Thanks John B for the information, my biggest fear is trying to create the perfect angle for that 8:1 ratio. I understand the basics of the scarf joint but I don't want to end up going through too much wood trying to get the angles just right. If I cheated and used the overlapping joint would I loose a lot of strength and would it bend properly? I want to do this right but I don't want to spend days trying to get this joint perfect. The overlapping joint would also be easier to align together than the angle joint which appears to be pretty tricky. I'm just trying to throw some ideas around to find out what more experienced people think.