Lost Art Press

Category: The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years

Wood Bending by Kerfing

Posted on by fitz

The following is excerpted from “Volume II: The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Techniques.” As editor of The Woodworker magazine from 1939 to 1967, Hayward oversaw the transformation of the craft from one that was almost entirely hand-tool based to a time where machines were common, inexpensive and had displaced the handplanes, chisels and backsaws of Hayward’s training and youth.

This massive project – five volumes in all – seeks to reprint a small part of the information Hayward published in The Woodworker during his time as editor in chief. This is information that hasn’t been seen or read in decades. No matter where you are in the craft, from a complete novice to a professional, you will find information here you cannot get anywhere else.

– Fitz

A kerf is a cut made by a saw, and a number of kerfs cut in a piece of wood will enable it to be bent to shape without steaming. This process is known as kerfing and can usefully be employed in all types of construction.

The principle of kerfing is simple. A number of slots cut part way through a section of wood, as in Fig. 1, reduces the resistance of the whole to bending. When a solid beam is bent the inner fibres are subjected to compression and the outer fibres to tension (Fig. 2). In the case of a solid beam this limits the amount of deflection possible without failure of the section, unless the fibre stresses are relieved, such as by steaming. In the case of a kerfed beam, however, these stresses are diminished and the beam will deflect fairly readily until the individual kerfs are closed up as in Fig. 3. Obviously the extent of the bending possible will depend on both the depth and spacing of the kerfs, and also on the material itself, which is still subjected to compressive and tensile stresses, although to a lesser degree.

Kerf Width and Spacing. Broadly speaking, kerf spacing and the width of individual kerfs is more important than the depth of the kerfs. The greater the depth the more readily will the material bend, up to the limit where the kerfs close. At the same time, however, excessive depth of kerfing will weaken the completed work.

Taking a semi-circular bend as typical (Fig. 6) there are three possible arrangements. (A) employs a large number of closely spaced kerfs of fine width. These close up completely with the bend and provide a smooth finish on both sides of the bend. (B) also employs a large number of closely spaced kerfs, but of slightly greater thickness. Bending is somewhat easier and there is less risk of the wood splitting, but the kerfs do not close completely and, if the inside of the bend is to be visible, the surface will require facing. Both of these methods, it will be noted, employ deep kerfs and thus the over-all strength is not high. (A) is stronger than (B).

(C) shows even wider kerfs spaced farther apart. This is a more difficult bend to make, but has the advantage of greater strength. The outside curve, however, will not be smooth and will require sanding down. Partly to allow for this the depth of the kerfs is reduced.

In both (A) and (C) where the kerfs are closed on completing the bend there is an additional advantage in that glue may be run into the cuts before bending. When this has set the curved form will be capable of holding its own shape.

In considering the design of a part to be kerf-bent, the three main factors are the radius of the bend, the actual widths of the kerfs and the spacing of the cuts. The depth of the cuts can be considered as an independent variable which can be adjusted to give the degree of flexibility required. Normally a minimum value of at least three-quarters of the thickness of the material is chosen, provided the thickness of uncut wood is not reduced below 1∕16 in. minimum (Fig. 4). Kerfing, therefore, is only logically applicable to wood thicknesses of from 1∕4 in. upwards. Best thickness for good results appears to range between 5∕8 and 1 in.

A simple test bend on a spare length of material can be used to determine kerf spacing. Make a single saw-cut in the wood and from this mark off the radius of bend required. Lift the material up as shown in Fig. 5 and measure the amount of deflection that can be achieved before the kerf closes or the wood shows signs of fracture near the kerf. This distance will give you the spacing required for the kerfs for that particular radius of bend in that material.

Limits of Bend. It is important to note which limits the amount of bend—the kerf closing or the wood splitting. If the latter, another test bend should be made with a deeper kerf to give greater flexibility. If the former, it is possible that a wider kerf can be used and greater deflection obtained, so that the kerfs may be spaced out more widely. This will depend to a large extent on which of the three original types of bends is required (Fig. 6). If the kerfs are not too close on the final work then this fact must be allowed for on the test bend, when naturally the required spacing will be closer.

