From: "Bob May" 
To: "atmlist" 
Reply-To: "Bob May" 


Joints in woodworking are a combination of strength and ease of making.  A
dovetail is somewhat stronger than a finger joint in that a good joint will
tend to hold things without the need for glue more than a finger joint.
Probably the prettiest joint is the hidden dovetail.  this joint has
dovetails inside what looks just like a mitered joint.  The outside looks
just like a straight miter but there are dovetails holding the wood
together, a somewhat difficult joint to do as there is a lot of handwork to
do the dovetails well.
If I were to do a joint on a production line basis of max. strength, it
would indeed be the fine tooth finger joint.  After that, I'd end up with a
machine (this is for production, not a one off project) to do dovetails.
For a single job, I'd do either plain dovetails or hidden dovetails
depending upon the utility of the joint. I'll also note that a batten in
the corner will strengthen any joint, especially joints done with plywood. 
A triangle will be more asthetic than a square block and a concave curved
batten will still provide a lot of support and look the best.
FWIW, I watch The Woodwright's Shop on PBS every week and have learned a
lot about basic woodworking from that show.  All of the other shows do a
lot of working with power tools while that show uses handpower for
everything - even the lathe work is foot powered!  Many things can be done
better with power tools but in the end, the only thing that power tools do
for you is to make the job go faster.  I might also note that my collection
of hand tools isn't that extensive but I feel that almost anything is
within my grasp of work as I can indeed build tools that I need from those
tools (one episode of the show is how to build your own woodworking
lathe!). I'll note that once you learn how to layout and make dovetails,
you will go through a period where everything gets dovetails as they go so
fast that you will have to see them appear out of some wood again and
again! Bob May
http://nav.to/bobmay
bobmay{at}nethere.com
NEW! http://bobmay.astronomy.net

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