Historical Application of Dovetail Corner Joints with Practical Example

This paper presents the most common traditional dovetail joints used in furniture making in past centuries, which are among the almost forgotten skills, practiced today by only a relatively small number of restoration workshops. The paper deals with the basic joints used in the restoration of furniture and traditional woodworking (houses, churches, temples, etc.) for the purpose of protecting rich cultural heritage. The history of furniture making is also the history of the art of making joints. In restoration, knowledge of these joints facilitates and accelerates the dating of furniture pieces to be restored. For this reason, the aim of this paper is to present an overview of the use of dovetail joints. The decorative effect of these joints and their constructive ingenuity certainly deserve more attention and research. A historical review of the development of traditional dovetail corner joints demonstrates the importance of the skill of crafting joints that stand the test of time and survive to this day. With the development of art, the joints became more and more decorative, but also of higher quality to withstand the various stresses that occur when furniture is used. Practical examples of making traditional dovetail corner joints are used to show how important it is to preserve the craftsmanship of these traditional joints from being forgotten, which is necessary when restoring furniture and other historical structural components made of wood such as ceilings, floors and altars.