# Unique "Birdseye" dovetail joinery?



## KaferKrazy (Jan 5, 2013)

Has anyone ever seen this kind of joinery before? I haven't but just noticed it on a piece of furniture inherited from a relative.


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## MadMark (Jun 3, 2014)

MLCS sells the router template for this and other shapes.
M


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## KaferKrazy (Jan 5, 2013)

Thanks for the tip, I found they have something similar and they actually call it Birdseye too!

https://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/smarthtml/pages/fast_joint_system.html

While their's is clearly setup for the radius of a router bit, what I'm seeing is a bit more complex. Either way, cool detail!


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## JayT (May 6, 2012)

It's called a Knapp joint and was popular for mass produced furniture in the late 1800's. I think it's a very cool look especially with contrasting woods.


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

> It s called a Knapp joint and was popular for mass produced furniture in the late 1800 s. I think it s a very cool look especially with contrasting woods.
> 
> - JayT


Good find on that. Something told me MLCS wasn't around when that piece in the photo was built.


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## KaferKrazy (Jan 5, 2013)

Wow, and the plot thickens! The family name from which this came was Knapp. Is there any further information out there on the namesake of the joinery technique??


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

http://vintagemachinery.org/mfgindex/detail.aspx?id=502


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## builtinbkyn (Oct 29, 2015)

Looks like a fellow LJer made this joint on a CNC machine. Link I found there's actually quite a bit of info on the joint around the net after doing a search. In the link I provided, there's a link to the jigs to replicate this joint.


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## bobro (Oct 24, 2014)

As far as I know, it's a late 19th-century factory machine method! But it looks nice and it's obviously a good joint, don't you think?


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