French dovetail vs english dovetail. Dovetail joint translation french english french dictionary meaning see also detaildovedovecotdevotional example of use definition conjugation. In the finest drawers and furniture you will find the english dovetail as its simply stronger and better looking. However they differ slightly because of how the drawers front sides bottom and back are pieced together. The french dovetail differs greatly from the english dovetail.
To cause something to fit. This video explains the difference of english dovetail and french dovetail for drawer construction. The english dovetail construction tends to allow for the largest possible drawer storage capacity. The triangular cuts help the drawers stay together under strain as the dovetailing is pulled into the increasing width of the dovetailing.
These hard woods allowed finer dovetails. English dovetail uses triangluer jigsaw cut wood that fits together tightly. No i discovered that this was a term adopted by furniture stores to differentiate between a true dovetail what these stores call english dovetails and a less impressive sliding dovetail. I can only assume that furniture stores did so because customers have learned that dovetailed drawers equate to better quality.
The french also used oak but the germans used softer pine which more or less required a larger dovetail. French dovetail construction is used for more elaborate features such a curved bowed design. Both are techniques used to join pieces of wood to form a drawer. The french appears to be a sliding dovetail and cant be placed on the outside corner of a drawer as you might have with a flush surface.
English and french dovetail drawer we often get asked what is the difference between english and french dovetail drawer construction. The french integrates the drawer face where the english may or may not. The english dovetail makes the joint at the very edge of the wood which means you get the most space inside the drawer.