Repairing a Johannes Aasbjerg Dovetail dresser  

Such talent and knowledge on this forum!
Best and impressed,
Your odd Aunt.

Oh, and I guess I should also mention that closing the splits that don't go the full length of the panel without some kind of structural reinforcement (i.e. biscuits, butterfly splines, etc.) will likely fail again in short order. I wouldn't do dowels here. Tremendous forces are involved that simple gluing and clamping just will not overcome in the end.
That said, closing the gaps is a viable option if you should decide to go that route. It's just that the dovetails likely won't line up if you do. That's not necessarily a deal-breaker, though, as there are relatively simple methods for making nearly invisible repairs to mis-cut or poorly aligned dovetail joints. In fact, this approach may indeed offer advantages over trying to fill the gaps.

Thanks for the kind words everybody. I will try and photograph the fun of fitting dovetails together hundreds of times.
Tktoo, what do you think about deactivating the glue in the lamination that was completely separated? (I was thinking of using my steamer).

Hey, Mark. Most of it is just desperate attempt to compensate for a hopeless lack of fashion sense!
P.S. Today, I'm sporting the same tattered jeans that I've worn for the previous two. And, on Tuesday, they didn't have a hole in one knee.
Leif, hot water, let it gel, and scrape it off with an old credit card. Steam will work, too, but it seems unnecessarily complicated. Try both?

Love this thread. Very tempted to hijack it with questions. Thanks.

I believe questions are allowed. Especially if they pertain. If they don't, of course you could ask in another thread.

I respectfully went ahead and started another thread. Continue doing cool stuff in here.

Leif, do the kerf marks you mentioned on the dovetails suggest to you that they were hand cut or machine cut ?
I see you use a deadblow mallet. Aren't they great ?

This is becoming fierce chatter.
yes,
Aunt M.

SDR: they look like they were cut with a hand saw.

I've cut just enough dovetails to know that for me, they could never become a part of my work. Needless to say I have a healthy respect for those to whom they seem to be almost an everyday occurrence !

The split is getting glue. I cleaned the edges really well, and fabricated those clamping blocks to protect the "bullet head" edge of the front of the dresser. Test clamped it, and the split closed up better than expected. So I got out the hide glue and glued it up.

And out of the clamps. A good solid glue bond. I didn't need to stress about this split as much as I did.

Turning new teak legs on my new lathe. I really, really like this machine! And the template leg is one of the legs from my other Aasbjerg dresser so I could get the measurements just right.
I pre-drilled the holes for the table hanger bolts. As a result they are not quite 100% centered, but they are only very slightly off, and they work just find. Next time I need to re-make some legs, I will get the drill press jig for centering a hole in the side of a round spindle

Sweet, Leif. Thanks for the big photos. Above you show both sides of the top ?