We may receive a commission when you use our affiliate links. However, this does not impact our recommendations.
Photos courtesy of Mark Firley, thefurniturerecord.wordpress.com.
The furniture record shows us that “perfect dovetails” is a modern mania. As the photos of antiques above prove, even some of the ugliest joints will stay together for a very long time indeed (perhaps with a nail or two for good measure).
But James Krenov? He ruined us.
Nowadays, we strive for cutting perfect dovetails, right off the saw. So, how do you get there? Practice…lots of practice. And perhaps a few tricks.
So show me your best dovetail tricks – whether for hand-cut dovetails, power-tool-cut dovetails or a hybrid approach…and for through, half-blind, full-blind, mitered…all are welcome. If I get enough good ones (that we haven’t printed before), I’ll put together a “Tricks of the Trade” column for a future issue that features them. (And if we get only a handful of new-to-us clever tricks, I’ll print them in the regular Tricks columns – and, of course, pay the winners.)
Send those to me (with an image or two) – megan.fitzpatrick@fwmedia.com – with the subject line “Dovetail Trick” – and preferably before June 17, though we’re always looking for great tricks on any subject.
Porcupine tails? This gem has been kicking around in my car for a few months – left over from a talk I gave on “Light-tight dovetails: Fixes for Less-than-perfect Work.”
Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.
