Some first projects and interesting 'dovetails'

[Buckeye]

Just a couple of projects I have worked on recently. I am new to woodworking. I have a 6x12 shed. Way too small and incredibly frustrating. I bought a decent bandsaw and have a router and router table but hey we all have to start off somewhere.

Used to live in Ohio so built my son an Ohio barn like the one we used to have on our farm (only it was white and didn't have the Ohio bicentennial logo)

Built out of 6 mm ply and lots of lollipop sticks. Painted a barn red and weathered a bit. I painted the mural by making a print out and tracing it onto the side of the barn. The letters were cut out (masked) with a scalpel and spray painted on.

Sides cut on the bandsaw

Under way with the lollipop sticks being stuck on

Completed Ohio bicentennial barn

Top lifts up and over and the shelf lifts up

I tried to weather the sides a bit

The second project is a bookcase for the kids. 19mm birch ply with some pine cladding for the back. The birch ply cut pretty smooth but I had to plane and then fill smooth it out with some filler before painting. Worked pretty well.

The last one is some funny 'dovetails' on a cabinet we brought back from Ohio. It is in a couple of the pics above. Was in my wife's family since the 1860s, thought to have been used to be in a family owned store in downtown Columbus, OH. It is black walnut and the panels on the bottom doors are a good 17 inches wide. Would love some wood lile that now instead of cheap pine, maybe later.

The drawers have these 'dovetails'. Anyone know what their proper name is?

 

[Chris Knight]

Buckeye,
I love the barn and I am sure your son does too. I also reckon you might well find that the kids treasure the bookcase in years to come. My daughter still has a small chair I made for her when she was three - she now has three children!

The joint on your cabinet was made by machine and it was an early mass production method - I believe you can still get jigs that do something like it. I am sorry I can't recall the name of the joint however.

 

[Waka]

Buckeye

Really like the barn, your son will get hours of pleasure from it. Also the bookcase is nice, myself I'm not into painted firniture, but in this case it works.

 

[Paul Chapman]

Very nice, Buckeye =D> In my experience children really love things that their Dad makes for them - I reckon he'll treasure that barn.

Paul

 

[Inspector]

Buckeye
Your question has dragged me out of lurkdom. I'll get you for that someday
Those joints are called Knapp Joints and they were the first machine made drawer joint. Dovetailing machines came later.
My Father repaired furniture for many years before retiring and I worked with him at times and saw those joints occasionally. He had to remake/make some of the drawers a few times. Not having the machine, he used a spade bit in the drill press to "scallop" the ends of the drawer fronts. band saw and chisel on the end of the drawer sides. Clamp and glue them together and then drill and glue in dowels made from the same wood as the faces.
Here is a link to some more info on those joints.

http://www.cpfmg.org/Articles/The_Knapp_Joint.html

 

[DaveL]

Hi Inspector,

Welcome to the forum.

Thanks for the link, interesting reading.

 

[Mittlefehldt]

While I seldom venture out of lurking mode, and even less outside the handtool forums I am glad I did today.

I had seen those odd machined joints in Southern Ontario where |I live and wondered about them though I was too lazy to research it myself. I have seen maybe a half a dozen pieces with that joint over the last decade or so, and if memory serves they were all in the Eastlake style, so I assume that one company in the area, there used to be a lot of furniture companys hereabouts, must have had one of those Knapp jigs.

Thanks for the information Inspector, and now I will return to lurking as well.

 

[jamrine]

As an Ohioan, living in of all places, Ann Arbor, Michigan, I really love the barn. The other pieces are cool too, but the barn is really special.

Go Buckeyes!

-Jamey

 

[richie]

They're great! Love the lollipop stick idea, ingenious.



r

 

[wrightclan]

Nice.

(trying to learn the art of the quick response)

Brad

 

[Buckeye]

As an Ohioan, living in of all places, Ann Arbor, Michigan
-Jamey

How could you!

Thanks for all the comments.

 

[Shady]

Hmm: fascinating article, but how depressing is this extract:

It was said however,that even a skilled worker hand cutting dovetails for drawers could not keep up with case production, turning out at best 15 to 20 complete drawers per day.

Can you imagine being some poor B*****d who's spent years becoming a qualified craftsman, having to grind through that sort of quantity of joints, day in, day out, for a minimal wage??? Every so often I am reminded how lucky we all are to be living now, instead of then. (The washing up machine generates similar philosophical musings... :wink: )