DW WOODWORKING

In the past few years I have built several pieces of furniture with single corner dovetails. When I say single corner joints I mean multiple dovetails fixing two or three pieces of wood together "A single corner" . There is always sides unsupported, Never a full shape like a square . I haven't seen a lot of examples of single corner furniture. Maybe because 4 corner dovetail construction, has been around for so long and has stood the test of time. The like of chests and drawers constructed with dovetails are common , and it is also common to see these examples with some age to them, with some examples from the 1700s still standing . This is because the dovetail joint is a strong joint and has been around since 3000bc , and has been seen in early Egyptian furniture. So if the above examples can last for all that time , it gives good indication that, single corner dovetail construction is viable if used with careful thought. Some time ago I built my...

A wood and leather bag, that has been floating around in my brain for far to long, has finally materialised . Consisting of a American Walnut, dovetailed frame , with lots of holes (162 to be exact) . Leather sides/ lid, and string to stich the whole thing together. The build itself wasn't hard but , it was fiddly and time consuming. The basic frame come together quickly with the dovetail construction.  The 162 holes however did not, they were drilled (10mm apart) and countersunk  by hand, inside and outside, to stop any fraying while stiching the bag together. These had to be spot on , as the stitching is a design feature and in plain sight. I glued the dovetails and used some 90° blocks, to help keep things square.   I added glue blocks to the inside corners to strengthen the joint, which I also beveled . Once the frame was dried I placed the leather on a flat surface, and Drew around the frame , inside and outside with a pencil, ...

Dovetails are visually stunning and of course they are structurally strong. What's more stunning then dovetails?Rounded dovetails! The first time I seen a rounded dovetails, I was amazed at how good they looked. So I looked into them in more depth, and I found that there was a lot of people petrified of them. Statements like 'your dovetails have to be perfect' can and do put people off. If your thinking of rounding your dovetails, chances are your dovetails are pretty good anyway. And even if there not . Just a few simple steps will give you good results. Below are the steps that I follow, that give me good results cutting dovetails so I can round them, if I choose to. I always start with my ends square. Not close , square. I then pencil the thickness of my material on one board. I don't allow extra when doing this, I shoot for getting it to the thickness. When you chisel out the Waste later, you WILL move your knife wall back. So allowing extra, is just m...