We have now completed the first four weeks of our 12 week joinery course. Time flies! More joints, of course, “moving on,” as our instructor is won’t to say.

Scarf joints are used when planking hulls, and for building keels and joining them to stem posts. After a lot of planing my stock to make it square and flat, I was developing tenosynovitis by the end of week three. Thankfully, Ibuleve gel was rapidly effective, and it has been OK since.

As we complete each joint, we take them to our Instructor, to get his advice, eager for his approval. “Try another set” means ‘That’s not good enough.’ “Time to move on … we’ve a lot to get through” means ‘It’ll just about do’; “Fine” seems to mean ‘That’s OK,’ perhaps even ‘That’s all right,’ and is a prized response. “Good” is the greatest accolade … only occasionally given.

Funny how we are so anxious to please, to be liked … for our work to be appreciated and approved by others. This ‘need’ is no-doubt found in other walks of life, but it is certainly a key aspect to our self esteem as physicians, and something I find that I miss now that I have stepped aside from mainstream General Practice. No wonder then, that I feel a drive to do well – and to be told that I am doing so.

Anyway, here are my four scarf joints .. in order of increasing complexity!

With our scarf joints completed, we were all on to the ‘dreaded’ Dovetail joints this week – on target apparently. All that’s needed is to saw the dovetails and the pins square and straight, and to get them to fit well … no gaps, but not too tight either. Accurate sawing is a skill that doesn’t come easily – not to me at least. So, it’s humbling – and not a little frustrating – to find that I am having to learn to use a saw accurately. I struggle to get the cut square on to the face of the wood, which makes it so much more difficult to get a good fit. At least I am improving with each attempt.

When each set is complete, the joint is cut off the boards, which are are passed to us to try again. By the third set of dovetails, I was hoping that they would go perfectly, and be the last. But alas no, more attempts were needed … six so far. I do hope this last one is OK. I have yet to get this joint passed, but I have decided to “move on” and have started on Mitred Dovetails.

Once we have mastered dovetail joints – Through Dovetails, Mitred Dovetails, and Hidden Dovetails – we start on our Tool Chest. It’s going to be a real test of our learning and skills, and will take a few weeks to complete … it will certainly test our ability to saw square and straight!