Courious if anyone had done dovetails in baltic birch?

[Bart Leetch]

The thought went through my head. Why not make a jig & cut them on the Band-saw? This way wouldn't be as fast but you wouldn't have a s much tear out either.

[Byron Trantham]

Dev,

It would look like this

Kent

Kent, what a surprise. I agree with Dev, they look fine!

[John Lucas]

www.woodshopdemos.com/sstat-21.htm

Dev, I did these in "cheap" ply and really developed the page to show people how to use this...Baltic birch will give much better, of course.

[John Hemenway]

I did Norm's 'miter bench and storage' project. Used DT's in BB for all drawers. Worked great once I got the chipout under control.

I actually like the look of the plys in the BB! Redneck version of Zebra Wood!

[Charlie Plesums]

I use BB sides on really tall drawers, for the stability, and often use a half blind dovetail into the front. That way only the top edge of the drawer shows the plywood. I make "Normal" drawer sides with maple or whatever the secondary hardwood of the day is.

I have had much more tear out in BB after it has sat around the shop for a while, than I do on a new sheet. I don't have a moisture meter, but I suspect that might be the difference.

[Tom Jones III]

When I got my DT jig I knocked myself out trying to use BB ply to make drawers. The DT bits were brand new, I sandwiched the pieces between backer boards, etc. but I could not get consistent results. Many times I would get a good set, but sometimes it would just tear a big chunk out of the first ply despite my best efforts. I would think that it would not be feasible on a large scale unless you've got a different method of cutting than I do.

[David Miller]

I did all the drawers in my previous kitchen using BB and dovetails. I did get splintering/chipping, even with backer boards. But I fussed with it until I got acceptable results. I had to use a new backer board for each piece otherwise I'd get splintering. A LOT of hassle but it worked. Oh, I used a Leigh DT jig.

I like the strength and stability of BB but I probably wouldn't do it again. But the drawers did look good IMHO.

-Dave

[Wes Billups]

Dev, I tried this with very poor success as I was getting alot of chipout on the front of the pins. I switched to a 1/2" shank bit and it all but eliminated the tear out. This was on half-blind dovetails, I can't speak for through dovetails.

Wes

[brian j waloweek]

i used an old pc dovetail jig on my bb dovetail drawers and like jim says
score from left to right on first cut and you should be fine, all the tear out was minimal and hidden when assembled, also i like to use a 1/8 th roundover bit on the top inside and outside edges, they look great when sanded and finnished

[Bob Yeager]

Thanks for this question...this really helps a lot...My one and only attempt to use my dovetail jig was on BB...total failure...after a couple of hours and several pieces of BB...I put the jig back in the box and never attempted it again. I figured I was a real duffus and not smart enough to use the jig...maybe I'll dig it out and try again.

Thanks...I feel better about my failures now.

Bob

[Narayan Nayar]

I've done both box and dovetail joints on 1/2" and 3/4" BB using my Incra wonderfence. As numerous responses above suggest, a backer board is essential (as is a "fronter board", at least on the Incra. ).

I should add that I would probably only do this for shop and other utilitarian projects and. Even using what I consider to be good quality BB, some plys do go missing here and there. Contrary to others, I do like the look, but either something in my technique or just something about BB puts little holes in the joints where the ply has broken off.

[Richard Wolf]

What's old is new again!

Richard