Tables can, and have, been prepared giving data on kerf widths and spacings for different radii of bends, but these as a general rule have their limitations. Each thickness of wood demands a separate table and practical variations may also be introduced by the mechanical properties of the wood itself. Hence the test bend method is generally preferable.

Uniformity. In cutting the kerfs, great care is necessary to ensure uniformity. Width is controlled by the thickness of the saw blade, or rather, its set, but correct and uniform depth is of considerable importance.
Any individual kerf which is either too deep or too shallow will result in corresponding weakness or excessive resistance to bending at that point and deform the finished curve.

Kerfing by means of a handsaw, therefore, is an intricate business and must be carried out with extreme care and patience. With machine tools suitable stops can be arranged to ensure uniformity.

For equal curves, equal spacing is required, but where compound curves are attempted, such as a large radius curve rounding into a small radius curve (Fig. 7), spacing should become progressively closer. Ideally, of course, spacing should be directly related to the curve radius, as with the test bend. It is usually sufficient, however, to design for the smallest radius bend and open out the kerf spacing uniformly on either side of this bend. Alternatively, the problem can be dealt with more scientifically by reducing the whole bend to a series of adjoining circular arcs and determining the appropriate spacing for each radius. There is yet another method where the same spacing is retained throughout, but on the shallower curve the depth of the kerfs is reduced.

Normally once the kerfs have been cut the curve can be bent “dry,” In the case of acute curves, however, bending should be tackled in stages, bending first to say twice the required radius and clamping the work in that position for an hour or so. It also helps to sponge the wood down with warm water to prevent splitting.

There is also another form of lengthwise kerfing which is sometimes used where the kerfs are cut endwise in the wood (Fig. 8). The sawcuts are filled with veneer or similar material, the whole steamed or soaked in hot water and bent around a suitable former and clamped in position until dry. It can then be unclamped, the slots and veneer glued up and re-clamped.

‘We Back Our Fancies’

Posted on by fitz

The following is excerpted from “Honest Labour,” a collection of essays from The Woodworker magazine while the legendary Charles H. Hayward was editor (1936-1966). This book is the fifth and final volume in our series from The Woodworker. The excerpt below is from 1956, and remains, I think, wholly applicable 66 years on.

– Fitz

Many people nowadays are inclined to be a little nervous when it comes to making their choice of furniture and the interior planning of their homes. Thanks to the work of the Arts Council and, more recently, the Design Centre in London, they are growing more design conscious, more prone to recognise that a thing may not only fulfil the use they require of it but may be artistically good or bad. Consequently a nervous: “Ought I to like it” attitude may develop before making a choice or a dubious “I suppose this is all the fashion?”—which is the worst possible way of reaching any judgment at all. The poet’s lament of: “What care I how fair she be. If she be not fair to me,” is plain commonsense when it comes to reminding us that we do not have to like everything, however good in itself the object may be. Our own personal taste and predilection may run counter to any one of the accepted fashions of the moment, and when this is the case we should not allow ourselves to be hypnotised by mass production and the glossy magazines into introducing it into our own surroundings. The magazines, with their colourful pages, can be useful as showing trends and ideas but the editor’s job is to secure a colourful picture containing the maximum amount of interest and novelty to attract his readers, and we shall generally find that such ideas need to be treated with a good deal of wariness and discrimination; otherwise the result may not be good taste at all but howlingly bad taste and something which in the long run we shall find very tiresome to live with. It is just this question of discrimination which is the difficulty. How can I know?

