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Forum topic by Lee Barker | posted 02-26-2011 01:13 AM | 6634 views | 0 times favorited | 13 replies | ![]() |
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02-26-2011 01:13 AM |
Topic tags/keywords: dovetails box joints joint strength resource Before you get into a big bar bet, better check this out. Beyond the obvious interest in the subject, I am really impressed with how he set the whole test up. Just enough science to make it pretty reliable, with still some room to exercise your woodworking muscle instead of paying someone to weld up something fancy! Kindly, Lee -- "...in his brain, which is as dry as the remainder biscuit after a voyage, he hath strange places cramm'd with observation, the which he vents in mangled forms." --Shakespeare, "As You Like It" |
13 replies so far
#1 posted 02-26-2011 05:31 AM |
That was interesting. Thanks for sharing. I’ve always felt a good box joint was as strong as a dovetail joint, but a dovetail joint can be a little showier. This confirmed that. -- Rich, Cedar Rapids, IA - I'm a woodworker. I don't create beauty, I reveal it. |
#2 posted 02-26-2011 05:59 AM |
Thanks Lee, you are right, an impressive simple test. If I hadn’t read Rich’s comment, I would not have thought the dovetail would have been weaker. -- Randy "You are judged as much by the questions you ask as the answers you give..." |
#3 posted 02-26-2011 07:28 AM |
Not a very fair test when he’s got nearly twice as many finger joints as dovetail joints which means nearly double the glue surface. -- Don - I wood work if I could. Redmond WA. |
#4 posted 02-26-2011 08:43 AM |
But if you tried to put that many dovetails on the same piece, would it be any stronger? I wonder what the optimal number of dovetails would be in that example. Also, even with more fingers, the box joint was quicker to make. The way I see it is that I would expect the optimal number of fingers in a box joint would be stronger than the optimal dovetail joint. -- Scroll saw patterns @ http://www.sheilalandrydesigns.com |
#5 posted 02-26-2011 08:46 AM |
I remember this test he did a while ago…. -- Childress Woodworks |
#6 posted 02-26-2011 09:50 AM |
Box joint is obviously stronger than dovetail (given sufficient glue area in both cases). No need for testing here. |
#7 posted 02-26-2011 10:06 AM |
In fact, finger joint has a threshold after which failure occurs in fingers rather than along glued surface. After this threshold increase in number of fingers does not compromise strength. |
#8 posted 02-26-2011 10:06 AM |
i believe i saw this on his site long time ago. but then this is kind of pointless, both methods almost overengeneered anyway, theres 100+ year old drawer chests here that have huge drawers joined by simple nailed rabbets, and they hold up just fine! |
#9 posted 02-26-2011 10:51 AM |
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#10 posted 02-26-2011 04:21 PM |
Viktor – I find your graft interesting and insightful. THank you. Can you comment on the optimal number of pin/tails? -- Rich, Cedar Rapids, IA - I'm a woodworker. I don't create beauty, I reveal it. |
#11 posted 02-26-2011 05:08 PM |
Matthias Wandel is impressive. Fine WoodWorking did a more exten$ive joint test. -Jack |
#12 posted 02-26-2011 05:11 PM |
Great points Skarp. I’m also in the “Does it look nice, and still remain strong?” camp. They’re both strong enough and making anything stronger than strong enough is wasted effort. So deciding which to use should be based primarily on how nice you want something to look and how much work it takes. I don’t think that means dovetails will always win though. Green and Green style has some pretty nice looking finger joints. -- Don - I wood work if I could. Redmond WA. |
#13 posted 02-26-2011 06:55 PM |
Rich, optimal number will depend on glue strength and wood properties (compression vs tensile strength, etc.). In other words I don’t know :-) May be someone cares to conduct an experiment? |
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