The Basics of Dovetail Drawer Making

With the pins and tails properly cut in the four sides, we'll turn our attention to cutting the groove in each of the four pieces to accommodate the dovetail drawer bottom.

Begin by dry-fitting all four sides of the box together. Make a small pencil mark on the inside lower section of each of the four sides, to denote on which side of each piece the groove should be cut.

Set up your router table with a 1/4" straight-cutting bit and fence. The bit should be adjusted to a 3/8" height above the table, with the fence 1/4" from the back-side of the bit.

Next, verify the thickness of the four pieces of stock. If you used one-by stock, the thickness will likely be 3/4".

Measure this distance away from the edge of the bit along the fence, and make a pencil mark on the fence on each side of the bit at this distance. This will denote the start and stop points for the groove.

Wearing proper eye and hearing protection, turn on your router. With the side of the stock to be cut facing the table and the bottom edge against the fence, place the butt end (opposite the end at the bit) against the table, with the leading edge just over the bit. Align the end of the board with the far pencil mark and carefully angle the stock down onto the bit. Next, slide the stock forward while holding it firmly down onto the table and against the fence until the back edge reaches the first pencil mark. Then carefully angle the stock and lift the back edge off of the bit.

Cut the grooves in the other three pieces of stock in precisely the same manner.

At this point, you should also cut the 1/4" plywood bottom to size. The dimensions of the bottom should be 1/2" longer (in each direction) than the inside dimensions of the dovetail drawer box. For instance, on the aforementioned 18" x 12" box, the bottom should be cut to a size of 17" x 11".