Blanket Chest Dovetail Repair/patch

[sroxberg]

The Blanket Chest I've been working on is glued to together and this is my first attempt at visible dovetails on a case this wide, 19.25 inches.

That said I have quite a few gaps, no common theme but probably 1/128th wide.

I plan to finish with Watco Danish Oil and Wax, I'm assuming that the gaps will remain after the finishing so how do, or do, I attempt to fix or fill them?

Any advice would be appreciated.

[DaveParkis]

I'm by no means a great woodworker, so take this for what it's worth. I would pare some shavings with a chisel in the type of wood your using and then slip the shavings into the gaps. Leave them proud until the glue dries and then plane them down. This should give you matching end grain and should be almost invisible. HTH

[JGrout]

DaveParkis said:

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I'm by no means a great woodworker, so take this for what it's worth. I would pare some shavings with a chisel in the type of wood your using and then slip the shavings into the gaps. Leave them proud until the glue dries and then plane them down. This should give you matching end grain and should be almost invisible. HTH

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^^^^^^^^^^^^
this

[Aram]

DaveParkis said:

---

I'm by no means a great woodworker, so take this for what it's worth. I would pare some shavings with a chisel in the type of wood your using and then slip the shavings into the gaps. Leave them proud until the glue dries and then plane them down. This should give you matching end grain and should be almost invisible. HTH

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A variant, assuming your gaps are less than the thickness of a saw kerf: run your dovetail saw down the gap, diagonally from the inside edge to the baseline. This gives you a nice, uniform slot to insert your shim.

[sroxberg]

Thanks for the ideas, I read a fine woodworking article that said to take some of the sanding dust and mix it with some Shellac to make a paste and to fill and sand a few times.

Has anyone ever tried this approach?

[JGrout]

if you do not mind the obvious patch it works

I learned to fill gaps as much as I can with shavings they disappear as long as the color is close

[Anji12305]

The gaps you're describing are probably not noticeable with finish applied.

If you must work them over, have a browse of Derek Cohen's excellent treatise on the subject...

http://inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/Peeni...nWood.html

[paulmaine]

When you use Watco I would temporarily tape the inside corners. Some finishes when they get inside a cabinet will leave an unpleasant smell. Not the best for blankets.
It sounds like you are using a jig. before you cut dovetails on the next project run a test for fit. I am curious how hard the wood is? Something like poplar is an easier wood project to do rather than cherry.

[sroxberg]

The wood is cherry and I did use a Liegh Jig and did do a test cut but obviously made them too loose. I think the panels had a slight bend in them that made the joint feel harder to assemble that it was.

I did not want to use a mallet and was afraid of the glue up process and that the joints would become too tight when glue was added.

I tried some thin shaving but I can't get them into the cracks, maybe they aren't as big as I think.

[DaveParkis]

The shavings should be like wedges. If he gaps are so small that you can't get a really thin wedge in, I don't think it's a problem.