The Rising Dovetail

There is a whole world of unusual joinery out there and this rising dovetail is one of the ones that seems impossible when seen assembled.  The dovetail acts like a wedge preventing the boards from pulling apart in 2 directions, leaving the observer to wonder how it was ever put together in the first place.  The secret lies in the ramped floor of the joint and the back of the tenon.  They allow the dovetail to rise up the slope and lock into place.  

I'll be honest this may not get a lot of use in your day to day furniture projects but it makes for an outstanding sawing and chisel exercise!

rising dovetail joint

Included in this Video:

  • 40 minutes of Joinery Happiness
  • How to layout the rising dovetail joint
  • How to make the compound angle saw cuts
  • How to pare the ramp for a perfect fit
  • PLUS you gain access to the School Tool Library and Community Forum and all the weekly update videos

rising dovetail

The Rising Dovetail

Learn to cut the rising dovetail and how it can be implemented in your project designs.