Butterfly

[Charles Grauer]

I have a 3” slab that has a crack top and bottom, not separated very much but would like to support it from getting worse. What is a good rule to determine the width and length of the butterfly insert and how thick would you make it. It is walnut and will be a side table. It is from the crotch of the tree. About 23” wide on the twin branch end and 12” on the single branch end. It will have mortised tapered wooden legs 3 1/2” wide by 1 1/2” thick cut to yield a tenon that will be 3 1/8” x 1” Question: The butterfly wedge joint to reinforce the crack on top and bottom.

[Kevin Jenness]

Experiment with card stock bowties of various sizes to see what looks right. Maybe start with 3/4" x 1 1/2" to 2" and go up or down from there. You can try various shapes as well, like a concave curve at the ends. I would make keys of that size at least 5/16" thick. Thinner would be equally functional but if you can see the thickness at the split it becomes a visual judgment.

[Charles Grauer]

Experiment with card stock bowties of various sizes to see what looks right. Maybe start with 3/4" x 1 1/2" to 2" and go up or down from there. You can try various shapes as well, like a concave curve at the ends. I would make keys of that size at least 5/16" thick. Thinner would be equally functional but if you can see the thickness at the split it becomes a visual judgment.

thank you for the suggestions. That helps

[Jamie Buxton]

If you use the traditional bowtie shape, with its sharp corners, you're pretty much committed to handtools. If you use a shape without the sharp corners -- think dogbone for instance -- you can do it all with a router.

[Kevin Jenness]

If you use the traditional bowtie shape, with its sharp corners, you're pretty much committed to handtools. If you use a shape without the sharp corners -- think dogbone for instance -- you can do it all with a router.

It's all a matter of taste- but dovetail keys with rounded corners make me gag.

[Charles Grauer]

It's all a matter of taste- but dovetail keys with rounded corners make me gag.

The ones I’ve done in the past I squared up the corners (sharpened)

[Stan Calow]

Eagle-America has a router template for this: https://www.eagleamerica.com/product...uter_templates

[Charles Grauer]

Eagle-America has a router template for this: https://www.eagleamerica.com/product...uter_templates

thank you. Will look at the link

[Scott Winners]

I stumbled on this one some time ago and it helped me relax about bowties/ dovetail clamps rather muchly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNBO2OBxF8k

On my 3" thick chop for my leg vise I made bowties about 11/16 thick, cut mortises about 9/16 deep, planed flat after glue up. They are less than a year old but I am not worried about them, Doug Fir in Doug Fir.

[Charles Grauer]

I stumbled on this one some time ago and it helped me relax about bowties/ dovetail clamps rather muchly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNBO2OBxF8k

On my 3" thick chop for my leg vise I made bowties about 11/16 thick, cut mortises about 9/16 deep, planed flat after glue up. They are less than a year old but I am not worried about them, Doug Fir in Doug Fir.

Thanks, will look at it