Dovetail joints through bridle joints ?

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

So I had some narrow stock kicking around, and made a couple of bridle-jointed frames the other day on a whim. I felt like I needed some practice sawing tenons, and figured doing bridle joints would give me twice the sawing practice. I think the muscle memory has kicked back in and I'm where I want to be again, after cutting 8 joints. I remembered I hate sawing these types of cuts in pine, and that in anything this soft, I can probably make a mortise and tenon much quicker than a bridle joint.

Anyway, now I have these two frames kicking around - squarish, basically a couple of frame and panel sans panel. I draw-bored the joints, and learned that if you're trying to pull the piece together in two directions with draw-boring, that one of the directions to offset is not what you think it is at first . . .

So yeah, it occurs to me that for some quick shop storage I need, I could put these practice pieces to use. Basically, I'd like to make a boxish thing, and use these frames as the side. Don't need anything closed in, just attached. Going to put tack some runners on these frames for a couple of trays with sockets to slide on. I could just nail some strips to the bottom and be done, but why not play around some. I'm thinking I'll cut some stretchers to length and add a dovetail to each end. Basically a half lap joint with a bit of splay.

Can I sink these tails into the existing bridle joint without disaster, or should I move them backwards into the stock of the frames?

[Brian Holcombe]

Pictures please

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Basically, I've got two frames made with these joints: IMG_0484.jpg

I want to space them from each other like this: (with two on the top, two on the bottom)
IMG_0485.jpg

The top piece in the previous picture, I was thinking of attaching like this:
dovy1a.gif

But I wonder if that half-lap joint can be made through the bridle joint (so it's flush with the ends) or if I should space it out into the middle of the frame, so it's in the main part of the rail, and not going through the existing joint.

[Brian Holcombe]

Even if it works, I think it will look poorly planned. Moving it to the middle will look quite nice.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Yeah, that was kind of my gut reaction, too. The whole thing will look poorly planned - because it wasn't. (I mean, god, look at the knots in the stock I chose - this is getting painted for sure.) It's one of those, I was fooling around in the shop because I didn't have any projects and then realized this might be useful. It's a little undersized, but I'm just trying to get the decent socket set my dad bought me out of the *huge* blow-molded case and make some room on the shop shelves.

Either way, off to play with saws some more. I need some cash so I can get some decent wood and do something worthwhile. Maybe after the next house project ...

[Brian Holcombe]

Nah, it'll look good when complete. I go through some planning efforts for shop benches and such, but really anything else shop related gets the basics and then go right to work.

[Jim Matthews]

I used a similar layout on the stretchers to my outside picnic table. Its a better choice on the bottom where splay forces tighten the joint.

[John Schtrumpf]

Dovetail joints through bridle joints ?

I want to space them from each other like this: (with two on the top, two on the bottom)
IMG_0485.jpg

The way you have it laid out in that picture with the tail on the cross piece, pins in the bridle joint stile. I would have no problem doing, but I would make these two minor adjustments:

1) the cross piece would be the same width as the stiles of the frame (it looks wider in the picture).

2) I would make the tail narrower (or use 2 smaller tails), so that it closer to a 1/3 width used for the tail and 2/3 width for the pins (1/3 each pin).