The issue is perhaps at its simplest for the craftsman. The very fact of knowing how a thing should be done makes him appreciative of good work when he sees it. From that point onwards it is a comparatively easy step to observe what qualities in the work, as apart from the workmanship, tend to display it at its best. Where there is a plain economy of line he will notice how good proportions and a perfect or unusual finish turn something which might have been bleakly austere into a piece which a connoisseur might envy. A highly decorated piece, on the other hand, all curves carving, can be just as exactly right and an object of heart-warming beauty, provided the proper degree of restraint is used amid the apparent lavishness. Just how this is achieved is again a matter of careful observation among the best specimens of, say, 17th and 18th-century craftsmanship whenever he comes across them. That is, of course, taking us straight into the first class, which may appear to be well out of the range of the ordinary householder. But the fact is that, wherever beautiful work is found, as it is sometimes in the most primitive communities, it obeys, albeit unconsciously, the same kind of innate law which governs the urbane product. The craftsman in such communities has so much less to bewilder and distract him than we in our civilised world. He is neither confused by the experts and countless theories and discussions, nor bewildered and side-tracked by a multitude of rival ideas. For him the issue is the simple one of being wholly interested and absorbed in making some useful article which it gives him pleasure to decorate in his own fashion, no doubt to the applause of his contemporaries. We, on the other hand, have to do battle with ourselves to keep the issues simple and to convince ourselves that the power to appreciate and create beauty in our surroundings is one which no one can teach us by a set of rules but which we can only acquire by taking thought and observing, making our own comparisons and being prepared to back our own judgments in the things we like to have around us. The most beautiful room I know is in a plain little house in the country where some old friends of mine live. It conforms to no rules. Some of the furniture dates back about sixty years, being the smaller pieces retained from their old home and is good of its kind. Cheek by jowl is a modern radiogram and several easy chairs and a settee ranging in period over the past thirty years and just a trifle shabby. On the walls are ultra-modern paintings by an artist friend, side by side with old family miniatures; over the modern brick fireplace are quaint little pottery Staffordshire figures of a kind cheap and popular in the last century, while ranged round the tops of the bookcases are interesting and valuable pieces of china and silver gradually acquired by home-loving people in a hard-working lifetime. It sounds a jumble. It does not look it. The room, like the house, has a quite indescribably charm, and strangers nearly always halt on the threshold with an involuntary “Oh, what a beautiful room!”

The truth is we have to be content to let our treasures accumulate, to add to them bit by bit, sometimes because they are the things we need for use, sometimes for our own comfort, sometimes for the sheer joy of possessing some small trifle lovely in itself. You can make a home that way far better than by walking into the nearest furniture store and ordering everything on sight, and if we are craftsmen and can put into the things we make something of the spirit of true creation, its patience, its wisdom, its joy in the making, we shall have brought into the home just such another of those intangible qualities which are blessed indeed and which no money can buy nor experts prescribe.

A Stool Tool Container

Posted on by fitz
FIG. 1. AN INVALUABLE ITEM IN THE HOUSEHOLD.
Main sizes are 24 ins. long, 14 ins. wide, and 16 ins. high. It will be seen that in addition to holding a good range of tools there is accommodation for nails, screws, small fittings, etc.

The following is excerpted from “The Woodworker: The Charles Hayward Years,” Vol. IV. This fourth book in the series covers three different topics.

1) The Workshop, including the design and construction of workbenches, tool chests and wall cabinets. There’s also an entire section devoted to “appliances,”which are workshop accessories such as shooting boards.

2) Furniture & its Details, includes a discussion of all the important Western furniture styles, including their construction, mouldings and metal hardware. This section also includes the construction drawings for many important and famous pieces of furniture examined by Charles H. Hayward during his tenure at The Woodworker magazine.

3) Odds & Sods. In addition to offering its readers practical information for the shop, The Woodworker also asked it subscribers to think about the craft and its place in modern society. We have included many of our favorite philosophical pieces in this final section.

A stool container which will house your ordinary bench tools and act as a mitre sawing and shooting board is illustrated in Fig. 1. It can be easily carried around the house and placed near the exact spot where the actual work is in progress. For a household kit of tools it has many advantages over a small tool chest which has to be kept in a store room or garage. There is no key to lose, and no lid to lift. When not in actual use it can stand in the kitchen and be used as a step to gain access to the upper kitchen shelves.

