Today my worst nightmare as a teacher came true during a dovetail demonstration. As I knocked together the components of the joint under the watchful eyes of 18 students and two video cameras at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking, I realized that the joint I cut was probably the gappiest one I’d cut in … Read more
Tag Archives: Dovetails
Different Dovetail Joinery
You’ve read a number of posts on this blog about our upcoming book based on furniture, photos and information found at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) and in Old Salem. I’m working on drawings of a few of the pieces and have come across a second use of a dovetail joint that … Read more
Spiral Blades: Good for Dovetailing?
While packing my tools to teach a toolbox class in Germany, I knew two things: 1. The students had to cut a lot of dovetails in 7/8”-thick material. 2. Coping saws are uncommon on the Continent. So I packed an extra coping saw blade in my luggage, which turned out to be either a stupid … Read more
An Awfully Tough Build
This weekend, I made a small walnut and maple box. In my six years of woodworking, it’s the toughest project I’ve ever built. Last Friday morning, I had to say goodbye to Cleocatra, the sweet kitty who adopted me at the SPCA in 1996. I don’t know how old she was – but I do know … Read more
More Hand-cut Dovetail Cheating
This past weekend I was in the magazine shop working on a project for the August issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. The only hint I can give about the project is that the piece I’m working on has small drawers. In building those small drawers, I opted to use a couple techniques and ideas that … Read more
Hand-cut Dovetails 2.0 with Rob Cosman
If you’re interested in learning to cut dovetails by hand, boy do you have choices. Google hand-cut dovetail videos and the returns total more than 100,000 (no, I didn’t count them). Yesterday I watched Rob Cosman’s second DVD on dovetails, hence the name “Hand-cut Dovetails 2.0.” It’s been 10 years since his first dovetail video. … Read more
Dovetailed Keepsake Box
Shortcuts learned as you build this classic box help you become a better joiner.
By Glen. D. Huey
Pages: 44-47
From the April 2011 issue #189
Buy this issue now
This box is chock-full, but don’t look on the inside. Check out the outside. It’s loaded with dovetail joinery – through dovetails on the front and half-blind dovetails on the back. It’s an ideal practice project for the finer points of the dovetail joint and when you’re finished you’ll have a great-looking keepsake box that can be built on the cheap using offcuts.
Video: Learn how to turn inexpensive hardware into dark, grungy hinges.
Video: Watch Frank Klausz pound out dovetails in three minutes.
In our store: “New Masters of the Wooden Box” by Oscar Fitzgerald.
Model: Download the SketchUp model for the Keepsake Box.
From the April 2011 issue #189
Buy this issue now
Read more