The Complete Dovetail: Handmade Furniture's Signature Joint (Cambium Handbook)

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Summary: The Complete Dovetail
Review: After reading this book my first ever hand dovetail joint came out perfect. Very clear and concise with an eye towards traditional fine woodworking.

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Summary: Unbelievable detail & great diagrams
Review: Kirby does an outstanding job of describing the necessary steps to making a hand cut dovetail joint. Actually, many of his lessons are also applicable if you're using a router to machine your dovetails. I've read other articles that only explain the principle, but they fail to cover topics such as squaring your wood, and the principle behind techniques. Kirby covers every aspect of the making the dovetail joint. He differs in opinion with other authors, but his method obviously works. This is a fantastic work for anyone looking to learn hand made dovetail joinery.

Rating:
Summary: Unbelievable detail & great diagrams
Review: Kirby does an outstanding job of describing the necessary steps to making a hand cut dovetail joint. Actually, many of his lessons are also applicable if you're using a router to machine your dovetails. I've read other articles that only explain the principle, but they fail to cover topics such as squaring your wood, and the principle behind techniques. Kirby covers every aspect of the making the dovetail joint. He differs in opinion with other authors, but his method obviously works. This is a fantastic work for anyone looking to learn hand made dovetail joinery.

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Summary: the best guide for hand cut dovetails
Review: Thank you Ian Kirby! Thank you. I am new to woodworking and was fascinated with the hand cut dovetail. I purchased Ian's book a few month ago, and it was easy to read, complete and authoritative. I'm sorry, but you cannot learn how to dovetail from a three page magazine article. This book is comprehensive, with good photographs. I did Ian's practice joints, then made a bookshelf joined with dovetails. They turned out great. Then I walked into a master woodworking class and the project required hand-cut dovetails. It was quite intimidating but I was confident in my dovetails. I even brought the book along. My dovetails were gorgeous - the best in the class! The project went great. Ian Kirby is the best! He is a master of woodworking and his book reflects this.

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Summary: the best guide for hand cut dovetails
Review: Woodworking magazines are forever publishing articles describing methods for making dovetail joints. There are articles on router jigs for dovetails, home made jigs for dovetails, dovetails on the table saw and dovetails on the band saw. None of that is in this book. Nevertheless, the title is not misleading. To Ian Kirby, those methods have nothing to do with dovetail joints. So, absent those table saws and jigs, how can he do 151 pages on four simple hand-made joints. Well it is easy if you consider this book not a treatise on joints, but the essential textbook for a hands-on weeklong beginning course in woodworking in Kirby's shop. Mr. Kirby is obviously a teacher. The book focuses on the smallest detail, from how to mark the face side of a rough board you have just prepared with a hand plane, to how to stand when you pare horizontally with a chisel. In these small details, Mr. Kirby is precise and opinionated. I can easily invasion enthusiastic disagreement over these details with other classically trained master woodworkers. But only the most thorough understanding and elegant skill could give one the right to disagree. The writing style is as simple, straightforward and precise as the joints it describes. The illustrations and pictures are clear and explanatory. Nevertheless, Mr. Kirby often presumes on the reader's woodworking vocabulary and knowledge of drafting. The book sometimes expresses the impatience of a master who sees the subject clearly and cannot fathom the student's incomprehension. If your woodworking ideal is cutting gnomes from plywood on a scroll saw or running out to buy the latest laser-guided nuclear-powered jointer you just saw "advertised" on the "New Yankee Workshop" this book is not for you. But, if you want to learn how to quickly and precisely create dovetails with simple hand tools, and you are willing to actually do the exercises Mr. Kirby prescribes, buy this book. A last word of caution though - know how to sharpen your tools first.

Rating:
Summary: A week in Ian Kirby's shop
Review: Woodworking magazines are forever publishing articles describing methods for making dovetail joints. There are articles on router jigs for dovetails, home made jigs for dovetails, dovetails on the table saw and dovetails on the band saw. None of that is in this book. Nevertheless, the title is not misleading. To Ian Kirby, those methods have nothing to do with dovetail joints. So, absent those table saws and jigs, how can he do 151 pages on four simple hand-made joints. Well it is easy if you consider this book not a treatise on joints, but the essential textbook for a hands-on weeklong beginning course in woodworking in Kirby's shop. Mr. Kirby is obviously a teacher. The book focuses on the smallest detail, from how to mark the face side of a rough board you have just prepared with a hand plane, to how to stand when you pare horizontally with a chisel. In these small details, Mr. Kirby is precise and opinionated. I can easily invasion enthusiastic disagreement over these details with other classically trained master woodworkers. But only the most thorough understanding and elegant skill could give one the right to disagree. The writing style is as simple, straightforward and precise as the joints it describes. The illustrations and pictures are clear and explanatory. Nevertheless, Mr. Kirby often presumes on the reader's woodworking vocabulary and knowledge of drafting. The book sometimes expresses the impatience of a master who sees the subject clearly and cannot fathom the student's incomprehension. If your woodworking ideal is cutting gnomes from plywood on a scroll saw or running out to buy the latest laser-guided nuclear-powered jointer you just saw "advertised" on the "New Yankee Workshop" this book is not for you. But, if you want to learn how to quickly and precisely create dovetails with simple hand tools, and you are willing to actually do the exercises Mr. Kirby prescribes, buy this book. A last word of caution though - know how to sharpen your tools first.