The container is easily and inexpensively made. Much of the wood required may be taken from clean packing cases or from salvage timber. The ends are dowel glue-jointed and the joint line is arranged so that it does not come in the centre of the width of the end and thus foul the sawing kerf and the round handle. With regard to size there is no hard and fast rule, but suitable dimensions are 24 ins. long over-all by 14 ins. across the width of the end, and 16 ins. high.

FIG. 2. THE SHOOTING BOARD (A) TURNED UPSIDE DOWN

The thicknesses of the stool ends should be not less than 7/8 in.; the same thickness applies to the long wide sides. The drawer fronts and the longitudinal divisions between the drawers should be out of 5/8 in. or 3/4 in. wood; the drawer sides are cut from 1/2 in. or 3/8 in. wood. Drawer bottoms are of 1/4 in. plywood or alternatively cut out of clean margarine box timber which has been planed to a clean finish.

The long round rod which runs from end to end of the stool is made from a piece of 1-1/4 in. or 1-1/2 in. round blind roller rod, or alternatively an old piece of ash from a broken hay rake handle may be requisitioned. The method of shouldering, saw kerfing, and wedging this handle in position is given in Fig. 5a. Note that the saw kerf and wedge are placed diagonally so that when wedging up there will be no tendency to split the stool end in the direction of its grain.

The ends of the stool are skew nailed to the long sides. This will prevent distortion and open joints owing to the racking which is bound to take place when the stool is subject to rough usage. The nails should be of the cut variety because they hold in the fibres of the wood much better than the round polished wire nail. The interior of the well of the stool should be glue blocked at the ends as suggested in Fig. 5. Glue blocks should also be used around the bottom of the well. The long rail between the drawers and long bottom rail need not be more than 1-3/4 ins. in width. They are stub-tenoned for 5/8 of an inch into the ends. Small runners should be kept as narrow as is convenient because they have little weight to carry and the object is to keep the stool as light as possible for carrying about.

The long drawers, 1-3/4 ins. deep, accommodate chisels and gouges, oilstone, joiner’s bevel, dovetail saw, and similar small tools, such as bits, etc. Twist bits should be kept in a partitioned green baize bag. The four smaller drawers are divided into suitable compartments to contain panel pins, tacks, screws, etc.

FIG. 3. THE SHOOTING BOARD IN POSITION READY FOR USE.

At the near end of the stool provision is made for mitre cutting. The well or hollow box portion will take the jack and the smoothing planes, ratchet brace, pliers and pincers, screwdrivers, and the household axe. The tenon saw is suitably fixed at the rear outside end of the stool, which is large enough to take this 12 in. tenon saw and the ordinary bench hammer. It will be noticed that suitable provision is also made for the handsaw and a 6 in. try-square in the handiest positions.
Fig. 2 shows the method of dealing with long stock when it is required to cut off the waste end (S). Of course the worker would have his left knee on top of the board. In the same sketch is shown the auxiliary shooting board (A) when turned upside down. It becomes a step for the workman to increase his height.

As an adjunct to the stool we show in Fig. 3 an auxiliary shooting and mitre board. It is made as a separate unit, and fits on top of the stool as shown. It will be observed that in Fig. 1 the side of the stool is cut away to receive the mitre block and the squaring rail. Thus it can be reversed as previously mentioned when it is not required. When fitting the mitre block (B) on to the shooting board it can be positioned by placing three ordinary pins on to the board (C). Put the block (B) in the position it will occupy and give to the top of the block a smart tap with the hammer. This will give to both B and C suitable indentations which will tally with each other. At these points the worker bores 3/8 in. holes with his twist bit and duly inserts his dowels. The dowels are glued into block (B) only. This allows the mitre block to be levered out of its position with the screw driver when not required. For instance when jointing the long edges of boards the block (B) would of course be in the way of the plane, and therefore it is made removable.

From left: FIG. 4. FIXING MITRE. FIG. 5. HANDLE. FIG. 6. DRAWER DETAIL BLOCK.

There is no need to go to the trouble of dovetailing the drawers. A quite good drawer can be made as shown in Fig. 6, lapped joints being used. The bottom edge of the drawer front is rebated to agree with the bottom.

