Intermediate Joinery: Dovetail Joints (2-Day Weekend Course)

The joint every woodworker wants to master. This is where precision meets beauty.


POW Workshops
POW Workshops
4.9 (157)

2 x 6 hours

Class size 1 to 8 (public classes), 6 to 16

  £250 - £290 (Earlybird price of £250 applies if you book into a public session 7+ days ahead, otherwise £290 per guest when you book for 1 guest, £275/guest for 2+ guests) (PayPal Pay in 3 available)

The dovetail is the signature joint of fine woodworking: strong, beautiful, and unmistakably handmade. In this two-day weekend course at POW Workshops in London, you'll learn to cut dovetails by hand with real precision.
Where Beginner Joinery Workshop: Frame Joints covered the joints used in frames and structures (halving, bridle, mortice and tenon), Joinery 2 focuses on the joints used to make containers of all kinds: boxes, drawers, cabinets, and chests. These are the joints that let you start building real furniture.
Here's what you'll cover:
  • Through dovetails: the classic, with its distinctive interlocking pins and tails
  • Half-lap dovetails: a refined variation used in drawer construction
  • Mitred dovetails: the most challenging, where the joint is completely hidden from view
  • Precision layout and marking, because dovetails demand accuracy
  • Sawing and chiselling to tight tolerances, developing the fine motor control that makes hand-cut joints fit perfectly
  • Understanding grain direction, and why it matters for joint strength and appearance
This course builds directly on the skills from Joinery 1. You'll be expected to be comfortable with basic sawing, chiselling, and marking before you arrive. If you've completed Joinery 1 or have equivalent experience, you're ready.
Taken together, Joinery 1 and Joinery 2 give you the complete foundation for furniture making. Frame joints for structures, dovetails for containers. From here, you can start building real pieces.
What you'll get
A set of beautifully hand-cut dovetail joints and the skills to incorporate them into your own projects. All tools and materials are provided.
What's next?
If you want to put your new skills into a real project, try Woodworking Workshop: Build a Three-Legged Stool, a two-day weekend build using traditional wedged through tenons. Or continue developing your skills with our workspace memberships, where you'll have access to the full workshop to work on your own projects.

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Save £30 when you book with a friend
Knowledge required
Beginner+ / Intermediate
What to bring
Comfortable clothing, shoes/trainers, and no open-toed footwear.
Session repeats

This class series runs over 2 consecutive days.

Location

POW Workshops, 41-43 Standard Road, London

Intermediate Joinery: Dovetail Joints (2-Day Weekend Course) location
Your teacher

POW Workshops
POW Workshops

4.9 (157)
female Women-owned

POW is a not-for-profit open access workshop that provides aspiring and experienced makers, product designers, carpenters, model makers, furniture makers, tailors, engineers, artists, sculptors, and everyone in between, with an affordable and high quality space, equipment and learning to be able to ideate, innovate and create.
We offer space, tools and machines to craft, and run workshops and training for hobbyist looking to get away from the day to day, or experienced artists and makers trying to improve their craft or grow their businesses
We started POW, to reduce the barriers of space, cost & stress for people trying to make and create
Our vision is simple:
Give everyone the chance to make it.
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