" wide
| ------------------------- | DTs here and at left
| ' ' |
| ' f2b ' |
| ' stretchers ' |
| ' ' |
| ------------------------- | Poplar stretcher ~ 6" wide
| ------------------------- | DTs here and at left

Front
doors

The carcasses are out of QSWO veneer ply, (with QSWO face frames) - I am
routing the carcass to stretcher dovetails using a Stotts/Keller type of
jig. The DTs are double spaced so I only have to cut half as many. Each of
the poplar stretchers would be about 6" wide, with 2 - 3 tails per... The
framework at the top of the cabinet will be covered by the ply top, with
molding or small crown molding covering the exposed DTs. Each cabinet has
two additional fixed shelves within 4-6" of the top and bottom, along with
one adjustable shelf. The bottom cabinet has two drawers at the base
"filling in" the lowest shelf hole. The lower cab also has a 3" kick at the
base and a pair of frame and panel doors overlaid on simple hinges.

The upper cab is generally similar, except that it has overlaid flipper
doors on a face frame - the doors slide back into the carcass, and there
aren't any drawers beneath the shelf for the Teevee. (That's short for
television, for Vito Kuhn and his ilk)
I was going to set a panel in on either side of the flipper doors to give it
a more finished look and conceal the werks, and I was going to set the panel
into dadoes in the upper and lower fixed shelves.

Among the other things I am concerned about is cutting DTs in plywood. I am
using a "fronter" board to keep the ply from blowing out, but I am still
turning scrap into shrapnel in my test cuts. With some finagling, I could
use a thicker "fronter" but thought I'd post here for some feedback.

I hope I am making this clear and that the ASCII stuff doesn't get
scdrambld...


TIA,


John Moorhead

"John Moorhead" wrote in message
om...
Hello All! -

So, to the subject - I am building a couple of cabinets - an entertainment
center, [appx 66" tall (30"t base, 36" t chest) , 36" w 24"d] and was
going
to dovetail the top and bottom of the carcasses to some poplar
"H"stretchers, if that's the right term - the cabinet shelves will be
dadoed
into the sides, and I wanted to put a framework at the top and bottom of
each carcass that would hold the sides in. Both cabs get tops and trim
that'll hide the DTs... If it translates, here would be a typical top
view.
Back
side framework side
| ------------------------- | Poplar stretcher ~ 6" wide
| ------------------------- | DTs here and at left
| ' ' |
| ' f2b ' |
| ' stretchers ' |
| ' ' |
| ------------------------- | Poplar stretcher ~ 6" wide
| ------------------------- | DTs here and at left

Front
doors

The carcasses are out of QSWO veneer ply, (with QSWO face frames) - I am
routing the carcass to stretcher dovetails using a Stotts/Keller type of
jig. The DTs are double spaced so I only have to cut half as many. Each
of
the poplar stretchers would be about 6" wide, with 2 - 3 tails per... The
framework at the top of the cabinet will be covered by the ply top, with
molding or small crown molding covering the exposed DTs. Each cabinet has
two additional fixed shelves within 4-6" of the top and bottom, along with
one adjustable shelf. The bottom cabinet has two drawers at the base
"filling in" the lowest shelf hole. The lower cab also has a 3" kick at
the
base and a pair of frame and panel doors overlaid on simple hinges.

You really would not need a full set of dovetails. Even a single would keep
the carcass from spreading. That and corner blocks or a filler board to
retain square would be my choice. I think you reach the point of
diminishing returns on plywood dovetails fairly quickly - too quickly to
risk tearout. The old boys used a much nicer solution. We call them dust
frames, but they're just real wood open frames set into sliding dovetails
for your operation. Everything you wanted at once, and no danger to the
outer plies.

"John Moorhead" wrote in
om:

So, to the subject - I am building a couple of cabinets - an
entertainment center, [appx 66" tall (30"t base, 36" t chest) , 36" w
24"d] and was going to dovetail the top and bottom of the carcasses
to some poplar "H"stretchers, if that's the right term - the cabinet
shelves will be dadoed into the sides, and I wanted to put a framework
at the top and bottom of each carcass that would hold the sides in.
Both cabs get tops and trim that'll hide the DTs... If it translates,
here would be a typical top view.

So, if it isn't going to show, and we're talking poplar and plywood, so we
AREN'T talking trying to win the Artistry in Wood Show in Sonoma this
summer... Why aren't you using rabbets and pocket screws? Or biscuits?

Or are we back to the all too common Overengineering Syndrome? Dovetails
because we can? Hey, happens to me all the time. Apply dopeslap here.

George is right about glueblocks & cleats, too, BTW. And the dustframes.
Make them first, and squaring up the rest of the assembly gets easier by
half. And Nahm would approve. Just be sure to brad them in from both
sides of the frame.

I'm still meaning to get up there to see you, but we're in grandchild
season here, with a new delivery two days ago...

Keep up the good work with the kids at school. It will be a couple of
decades before any reasonable estimate of your impact can be made. By
then, no one will be able to prove you did anything wrong, so do it how
you think is right.

Patriarch