Attractive joints for narrow boards

[Keefaz]

Hey, all.

I'm trying to make a fairly decent looking tea tray. I spent an hour or so earlier on roughly dimensioning my pieces and then I did some test joints on some offcuts to see what would look good.

The boards that make up the sides of the tray are quite narrow but fairly thick, so I thought I'd join them with a single dovetail. The result wasn't exactly inspiring. In fact, it looked pretty ugly. The next test piece I did using a finger joint which did look a little better (not as clunky), but not an attractive joint as such.

Has anyone got a decent alternative? I'm thinking one of those fancy half-blind dovetails, but that might be beyond my meagre skills at this point. :roll:

 

[Shultzy]

Keefaz, Can you post a few dimensions, it might generate some better ideas.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Keefaz
I take it that you are talking about something structured like a very shallow box?

If so, your comb or finger joints could look good, and probably better than dovetails; I'd say you need some depth for that.

The other joint you may like to consider is a mitre, strengthened with kerfed splines. Mitres on their own wouldn't bee so good, but with a couple of saw cuts and strengthening splines, I reckon you could produce soemthing quite attractive and very strong, too.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Jake]

Mitres on their own wouldn't bee so good,

Oh, as it's Steve M, that has to be a spelling bee.


(Sorry, after a recent reminder, I couldn't resist...)

 

[Steve Maskery]

You are quite right, Jake, but in my defence,
a) I did use the spelling checker and
b) I don't have my eyes in right now (it's a bit late for seeing), so the keyboard is a bit hit and mess and I can't see what I'm typing.



But thank you for pointing it out in a jocular manner!
S

PS I thought I was remarkably self-controlled in not getting involved in a certain discussion! I think my views are well-known...

PS2 The spell check didn't like favourite but would have preferred favorite...Haarrummppphhh.

 

[Chris Knight]

I think a mitred corner, strengthened and decorated with splines as in the box at the left in the picture below (not mine), might do the trick. The splines can be angled and a couple angled towards each other often look quite smart.

 

[Keefaz]

Those mitres look nice. As Mr. Maskery say, it's really just a very shallow box. I don't have the thing in front of me but the sides are roughly 1ft x 2ft and about 3" high.