Project Information
After practicing for over a month on cutting dovetails by hand and getting some pretty humorous (if not occasionally demoralizing) results, I purchased a few different guides. The first set to arrive was the Veritas guide and saw set. That was followed by David Barron's guides and saw recommendation, a Gyokucho #372. The difference with guided cuts was night and day. This box is my first project with "passable" hand-cut dovetails. I used the Veritas guide and saw set for this project, but after it was completed the David Barron guides arrived-I prefer them greatly over the Veritas set. I'll post another project soon made with the David Barron guides, much better results.
This is a 4" square, loose-lid box, designed to hold my wife's rosary beads. It's 1/2" poplar except for the bottom, which is 1/4" maple plywood. I'm very happy with the fit of the lid as you can see if the last picture. It is finished with Watco's dark walnut danish oil that I worked in with synthetic finishing pads from Rockler, using the fine grit for the second coat and the extra fine for the third and final coats.
I'm glad I tried to tackle the art of handcut dovetails. It quickly hooked me and I learned a LOT of important skills, especially use of a marking gauge and marking knife, and MUCH better chisel techniques. I'll be doing more of these in the future.
This is a 4" square, loose-lid box, designed to hold my wife's rosary beads. It's 1/2" poplar except for the bottom, which is 1/4" maple plywood. I'm very happy with the fit of the lid as you can see if the last picture. It is finished with Watco's dark walnut danish oil that I worked in with synthetic finishing pads from Rockler, using the fine grit for the second coat and the extra fine for the third and final coats.
I'm glad I tried to tackle the art of handcut dovetails. It quickly hooked me and I learned a LOT of important skills, especially use of a marking gauge and marking knife, and MUCH better chisel techniques. I'll be doing more of these in the future.