re: The Devil's Bow-ties

Hi Abbas. In this case the bow-ties are reinforcing the glue joint as the bottoms are made from two pieces. I suppose most non-woodworkers wouldn’t know that, but I would tell them, and they would enjoy getting a little insight. The background to the bow-ties is that my first basket made 10 years ago had a 3 piece bottom because I was running out of birch which it was made from and I just glued the joints with no bow-ties and eventually being so thin they eventually separated, although the bottoms are staying in and are still functional. We still use that basket every day, mainly as a bread basket and we keep a tea towel in it that keeps the toast or whatever warm and prevents crumbs from falling out the bottom or through the sides. If I had used bow-ties on the bottom it wouldn’t have separated, but I didn’t anticipate that problem.