Hi all;
I'm about to start my Christmas presents for my daughters. I'm making them keepsake boxes out of Honduran mahogany. Dimensions will be something like 16"L X 12" W X 7" H. I'll use my Leigh jig for the dovetails.
This time I'd like to vary the spacing and layout of the dovetails, rather than make them evenly spaced. I'm just out of ideas as to what irregular spacing might look "right" on a box of those dimensions.
Anybopdy got any ideas or inspiration?
Thanks a heap,
-Zz
For uniformity I try to make the uneven spacing symmetrical. The top half /right side is a mirror image of the bottom side/left side. From there just play around. I do like to have smaller spacing near the corners for maximum strength.
The only asymmetrical layouts I have seen that I liked are actually still actually symmetrical about the mid point. I've also seen where they have progressively larger spaces. On big boxes you can make them bigger as they move down the box to make it look bottom heavy. However, I like it when they get bigger from both ends toward the center.
Maybe just workjing in from the outside on the 7 inch edge you make 2 at each end with very small gaps, then the next one from ech end about
2/3 bigger and one large space in the middle.
What he said. I prefer sizing the edge pins, then the center pin or tail, and working back out to the edges.
You can use any kind of spacing you think looks good. My personal visual preference is even spacing.
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