Pay Back Time!

[Mark Singer]

I appreciate all the pics that are being post showing joinery... Lets just reflect on the point of the tutorials for a moment....it was to learn hand tool and machine tool techniques to design and execute joinery that will enhance both structurally and esthetically hand made furiniture....starting with basic one of a kind operations.... I am not trying to show how to use a dovetail jig, Incra jig or other device that makes joinery if you follow the directions ....to me this is "processing " wood. Wood goes in ....joinery comes out! I can't teach much about that....I don't know how to use these type of jigs and it is not the point of discussion. If thats the way you want to make joinery now and in the future, then it belongs in a different thread. It does not require the same thought and preperation and the results are predicatble and do not feel like handmade joinery to woodworkers and often to people that just like handcrafted furniture....somehow they can tell the difference. To submit these types of techniques is like bringing a TV dinner to a cooking class....its easier...its predicatable...its food...it tastes like a TV dinner. It is not real cooking....
My efforts in these tutorials is to make more people comfortable in using the right joinery to feel comfortable using it in furniture...I did use some power tools and hand tools....which is consistent with books that teach Joinery like Tage Frid's "Woodworking"....I started with the very difficult mitered dovetails, all cut by hand (if you wanted to use a bandsaw for some of the cuts, like David Charlesworth and David Marks demonstrate, thats fine)...for last joint, the "half lap dovetail" I used a router, a bandsaw, a chisel and a simple jig that I made...
I tried to make it easy and straight forward to encourage many to try....so please show us joinery that requires a process of using individual tools to make "one of a kind" joints ....because that is what we are discussing

[Chris Mann]

here are handcut dovetails and a handcut wedged mortise/tenon


and here's a half lap dovetail and a loose right angle tenon to strengthen the miter


and a detail of the right angle tenon (with handcut dovetails)


-chris

[Mark Singer]

Chris,
That is beautiful work! Execution and design is terrific! The care , thought and crafstmanship are truly conveyed through the piece....!