Thread: Lapdesk

Hi Paul

I was going to link that for you.

Note the shape of the lower pin. It is squared off as if the drawer ended shorter. This is different to the drawer you asked about, where all the pins looked like that. Chris' is deliberate. I do not think that your example was so.

My little drawer is similar to Chris' and for the same reason - to make it easier to add a low drawer bottom. In my case I needed to do so to fit in the false bottom.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Squaring the bottom of the bottom tail is one way to help avoid having a pin only partially overlapping the groove for the drawer bottom.

Another is to size & space the pins & tails so that the groove falls entirely within the bottom tail (i.e. on the side piece). You still have the groove running through the tail, but most of it matches the groove in the front, so you weren't going to get any glueing surface out of much of it, anyway. I size & space my tails so that I get a symmetrical half-pin top & bottom, with the bottom tail squarely over the groove. Sometimes you have to do a bit of juggling with your spacing to keep it symmetrical.

D-tail spacing.jpg

You can also use slips to retain the drawer bottom instead of a groove, but unless you also use slips on the front, you still have to cover the groove in the front, so whichever way you go about it, a bit of juggling of tail sizes & spacing is called for...

Cheers,

Love the designs and the workmanship is second to none.
Cheers Alby

Chuck Bender showing off a reproduction + secret drawers.

Chuck Bender's Slant-lid Desk - Popular Woodworking Magazine

Derek, I know these things are very personal ... and I don't want to appear to not appreciate the degree and quality of the work you have done ... but wanted to ask what you felt about other decorations/additions ... (putting aside the extra time that would be involved)
like chamfers, beading, stringing/inlay, etc ?
Thanks,
Paul



lap2.JPG lap1.JPG nmah_jefferson.jpg

2703_antique_nautical_roll_top_lap_desk_1.jpg dg12d66.JPG

Separate questions ...

1. Does it make sense to dovetail a (small) drawer this way ... ? (different front and back)

draw-side.jpg

2. What is the indentation on these dovetails??

(Could it be smooshing the pins to cover gaps?)

corner.jpg

Thanks,
Paul

Originally Posted by IanW

Another is to size & space the pins & tails so that the groove falls entirely within the bottom tail (i.e. on the side piece). You still have the groove running through the tail, but most of it matches the groove in the front, so you weren't going to get any glueing surface out of much of it, anyway. I size & space my tails so that I get a symmetrical half-pin top & bottom, with the bottom tail squarely over the groove. Sometimes you have to do a bit of juggling with your spacing to keep it symmetrical.

Ian, do you have a philosophy on numbers of pins per depth of drawer?
Thanks,
Paul

Originally Posted by pmcgee

Ian, do you have a philosophy on numbers of pins per depth of drawer?

Yes, Paul. Whatever looks ‘right’ when I set them out (which may or may not look right a month or a year later... )

Much depends on whether they are for show, or utilitarian dovetails. When making the set of drawers above, strength & longevity were the main design criteria, so I spaced the tails with generous pin allowances (seen too many drawers with wincey pins completely stripped off) & in a pretty boring pattern. The actual number of tails & their spacing, I simply work out by deciding what minimum size pin I will tolerate, then using the width of the blade on my dovetail marker as a width guide I lay them out, working in alternately from each side. On a deep drawer, I increase the width of the tails toward the middle, to make them less boring. It takes only a few minutes to lay out a full drawer this way. The way we were taught to divide things up with compasses or dividers and rulers and paraphernalia takes me far longer than cutting, chiselling & fitting together!

So there are very slight variations side to side on all of my drawers, which no-one is ever going to spot. And I'm not always happy with my spacings, down the track. Looking critically at the drawers I posted above,

D-tail spacing.jpg

the spacing is a bit muddled. I hadn’t really noticed until I looked at the pic. (when fumbling for socks & jocks in the mornings, I don't check the d'tails on the drawers!). I built that COD over many weeks, so I most likely set each drawer out on a different day, & obviously didn’t pay enough attention!, but with the jump down in drawer depth & my juggling, I’ve ended up with a much more obviously wide middle tail on the top drawer in the picture than on the lower ones. I would normally try to harmonise them a bit more, but fortunately, they are never pulled out together like this in normal use, so only you & I will ever know I stuffed-up.....

Bit of a long-winded answer, but you did mention 'philosophy'
Cheers,

Originally Posted by pmcgee

1. Does it make sense to dovetail a (small) drawer this way ... ? (different front and back)

draw-side.jpg

Hi Paul

it looks like a mistake to me.