Learning and cursing on my 1st hand DT's, yet Medicinal...

[C. in Indy]

Long-time reader, first-time Dovetail cutter here...

I had got some Sassafras and was impressed by the 'medicinal' aroma. Who knows what ultimately might store in a box like this.... maybe with a 'stay fresh' ziplock of odoriffic shavings....



Anyway, it's a lot of learning, and a clear improvement from the 1st corner to the 4th already. There'll be shims-a-plenty in this mitered-through-dovetailed box, and I'll probably re-scribe the marking lines since I've had to plane the outer corners so much. But I can see how you folks seem to be addicted to this type of work!

[Guest]

Those look a lot better than my first dovetails. Keep it up, you'll get better with each set.

[Mike Brady]

Those are looking good, Chris. I would ask if you are progressing from regular through-dovetails to the mitered ones in the photo? The mitered ones add a layer of difficulty and risk that I see as unnecessary. If you want miters then perhaps you should work on the full-blind (hidden) mitered dovetails. Your pins and tails fit well; at least in that one photo shown. A glass of that refreshment can't hurt either.

As Hank says, practice pays off big time. What I do is buy 1/2" x4" poplar material at HD and practice on that. It's cheap and perfectly sized for a quick set of dt's. Sometimes I'll cut a set before dinner, knock them together and then cut them off for the next session. What this does is make you practice good layout, mark-out, sawing stroke, and sawing to a line in a way that delivers an off-the- saw fit. This all gets "burned into" your muscle memory. It also is a good warm-up before you cut dt's in the good wood.

[C. in Indy]

Thanks for the kind words and advice. I'd actually sharpened and sold over half a dozen dovetail saws, but I lately held onto one off-brand but very nice 8" saw for my own. I really underestimated the marking accuracy needs on this work, but wasn't too far off on my saw-cuts after using handsaws a lot the last few years.

When I get a little more time I'll see about a base and lid for this carcass. I did jump right into the mitered dovetail since they had one in the recent Fine Woodworking magazine issue, and there was something I liked about its ability to accommodate rabbets and grooves.

That bottle, root beer of course! What else could come from sassafras ?

[Axehandle]

I see some medicine in the background and the worlds universal medicine to the right.

Nice first dovetails.

[Window Guy]

Very nice job, you should be proud.


Steve

[ken in fallbrook]

C.
That is a very respectable first try. Also congratulations on going for mitered dovetails on your first try. The rest of the way to great dovetails is practice, practice and practice. Pay attention to what happens for every cut (History) and adjust till you are completely satisfied with the results and can repeat the whole thing reliably and with confidence.
Well done

[hbmcc]

Which part is medicinal? The prescriptions? Or, the booze?

[C. in Indy]

I got a few more steps done in the last week, along with some distractions...

I did more shimming and re-marking of the dovetails, oiled the carcass, and decided I could keep the box going as a real project. Then I added some little details on the bottom edge to help accentuate 4 mini-feet. An Oak top has been roughed-out for the sassafras box. And, a Wilton Bullet vise has been retrieved from an antique mall !

[Steve N]

Hank Knight in SC said:

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Those look a lot better than my first dovetails. Keep it up, you'll get better with each set.

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Yeah buddy. Mine looked like Punkin teeth for a long time. Practice does indeed lead to improvement, but mostly speed increases, because you become more sure of where your hands are going. For me the smell of the Sassafras would be equal to the medicinal quality of just cutting DTs