I agree with everything you said except for your rule about having a minimum of three dovetails. It should determined based on the design context of the individual piece, not arbitrary rules. Your box plinth is a perfect example. Three dovetails would have been disproportionate with the case, and it would have become a distracting focal point rather than part of a cohesive design.
Drawers are another matter. While I agree three dovetails on the drawer might look more “correct”, I think it’s even more appropriate to deviate from “rules” with drawers because I actually like to make them a focal point. Since they’re only visible some of the time it’s a cool way to add little surprises like contrasting species, figure, or even big ol’ wide dovetails 🙂
I rather like a sequence of spacing instead of them all being equal. I know others make the tails so they cut with a 3/8 chisel and therefore a bit simpler for chopping out the waste. Lots of tricks and details to try out and make your own.
Thank you for sharing this. So helpful. I would add that the dimensions of boxes matter for me as well (By Hand and Eye texts available at Lost Arts Press). The box you shared is so pleasing to the eye. At art or craft fairs, I have seen boxes where the height is not a good proportion to the square. In rectangle shapes, the length versus the width could be off. So there are certain dimensions that are more pleasing to the eye and it seems like people who are good with design do those shapes naturally.
I agree with everything you said except for your rule about having a minimum of three dovetails. It should determined based on the design context of the individual piece, not arbitrary rules. Your box plinth is a perfect example. Three dovetails would have been disproportionate with the case, and it would have become a distracting focal point rather than part of a cohesive design.
Drawers are another matter. While I agree three dovetails on the drawer might look more “correct”, I think it’s even more appropriate to deviate from “rules” with drawers because I actually like to make them a focal point. Since they’re only visible some of the time it’s a cool way to add little surprises like contrasting species, figure, or even big ol’ wide dovetails 🙂
It’s all a moving target. Three is a hard minimum until it isn’t. I think my point is probably closer to “I’m always trying to hit three minimum.”
As for the drawer you’re just wrong :-)
We’re both right, that’s the beauty of design 😀
And why I stay away from writing about it lol
I rather like a sequence of spacing instead of them all being equal. I know others make the tails so they cut with a 3/8 chisel and therefore a bit simpler for chopping out the waste. Lots of tricks and details to try out and make your own.
Thank you for sharing this. So helpful. I would add that the dimensions of boxes matter for me as well (By Hand and Eye texts available at Lost Arts Press). The box you shared is so pleasing to the eye. At art or craft fairs, I have seen boxes where the height is not a good proportion to the square. In rectangle shapes, the length versus the width could be off. So there are certain dimensions that are more pleasing to the eye and it seems like people who are good with design do those shapes naturally.