Do not paint the tool stool; it makes it heavy to carry about. If you must attempt some type of finish give the job a coat of brush shellac or spirit varnish and when dry rub it down with No. 1-1/2 grade glasspaper. Then apply a second coat of shellac varnish, or a coat of clear Varnene. This will prevent the job from holding dirt.

Working Through Grooves : The Woodworker

Posted on by ophanic
USING THE STANLEY UNIVERSAL PLANE. For cutters wider than 1/4 in. the sliding section is used to support the cutter at the near side. Since the sliding section is adjustable in height, it is important to see that the cutter has the same projection at both sides.

The following is excerpted from Volume III of “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years.” First published in 1950, the book is beautifully illustrated by Hayward and contains the kind of spare prose that made him the best woodworking author of the 20th century. Like a good woodworking joint, Hayward’s text contains nothing superfluous and lacks nothing important to the task at hand.

This can be one of the simplest operations; it can also be one of the most awkward. To an extent it depends upon the tools available, but it is chiefly a matter of whether the groove has to be stopped, is straight or curved, the direction of the grain, and its position near to or away from the edge. We deal here with straightforward grooving, and shall follow next month with stopped grooves.

Perhaps the simplest examples of grooving are the parts of a door with grooved-in panels. It is merely a matter of setting the grooving plane to the required distance from the edge, adjusting the depth stop, and taking the plane right through. You can use either the wooden plough, or one of the special metal grooving planes. Let us consider first the setting of the plane, dealing first with the wooden plough.

Setting the Wood Plough. Select the cutter of the required width (there are generally eight), sharpen it square, and insert it so that the groove on its under-surface rests upon the metal edge of the sole piece (see Fig. 2). Set it so that the cutting edge has the required projection, and tap in the wedge. A fairly heavy shaving can be taken in softwood and when the grain is straight, but hardwoods and awkward grain require a fine cut.

Release the wedges holding the arms, and slide the fence until it is the required distance from the cutter. Press in one wedge thumb-tight, test with a rule to see that the fence is parallel with the metal sole, and push in the remaining wedge. Test once again to make sure, and tap home both wedges, tapping each lightly in turn. The depth gauge is generally controlled by a thumbscrew at the top, and this can be turned to give the groove depth.

Using the Plough. Start at the far end of the wood, and remove a shaving a few inches long. Then at each subsequent stroke bring the plough a little farther back as in Fig. 3. The advantage of this is that the tool is less likely to drift from the edge, since it runs into the groove it has already worked. Be careful always to press well against the side of the wood for the same reason, and work with the fence against the face side in every case. Otherwise, if the groove is not set to the exact centre, the parts will not go together flush.

It is essential that the plane is held upright, because, not only is the groove untrue otherwise, but there will be some curious results. At A, Fig. 4, the plough leans towards the user, and it is clear that the cutter will begin to operate at a different position from that intended. It will be nearer the face side. Then, as it sinks into the wood, it will either begin to bind and cease to cut, or the plough will be forced upright, when it will continue its groove in the wrong position. At B the groove will simply lean across at an angle.

Metal Plough. The setting of this depends upon the type. In the case of the small Record No. 040 and 043 planes the cutter is set in the stock about flush with the sole, and the lever cap screw lightly tightened. The cutter is then lightly tapped forward to give the required cut, and the screw finally tightened. Never strike the body of the plane to bring the cutter in; loosen the screw and withdraw it. The fence is slid on to the arm, tightened in the required position, and the depth gauge set.

In the case of the 050 A plane, a sliding section is provided to support the cutter at the near side, and it is the screwing up of this that clamps the cutter. When setting, therefore, the screw should be lightly turned only. This enables the final setting of the cutter to be made with the adjustment screw, after which the fixing screw is finally tightened. A small screw to the rear of the cutter is provided to help in keeping the sliding section parallel with the main stock. Fence and depth gauge are set as before.

