dovetail bench

I was going to be critical about the corner dove tails showing, but the more I looked at it- the more I liked it.

A fine job.

Anthony

I would say the workmanship and material selection is very nice.

To be a little critical from an engineering, or design, aspect, I would be a little concerned about the lack of cross-bracing or anything to keep it from racking with a lateral load placed on it. I realize the dovetails are a strong joint, but there could be a lot of stresses at those points.

Otherwise, I'm sure it is a fine piece and definitely looks nice.

Dave

nice bench. David marks does some nice work. did they cancel Woodworks or something? It hasn't been on and was off again tonight. I sure miss it on saturday mornings. nothing like replacing a great show with a craptackular one.

thanks for the comments. I think the bench is pretty solid because at the dovetails it is 8/4. marks now is only on sat night on diy network.

I think it looks great. How long did it take you to cut the dovetails?

Woodworks only comes on during Saturday nights now...

very nice.like the long skinny dovetails.this isn't being critical at all because it looks great,but i'll bet you that your joint on the maple looked nearly invisible before finishing huh?
i've had beautifully matched(i thought)glue ups turn to garbage after finish and i've had horrible matches turn to perfection after finishing.hate when that happens .very nice now it's time to forget the david guy and do your own designing.

Not really anything original about it such that there is any significant design credit to give. Lack of splay to ends/legs & base width equal to top is a bit tippy for seating.
Ironworker, the exposed joinery is "what it's about! DB, those "long skinny dovetails" are called pins, the tails are part of the maple.

the tails and the pins were roughed out on the bandsaw and then finished with a chisel. Each took about an afternoon to complete. They came out ok, but if I provided a close up you can see there were some small gaps that I had to fill.

whitney

great work. david mark's designs are always gorgeous . i actualy made my dovetailed bench after watching his show. a small peice of advice would be to come up with your own design or variation of it.theres nothing better than telling someone "i made this it was my own design and there is not another like it in the universe haha"(saying it in a real deep voice with your arms on your ribs like superman).

Large joints make for less stress. Love the simplicity (did I spell that right?) I love the quilted maple choice. It's hard to find just the right piece thick enough and large enough to work with, I bet you went threw a stack of it before setteling on this one piece.
I realy like the taper in the sides or legs. Are they concave also, I cant tell from the picture.
Some sort of inlay would realy bring the value up I think but Simple is also better.

If I went out right now to buy this I would expect to have to pay no less than $400. for it. But I am sure you could get more than that.

Terry, thanks for the message. I am intrigued by your idea of inlay, what would you suggest? As for the quilted maple, I found it on the internet and it definitely was expensive, but I am happy with the choice. I just wish it was a slightly wider board so that I didn't need to joint it. And yes, the legs are concave - I would make them more so, and also more tapered, if I were to do it again.

lets face it its not the best piece of joinery, rough id say.