Chapter V.
In the last chapter we entered a little upon the matter of dovetails, but as the mode of uniting the angles of boxes, drawers, and such like, is of almost universal application, it will be as well to devote a separate short chapter to the subject.
There are several different kinds of dovetails used, according as it may be desired to let them appear upon the finished work, or wholly or in part to conceal them. Carpenters generally use the kind which is visible on both sides, cabinetmakers, as a rule, take special pains to conceal it, only using the other form upon work that is to be afterwards covered with veneer (a thin covering of some ornamental and more expensive wood glued upon the surface of that which is of less value, and of which the article is made).
The dovetail described in the last chapter, as proper for the attachment of the sides to the front of a drawer, is not that which is ordinarily used by the carpenters, but the following, which is somewhat more easy to make, and is the same as would be used for the other corners of such a common drawer as that described.
I must at the outset remind my young readers once again of the standard rule, without due attention to which they have no hope of success in this neat and delicate operation of carpentry. Never cut out your guide lines, but leave them upon your work, and use your square diligently upon the edges of your work, the bottom of the dovetails, sides of the same, and upon the sides of the pins. Never mind the time necessary for this. You are doing work, remember, that is to bear inspection,—work that will stand wear, and be really useful in the household to which you have the honour to belong. You would not therefore like to see open spaces here and there, requiring to be filled up with putty, or the side of the box not truly square to the back and front. And it may be noted here, that if dovetails are properly fitted together, the box or other article will stand firm, even before the glue is added; but if the same are badly cut, and put together carelessly, no amount of glue will avail to hold the work securely; and it would have been as well or better never to have attempted dovetailing, as such bad work would be stronger united by nails, and in any case is but a disgrace to the young amateur mechanic, whose motto should always be, “Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.”
