Dovetail Discovery Center – Part 1: Hand-Cut Dovetails

This will be a 4 part-3 blog series on the Dovetail Discovery Center Seminars, held at the Toledo, Ohio Woodcraft store.

Franchise owners, John and Carroll Nystrom, hosted the event which featured 4 dovetail seminars. This Blog, part 1 will consist of hand-cut dovetails with Dennis Laney. Blog 2, Part 2 and part 3 will be combined to cover the Porter Cable 4200 Series Dovetail Jig with John Nystrom, including a comparison to the Leigh Super Jig with Carl Kuhnle. Blog 3, Part 4 will have guest speaker, Chad Stanton of Stanton Fine Furniture and WoodChoppinTime.com, where he will instruct us on the compound butt joint to make the compound dovetail.

Part 1: Hand-Cut Dovetails:

Dennis began his joinery apprenticeship as a child in his grandfather’s workshop. Dennis claims that his daytime job is owner, chief joiner, and sweeper of D.B. Laney Fine Finish Carpentry and Joinery, a company specializing in the repair, restoration, and replication of architectural details, staircases, crown molding, trim work and cabinetry. His focus is in the Victorian, Gothic and Classical Revival styles – “essentially anything that can be nailed, screwed, glued or joined in some fashion.” Though his professional background was in the automotive and boating industries, he has found that his grandfather’s love of wood and hand tools is where his heart is. More on Dennis’s woodworking can be found HERE.

Pictured here and in the video below, Dennis shares his hand-carved dovetail knowledge using these tools:

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Tune in tomorrow for the second blog on Parts 2 & 3 of the Dovetail Discovery Center Seminars from the Toledo, Ohio Woodcraft store, featuring the Porter Cable and Leigh Dovetail Jigs with John Nystrom and Carl Kuhnle.

auf Wiedersehen… Frank