Hi,
My next build is a copy of Glen Huey's "Line and Berry Chest of Drawers" that was featured in Popular Woodworking November 2010. Here is a photo of Glen Huey's finished product. Glen Huey's was reproduction of an 18th Century Chest. While I want to reproduce the exterior, I prefer to change things that have proven to be weak. so I'll be making a couple of changes internally (web-frame instead of nailed runners), and a plywood reinforced panel in the middle to add rigidity and strength, to resist warping of the solid wood end panels). I can re-design these without difficulty, but I'm stuck on one change.
The sides and bottom are dovetailed to each other (a strength feature I want to reproduce). The dovetails are covered by a glued and pin-nailed trim, which is directly above the base shown in the photograph below. That trim is duplicated at the top of the chest, immediately below the top.
Other furniture from that era has shown a variety of splits or problems: with the trip pieces visibly cracking near their joins at the front, or gaps opening up, or falling off over the years as the glue and nail bond between the trim and case sides. The reason for these problems is the grain on the side of the case runs vertically - with expansion going from front to back of the case. The trim piece grain runs horizontally, so really won't expand. The result is tension between the trim and case side.
I want to stay true to this design (so don't want exposed dovetails), as I like the design. So what ideas are there for attaching the trim, while avoiding the problems?