I have been asked a question by one of my students, and could use some
help. He wanted to do his physics paper (yes, I make them do a paper)
on something related to woodworking.
Since I am also a woodworker, I thought this would be a great idea --
until he settled on a topic! He wants to try and explain dovetail
joinery using physics principles. He thought there should be something
out there dealing with forces and how they interact to make the joint
strong, and the compression of materials, etc.
He can't find a reference for it, and neither can I. Then he got
ambitious and tried to do the force diagram analysis himself! What a
mess that is...
Do any of you know of a reference to which I can steer him?