# Gluing Dovetails



## OHNOIMONFIRE (Sep 13, 2012)

Hi All,

I just cut my first dovetails for a horse brush box I am making. I have seen many different opinions on various websites regarding the best way to glue the joints. I am using half blind dovetails for this project. What do you recommend?


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## tc65 (Jan 9, 2012)

I'm not quite sure what you are asking, I apply painters tape to inside corners to help with squeeze out, apply glue, clamp and clean up. I use Tightbond II.


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## Midlandbob (Sep 5, 2011)

Ditto. I sometimes wipe a bit of finish on the board either before cutting or taking care not to get into the joints to help with clean up. You only need a bit of glue on the sides of tails and pins. Any glue on the end grain surfaces is useless and increases the risk of squeeze out with nuisance clean up.
Blocks just beside the taints and pins make the clamping easy whith a spacer at the back of the drawer if the back is not in to hold the box square and do check that is held square while the glue sets.
Hope this helps.


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## BernieL (Oct 28, 2011)

Tape and finish are good methods for squeeze out. As a matter of fact, my workbench is topped off with finished bamboo flooring and nothing sticks to it. Glue, paint and stain all peel off when dry. A sharp straight edge is all I need.

If your asking how to apply the glue you will get different answers that are all correct. As midlandbob stated, glue on the end grain is wasted, but I let a drop of glue on between the pins and tails and spread it on the sides of these with a small artist paint brush.


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## Leo G (Oct 16, 2006)

I make my (router cut) half blind dovetails a bit tight. Apply glue in the holes on the edges and hammer the parts together. They go together a bit hard because they are tight. No clamps necessary.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

trc65 said:


> I'm not quite sure what you are asking, I apply painters tape to inside corners to help with squeeze out, apply glue, clamp and clean up. I use Tightbond II.


I am also wondering what you are asking.

George


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## OHNOIMONFIRE (Sep 13, 2012)

I just needed tips on initially gluing the joints and where to use the glue. I'm confused at how painters tape is used. I just want to know how to ensure minimum squeeze out but strong joints.


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## BernieL (Oct 28, 2011)

The tape is used so you don't have to worry about squeeze out. Say theses VVVVVVV are dovetail joint, the tape would run along the bottom like the underline VVVVVVVVV. Once you glue your pieces together, let it sit for about 15 min so the extra glue can ooze out on the tape and you pull the tape off along with the unwanted glue. Just don't wait too long and glue the tape on.


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## tc65 (Jan 9, 2012)

I use the tape on inside corners on small boxes I make. The boxes are small enough (4-5" square) that it is difficult to wipe the squeeze out off. Additionally, the inside corners on those boxes are tough to sand after gluing so sanding down raised grain (after wet wiping) is difficult and any glue that has soaked into the surface is a major pain to try and sand before finishing.


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## Leo G (Oct 16, 2006)

Sounds to me like you guys are putting on way to much glue. You only need to put a small amount in the pin hole and the tail will spread this glue around. You should have a small amount of extra space for the glue. Only on very rare occasion do I get glue inside the drawer. 

Again, I do half blind dovetails made with a router.


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## BClem (Jan 14, 2013)

Try using a solder brush to apply glue to these joints. They are inexpensive and disposable.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

I've always just washed off what glue squeezed out with water but tape like frog tape wouldn't allow the glue to run under it. Sounds like a good idea to me.


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## RogerInColorado (Jan 16, 2013)

Dovetails usually don't need much glue, so just keep it away from the parts of the dovetail that are closest to the interior. What I mean by this is that if you look at how the joint goes together, one part slides into the other. Usually that is the side slides into the front and the back. Focus on putting glue on the long grain (in the cut) closest to the end of the joint on the drawer (or box) side. Don't put any on the drawer front or back. That way when you assemble the joint you aren't pushing any glue into the interior surfaces of the joint. Glue on the end grain accomplishes nothing so use your assembly time to put it where it will do the most good.


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## jimmyjames (Nov 23, 2012)

Wow by the sounds of everybodys posts it seems everybodys dovetails are perfect.... i slather the glue on like its going out of style and then scrape off the excess after 15-20 minutes, the glue fills in any small imperfections in the joint making them perfect, if you dab on a tiny bit like mentioned above... youll have gaps.. but then again i dont bother hiding my dovetails and always use throughs....


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