I also never heard the term. There is a way of fixing the front of the drawer to the side rails without using the conventional dovetails....it works wilt small light weithg drawers that won't carry a heavy load. But I have never heard it called "hidden dovetails."
Linda C

Hi Alex,

There is such a thing as a hidden dovetail, although it is more often called a sliding dovetail. If the drawer sides appear to butt into the face of the drawer, remove it and look at the bottom of the drawer front - you should be able to see the dovetailed front of the drawer sides, which have been inserted into a dovetailed shaped slot in the drawer front. This construction is quite strong if done correctly. It is usually used if the drawer front is not inset into the case of the piece, and the drawer fronts overlay the face frame, or if there are metal slides attached on the drawer. Regarding dovetailed boxes with screwed on fronts - this is also a legitimate method of making a drawer where the drawer front is a different size than the drawer box. Again, this usually occurs with overlay drawers and/or metal slides. Like all woodworking techniques, the right thing can be done well or badly. Telling which you are looking at is harder than simply identifying the joinery. Good luck!

Paul Downs

A "blind dovetail" is the reigning king of difficult-to-cut woodworking joints: from the outside it usually looks like the mating pieces are just mitered together, but there are pins and tails hidden inside the wood! I think it can be executed by machine, but if done well by hand it is the stock and trade of a master artisan.
A sliding dovetail is mostly hidden, but at the bottom you can see where the drawer side enters the drawer front; Whereas a blind dovetail is completely hidden.
Casey

Thanks everybody for answering my question. Paul, your description of the hidden dovetail sounds like French dovetail (picture 1). But that is not the case for the piece I saw. I attached the picture of the HH piece that I saw (picture 2). As you can see, the drawer front and drawer box are the same size, and the drawer goes into the case completely. The front of the drawers is curved. The place where you typically see the pins connecting to each other on an English dovetailed drawer is covered with a piece of wood (about 1/8 ÂÂ thick) that matches the color of the drawer front.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1528338}}

Here is Picture 2

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1528339}}

It's a little hard to see in the picture, but it appears that the drawer may have a cock bead, which is a molding which goes around all 4 sides of the drawer front and sits a little proud of the veneer, usually with a half round profile. It's traditional to apply this over the dovetails, hiding them. Since the piece appears to be a very traditional style, I would guess this is what you have, but without seeing a picture of the drawer side and front, it's impossible to say for sure.

Paul

Paul, I think you are absolutely right. I re-examine the drawer, just like you said, the molding consists of four pieces of flat wood board that mittered at the corners. The thin board cover up the joint between the side board and the drawer front. I would never figure this out if you didn't tell me. I learned something today. Thank you very much.

This is more commonly called a french dovetail and is not as strong as the english dovetail that most people think of when they here the term. The french dovetail is very cost effective but will seperate and come loose within the first two years although it will never completely pull away from the face. This is another example of companies trying to cut corners after they have built up their reputation and they will receive the backlash of the public. This often happens when times are bad for the furniture industry like it is now. Stay away from this type of joint. Good luck

Bob - that's a little harsh. As I stated earlier, if done correctly it is a perfectly good joint, and would last forever. Done poorly, it will fail as you indicate. This is true of all joinery. The difficulty is that non-experts find it much easier to identify a joint is than than to tell whether it is done right.

Paul Downs

Good question. I was in a store today looking at an EIGHT THOUSAND dollar dresser in an extremely high-end store and the drawers were not dovetailed. I was very surprised.

does anyone know how to make a dovetail joint on a curved front or angled front drawer box without using a sliding dovetail?

does anyone know how to make a dovetail joint on a curved front or angled front drawer box without using a sliding dovetail?

You'd probably need a separate drawer box and drawer front. Otherwise it would be very time consuming and difficult to make. You might find it on antique, but with new furniture I've never seen this done to accomodate a dovetail. Not saying its never been done, just that I've never seen it.

Most shaped drawers like this will have ball-bearing drawer glides. If you have ball bearing drawer glides, then you don't need a dovetail because you won't have nearly the stress on the drawer front that you get from a center guided wood/wood or steel/wood glide.

That reminds me of when I was in my furniture making class in 1970. I made full blind dovetails to join the ogee bracket feet of a cabinet I was making. The instructor asked me why I had done it that way. I said because it's a good joint. He agreed it was, but said he would never go to that much trouble for something that didn't show. I've made half blind dovetails on both curved and angled drawers. It's not too difficult if you first draw it out and then do one on some scrap wood to make sure it works. I never had occasion to do these on a machine, but I suppose one could figure it out. I've also built cabinets with the beading on the drawers and doors but I prefer to put the beading on the frame unless you are copying a masterpiece, then you do it as it was originally done. Very valuable antiques were done both ways. When you put the beading on the drawers rather than the frame, then the dovetails don't show as explained above. The old timers didn't have the obsession of displaying their joints like we have today.