The History of Wood Dovetail Joints

Dovetail joinery is a woodworking tradition that was used even in antiquity. Despite its association with handcrafted furniture, however, dovetail joints survived mass production.

Earliest Uses

Because of the perishability of wood, it is impossible to date the beginnings of dovetail joinery. However, examples of the joint appear in Egyptian wooden coffins of the Old Kingdom.

Tradition

Cabinetmakers fashioned dovetail joints by hand in the same way for thousands of years. Matching "pins" and "tails" were cut into the boards with angled saws and sharpened chisels, and glue was applied to cement the connection.

Innovation

The Knapp Joint was patented by Charles B. Knapp of Waterloo, Wisconsin in 1867. Sometimes, but not always, considered a dovetail joint, it looks like a peg in a half circle on the side of a drawer and could be made with a machine.

Mass Production

As mass production of American furniture got underway in the 1890s, steam-powered routers were used to cut precise and identical machined dovetail joints. European cabinetmakers continued to produce hand-cut dovetails through the 1930s.

Application

The type of dovetail joint can date furniture very precisely. The Knapp joint, for example, dates the piece to between 1871 and 1900, when it fell out of use with the advent of machined dovetail joints.

References

• "The Complete Dovetail"; Ian Kirby; 2001
• The Harp Gallery: Dovetails-A Clue for Dating Antiquities
• The Wood Works: Knapp's Pin and Crescent Drawer Joint
• Antique Web: Mr. Knapp's Oddity