"Nick" wrote in
:


"Electric Comet" wrote in message
...

i will probably try blind dovetails one day
god help me

They're not actually as hard as they look. Not that I'm very
good at them, mind you, but I wouldn't say they're much harder
than thru dovetails.

Of course you will, natural curiousity has been sparked up.
Then have a look at blind secret mitred dovetails. Never tried this as
I've never had the need but imagine it's possibly the most complicated
woodworking joint.

Hmmm, I'd argue for fox-wedged tenons as hardest, albeit not
complicated in conception. Most complicated would probably be
some of the locking scarph joints shipbuilders used in the days
of wooden ships.

I imagine a dovetail would be quite worthless in anything but a
hard/dense timber.

Dunno why you'd say that. It's common to dovetail softer woods
like poplar or white pine for the sides of drawers. Some folk
cut the angle a little wider in softer woods (others say it
doesn't make any difference).

John