Quite an impressive build! The front frame is very nice. One thing though: if you'd look at antique lowboys you will notice that most have their side panels cracked, there's a bunch of videos on YT where a piece is flawless except the crack on the side. It happened because sides were either mortised or dovetailed into a leg just as yours. So modern approach is to do a breadboard clamp instead: upper and lower mortises are 1/8" wider than tenons, so a panel can move a little.
I’m new to this so I’m not entirely sure what “breadboard clamp” means. As far as I understood, you mean making the mortises just slightly wider than the tenons so the panel can move inside them if needed? Am I correct?
Ah, only the lower and upper mortises. Like when attaching a top to a table using buttons? The middle one(s) would be fixed and the ones at each end would allow for movement.
Quite an impressive build! The front frame is very nice. One thing though: if you'd look at antique lowboys you will notice that most have their side panels cracked, there's a bunch of videos on YT where a piece is flawless except the crack on the side. It happened because sides were either mortised or dovetailed into a leg just as yours. So modern approach is to do a breadboard clamp instead: upper and lower mortises are 1/8" wider than tenons, so a panel can move a little.
Thanks for the comment!
Will have a look at this other method for future reference.
I’m new to this so I’m not entirely sure what “breadboard clamp” means. As far as I understood, you mean making the mortises just slightly wider than the tenons so the panel can move inside them if needed? Am I correct?
Ah, only the lower and upper mortises. Like when attaching a top to a table using buttons? The middle one(s) would be fixed and the ones at each end would allow for movement.