You know how a small child gets excited over a new toy from Lego City, well I react the same way over a new piece of handcrafted furniture. The mere sight of a dovetail joint makes me grin from ear to ear, and the thought of how durable the piece has been made based upon that element makes me want to jump up and down and giggle. This just happens to be the way my son Toby behaved when he received the Lego City Satellite Launch Pad, and the Fishing Boat. So, from experience, I know my reaction is on par with his.

I get my interest in furniture from my father, who was carpenter for over 45 years. In the beginning I would watch as he crafted chairs, drawers and table frames. As I got older he began to tell me about what he was doing, why he was doing it, and the importance of the techniques overall.

These talks were extremely special to me, as I normally had to vie for my father’s attention since I had so many siblings. None of the others were curious about what my father did in his work shed like I was. Sure, from time to time they would feign curiosity, but each of them would tire of the subject soon after, thus leaving me to spend ample time in the presence of our father solo.

My dad taught me that a dovetail joint is an especially good way to create woodworking joinery. It has a fabulous tensile strength, meaning it is truly difficult to pull apart. To construct such a joint you carve out a series of pins at the end of a board to interconnect with a series of tails cut out of the end of another board. The two sides are then placed together, and bound with glue. One of the most beautiful aspects of the dovetail is that it does not require any mechanical fasteners.

He was not shy in pointing out that this type of hand carving is not a simple exercise, and can take plenty of practice to ultimately master. For if there is any extra space between the pins and the tails the joint will not be snug, and will allow for movement that is problematic. The goal is to cut both parts so that they interlock tightly enough to prohibit any transfer.

What many people do not know is that there are several forms of dovetail, all of which require great skill to design properly, and that through dovetails we can often determine the different periods that furniture was made. Therefore, the method is useful in more ways than most people even know.

Thus, I think it is about time for me to pass this knowledge on to my own kids, along with a bit of history regarding the grandfather they never knew. My father taught me a great deal more regarding the construction of furniture, and just as I have benefitted from the knowledge over the years, I hope they will too.