The larger Record Multi-plane (405) and the Stanley 45 have their cutters tightened by means of a tapered bolt. The cutter is thus secured to the main stock only, independently of the sliding section. The latter is slid on afterwards so that it is level with the near edge of the cutter, or stands in a trifle. On no account let the cutter stand in from the sliding section, because this will cause binding. The fence has two sets of holes so that it can be fixed in a high or low position, whichever is the more convenient. A fine screw adjustment is provided on the depth gauge, and, after setting, the lock nut is tightened.

Setting for the Stanley Universal plane, No. 55, is similar, but, since the sliding section is adjustable in height, it is necessary to set this so that the cutter has the same projection on both sides. Slacken the lock nuts before turning the adjusting screw. Another point about this plane is that, since the fence can be set at an angle, it is important to see that it is upright before setting the plane for normal square grooving. Fig. 1 shows the Universal plane in use.

Some metal ploughs are provided with spurs which fit in recesses in the sides of both the main stock and sliding section. Their purpose is to cut the sides of the groove when working across the grain. They are unnecessary when grooving with the grain, and should be set in the neutral position. When they are in use, the plane should be drawn backwards for a couple of strokes to make sure that the groove sides are cut. Otherwise the grain is liable to tear out.

Using the Metal Plough. The use of the metal plough is similar to that of the wood type, but lubrication is more essential. A pad of cotton wool soaked in linseed oil is handy, or a wax candle can be drawn along the bearing parts.

As a guide to holding the plane square it is a help to press the fence against the side of the wood with the left hand as a preliminary step. You can soon tell when it is bearing on the wood, and this is the best guide as to when the plane is upright. You will soon get the feel of it. For a start, try the plane on a spare piece of wood, and examine the end of the latter as you progress to see whether your work is at all out.
Clearly, the cutter must be sharpened perfectly square. This is partly because the bottom of the groove will otherwise be out of truth, but chiefly because a cutting edge which is not square may cause bad cutting or may make the plane fail to cut altogether. Take A, Fig. 5. At the main stock (left) the cutter has the required projection, but at the sliding section it has none at all. This will prevent the plane from cutting, and, to make it cut, the cutter will have to be set forward as at B. The result of this is to make the plane tend to grab at the side having the greater projection, and this will probably throw the groove out of truth.

When the grain is straight and parallel with the wood the shavings curl away sweetly and the work is clean. A difficulty occurs when the grain either runs at an angle or is curly. Consider Fig. 6, which shows a door frame. Since the plough has always to be worked from the face side to ensure the grooves being level throughout, it will work in the direction of the arrows shown at A, and will be working against the grain owing to the slope of the latter. By reversing the parts as at B before marking out, the plough can be made to work with the grain in every case.

In Fig. 7 the grain runs across the edge at a decided angle, and the probable result would be that the groove would tear out at one edge as shown. To overcome this the groove position should be cut in first with the cutting gauge as shown inset. This will ensure the surface being clean. If it tears out down below it will not matter.

Many metal grooving planes are fitted with small spurs or cutters, the purpose of which is to cut the fibres when working across the grain. If not used the grain would be liable to tear out. They are not needed when working with the grain and they should be reversed into the neutral position. Small set screws hold them in position. One will be found on the main stock at the off side, and the other on the sliding section at the near side. Both are just in front of the cutter.

Alternative Ways of Making Things: Drawers

Posted on by fitz

The following is excerpted from Vol. II of “The Woodworker: The Charles H. Hayward Years: Techniques.”

As editor of The Woodworker magazine from 1939 to 1967, Hayward oversaw the transformation of the craft from one that was almost entirely hand-tool based to a time where machines were common, inexpensive and had displaced the handplanes, chisels and backsaws of Hayward’s training and youth.

This massive project – five volumes in all – seeks to reprint a small part of the information Hayward published in The Woodworker during his time as editor in chief. This is information that hasn’t been seen or read in decades. No matter where you are in the craft, from a complete novice to a professional, you will find information here you cannot get anywhere else.

For good-class work a reliable system of dovetailed construction has been evolved over the years, though it may have to be varied to suit details of the job to which it is fitted, and in special circumstances may have to be replaced by an entirely different method. However, it is not always possible to use dovetails, possibly for reasons of economy, and we have therefore included the simpler methods as well as those of accepted cabinet practice.

