Lock Your Dovetails and Box Joints

Thanks Todd for sharing, great idea.

Hey Jack – glad you enjoyed and thanks for watching. Hope you give it a try some time and see what you think.

Thanks Todd ,very good idea almost the same as pegging tenons.

a1Jim – RIGHT! That is exactly the comparison I have made to others.

There is a lot of furniture out there where the tenons have held up just fine. There is some that is loose, but still holding, and some that have separated.

It is pretty much the same story for dovetails and box joints. Of course, the box joints are far more likely to pull apart than the dovetails because they do not lock together like the dovetails. But the point is that I have seen these joints in the various conditions just like tenons. Not all come apart, but some do.

The pin is just one way that, I think, pretty much guarantees that they won’t come apart. It is highly unlikely the pin will come out.

The beginning was a bit dramatic of course, it was a hook;)

I’ve been doing that for several years now.
It works very well!

Dez – Cool! I think it is a very logical thought to add the locking pin so I knew I wasn’t the only person doing it, but I had never seen anybody mentioning it or doing it in their work. Thanks for watching the video and thanks for the feedback!

Good tip Todd. I used this technique quite a few years ago on some box jointed storage shelves for my shop and my garden shed, also without glue. They still look freshly done after 16 years. I used nails instead of wooden plugs.

Mike40 – that is great to hear! I was interested in hearing feedback from others that have done this, I still am surprised it is not really common.

Very cool, I haven’t seen this before. Will start pinning some of my dovetails.

Manitario – Cool! Will be looking to see how you use it! You do some seriously great work.