Dovetail Spike Connection: Workflow (video)

When constructing buildings and structures made of wood, you should always be able to make the right joint of wood among themselves. Various methods are used for this, but among all of them there is also a unique one - the thorny connection of the dovetail, which has been practiced and perfected for many centuries. In the 21st century, this method of connection ranks among the most advanced variations in the world, thanks to which it is used in all countries.

Primary working activity

When making spike connections, you should always pay attention to several factors, since special ideas are used in each particular case (Fig. 1). The connection is made not only for the corner joints, but also for the connection of 2 wooden segments in a row, which makes it completely unique. However, the manufacturing process itself is not very simple. There are several popular variations:

1. Milling machine. In order to form a dovetail, you can use special nozzles. But here it should be borne in mind that the nozzles cut only the grooves, and the spikes will have to do with his own ax. If there is a good experience with a manual milling machine, then it is necessary to tighten 2 segments with a yoke, and then pass the machine exactly in the center, which will allow to form a reverse groove. Such a system is most often used on small structures.
2. Chainsaw. When working with timber or round timber, the milling machine is already catastrophically small, so you need to use a more dimensional tool. To begin with, a future cut point is marked on the blank with a pencil, after which a groove is cut by a chainsaw for 3 approaches. For the next 2 approaches a spike is made (fig. 2). There is only one caveat: you need to carefully select the working width of the boom, since it should not be too wide so as not to cut off the excess.
3. Ax, hammer and chisel. The oldest of the existing options. However, they allow to achieve the final result with a probability of 100%. The work is extremely slow, so it is advisable to start cutting 1 month before the start of the main work in order to be in time. The particular advantage of this method lies in the durability of the result, since after the ax the wood begins to rot much later than after drinking.

Before starting a working activity, you should always look at the volumes and dimensions of the upcoming works, because the connection of the dovetail is the most difficult and effective of the existing ones. Often use half-hearted options, where you no longer need to cut a full-length trapezium, but only its truncated twofold option.

A truncated trapezoid is convenient when forming oblique joints, where the angle between the walls is different from 90 ° in any direction, since, if desired, you can tilt the entire structure in any interesting direction.

When developing a fastening system, it is necessary to leave the sinuses equal to 5% of the resulting spike, so that during shrinkage do not accidentally start a crack. With good experience, it is already possible to select such wood that will give minimal shrinkage. This will simplify the task, but initially the gap should still be small.

Summing up

Making a spike dovetail is a fairly simple process that anyone with the right tool and physical training can handle.

A very important aspect is properly dried wood, which will not change its shape after installation (there should be no surprises in the end).