A. B. Standard dovetails. The most reliable and neatest. The dovetails resist the pull as the drawer is opened. Dovetail slope is about 1/2 in. in 3 in., though in some trades it is less, and the pins at the front run nearly to a point (B). Bottom is held in a groove at the front, and it is essential that the bottom dovetail includes the groove as otherwise the latter shows as a gap. At the sides the bottom is held in grooved slips (R) and (S), and the back stands above the bottom. Consequently the bottom back dovetail is square at the lower side, and is in fact formed by the bottom edge of the back.

C. Drawer with cocked beads. Normal dovetailing is used (A) (B) except that the lap is made slightly wider to enable a rebate to be worked in which the cocked bead can fit. This rebate is continued along the bottom edge, but at the top the wood is removed for its whole width so that no joint is visible. This necessitates cutting the top bead to the special mitred and butted joint shown inset.

D. Overlapping drawer. Front projects and is rebated to fit in the opening. Sometimes bottom rebate is omitted. The pins in the front should be cut first as otherwise it is awkward to mark them from the dovetails if these are already cut.

E. F. Shallow drawer joints. Used for small drawers in which it is undesirable to raise the bottom and so reduce inside space. Front is rebated to receive bottom, and square member is cut at bottom to fill in what would otherwise be a gap.

G. Canted front drawer. Note that dovetails slope equally each side of the horizontal. Groove for bottom must be horizontal, not square with the front.

H. I. Shaped front drawers. These are alternative methods. That at (I) is the more economical in material, but, depending upon the shape, a vertical joint is sometimes preferable.

J. Drawer shaped in plan. This may be one of a pair of drawers, or may be a single bow-front drawer with both sides as shown to the left. As the side fits in square the front must be planed off square at the inside. Dovetailing is then normal (A) (B). Much the same applies to the right-hand side, but here the front has to be cut in square.

K. Shaped and projecting drawer. The front breaks forward boldly necessitating its being of the special shape shown. At the ends it is cut thick and finished to a curve inside.

L. Slot-dovetailed drawer. This is needed when the drawer sides have to stand in at the ends. Here the dovetail is shown running right through, but it is generally stopped at the top. Position of slot is important as it is difficult to reduce the sides after drawer is assembled. Best way is to fit back to opening, place on inner face of front, and mark the ends.

M. Central runner drawer. This is practicable only when the sides are thick enough to be grooved without being weakened unduly. One of the oldest methods of suspension, and is sometimes revived today as all stops are eliminated.

N. Machined dovetails. This is used particularly with the Arcoy dovetailer. To avoid having just part of a dovetail at one side the multi-pitch attachment should be used. As this device cuts only lap-dovetails it is not practicable for the back, which should be either grooved or slot dovetailed in.

O. Simple lap-jointed drawer. The front is rebated to take the sides, and the back fits in grooves. Glue and nails are used for assembling. Often the bottom is nailed or screwed on beneath, the front being rebated. A better construction is to groove it in. In either case the back stands above it. It is advisable to let the back stand down at the top.

P. Suspended drawer. Used for an isolated drawer beneath a top with no flanking sides or lower support. Often used on a bench. Construction is usually lapped, held together with glue and nails. The bearers can either be rebated as shown, or they can be in two separate pieces.


Q. R. S. T. Fixings for drawer bottoms. In most cases the front is grooved as it is thick enough not to be unduly weakened. An exception is in a shallow drawer in which it may be rebated. When sides are thick they may be grooved (Q). Usually drawer bottom slips are grooved (R), as the sides are not weakened and the bearing surface is increased. An alternative form is that at (S). For a shallow drawer (T) can be used. Sides and front are rebated, and for small light drawers the bottom can finish flush. Better working is secured by making the rebate slightly deep and adding thin strips to the underside as shown.

U. Bent plywood construction. Sometimes used today. The plywood can be either preformed, or two sheets of thin ply can be glued together around a former. Generally the front and back are rebated to take the plywood.

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