Possible handcut dovetail obsession?

The curly maple looks great and so do your dovetails. Nicely done.

-- Julian

WOW Terrific
Keep on cutting them.

-- Bruce. a mind is like a book it is only useful when open.

Pride and patience is obvious, of course your talent is showing as well

-- Dick, Malvern Ohio - my biggest fear is that when I die, my wife sells my toys for what I told her I paid for them

You’ve done great work.

I’m struggling with my hand cut dovetails for a desk lap drawer. I wisely cut several extra pieces to practice with, and have been watching Fran Klausz’s dovetail cutting instructions on U tube.

This is not an easy skill to master, but it’s a lot of fun.

I can only say nice comments regarding my Bad Axe dovetail saw.

-- "Heaven is North of the Bridge"

I argee they are tricky. When i see one cut in 3 or 4 minutes I feel like giving away my tools lol. My best advice would be to mark cleanly with a marking knife and slowly moving your way up to it. Half blinds i find more forgiving because they can be undercut slightly to fit the joint.

-- Jason,WI "Whether you believe you can or believe you can't you are right!"

Wow! What are the two types of wood you used? And then what finish?

Great dovetails and beautiful maple.

-- Bob in Montana. Kindness is the Language the blind can see and deaf can hear. - Mark Twain

That’s some beautiful wood you have there. And the dovetails look perfect!

-- Dave, York, PA, Wildside Woodworking

Three of the boxes are walnut and figured maple. The last one is Paduak and maple. The finish is just blonde shellac. Thanks for the having a look!

-- Jason,WI "Whether you believe you can or believe you can't you are right!"

Awesome work bud.

8iowa, mark lines on the face and end grain of scrap and keep cutting. I’d say don’t learn how to cut dovetails, learn how to cut to a line and when it’s time for dovetails you’ll have all the skills necessary.

I say that because when you try to practice on dovetails first, you’ll be spending 90% of your time on marking or chopping out waste instead of practicing the most important part (to me). Learning how to saw to a line which translates to most hand tool joinery you’ll do.

-- Shooting down the walls of heartache. Bang bang. I am. The warrior.

From the first picture I thought it might be a fluke. NOOO, THEY CAN’T ALL BE THAT NICE! However once I looked at the other pictures I realized they all look flawless. Very nice work here, you must have a steady hand.

-- Willie, Washington "If You Choose Not To Decide, You Still Have Made a Choice" - Rush

Those look very nice! Out of curiosity, did you use any gadgets or guides?

-- Jeffrey S. Ovens, Canada

It’s beautiful. PLEASE don’t flock it! A piece of leather on the bottom would be perfect!

The only jig I use is a saddle square. I cut tails first marked with a pencil. I focus more on getting a perfectly square cut on the tails and dont focus so much on the 1/8 slope. The pin board is then knife marked directly from the tails and marked 1 thru 4 to corresponding corners. I also agree with the fridge practice practice practice.

-- Jason,WI "Whether you believe you can or believe you can't you are right!"

The only jig I use is a saddle square. I cut tails first marked with a pencil. I focus more on getting a perfectly square cut on the tails and dont focus so much on the 1/8 slope. The pin board is then knife marked directly from the tails and marked 1 thru 4 to corresponding corners. I also agree with the fridge practice practice practice. Thanks for the tip holiner I never even thought about using leather

-- Jason,WI "Whether you believe you can or believe you can't you are right!"