Lovetail Experiment & Practice

[Jim Koepke]

An article in an old FWW mag in the reading room inspired me to try these.

As always, mistakes were made and lessons learned. Next time, a harder wood will be tried.

Next time, I will not scribe a line on the outside.

These are in pine. The pins were darkened for contrast.

The top of the heart was made with a 5/16 inch bit in a brace. A drill press could also be employed if there was a working one in my shop. The bit has to be sharp to prevent tear out. Be careful when coming back from the underside not to push through and cause tear out. Also found boring the holes from right to left causes less problems.

jim

[Alan DuBoff]

Nice touch, would be good for Valentine's day. :)

[mike holden]

Very nicely done!
Do you have a project in mind?

These have fascinated me ever since I saw the article.

Mike

[Jim Becker]

LOL...I came "this close" to editing the title of this thead, thinking it was a mis-print, but fortunately clicked and took a look. Those are great!

When you think about it, the same technique could be used with any number of shapes to illustrate or celebrate something in the joinery.

[Ken Werner]

very interesting Jim, thanks for posting.

[Jim Koepke]

Very nicely done!
Do you have a project in mind?

These have fascinated me ever since I saw the article.

Mike

Have been thinking of using them on a platform bed frame that is in the queue of projects for our new home.

Maybe on a blanket chest also that will be made in the future.

jim

[Jim Koepke]

LOL...I came "this close" to editing the title of this thead, thinking it was a mis-print, but fortunately clicked and took a look. Those are great!

When you think about it, the same technique could be used with any number of shapes to illustrate or celebrate something in the joinery.

FWW has had a few articles on different treatments for "standard" joinery.
These looked like a good place to start.

One that intrigued me was dovetails with the tails center cut out so only the sides were left. It looked like a box joint with the fingers being angled.

Also have thought when I get a little better at carving to try animal shapes or heads. My wife has a thing for owls. I have been thinking about figuring a way to use an owl shape in joining wood.

Another was with blind dovetails with the cap covering the pins having through carving in them. The pins are cut very proud and then marked through the carving. The shape is then cut out on the top of the pin, when the joint is assembled, the top of the pins come through and can be smoothed over, leaving an artistic element at the joint.

Sometimes the best way to "hide" the joinery is to make it stand out.

jim