MY first attempt at hand cut dovetails

[Jim Harvey]

I have an old Disston 70 dovetail saw. Seventeen TPI. When I got it it was missing so many teeth it looked like the front row at a Willy Nelson concert. Two weeks ago, I jointed and filed it for the third or fourth time and it finally came out pretty even. Test cuts were thin and straight so I started looking for a dovetail project.

At about the same time I got a real Belgian Coticule at an estate sale. It needed a wooden box for protection so I decided to try a dovetailed design using Poplar leftover from a toy box project. This material is about 5/16" thick and already grooved for a tenoned lid, to hide the groove I would need mitered corners. My plan was to make a closed box to fit the stone, then saw the box into top and bottom sections. So the central dovetail had to be wide enough to accommodate a lip to register the two box halves. The dovetails were becoming complex. I did a bunch of practice joints.

 

By the eighth try I was getting a "good enough for the shop" fit. This is the finished box with the Coticule. For reference, the stone is 1 7/8" wide

 

And the four corner joints.

 

Not shown is plowing a trench inside all four pieces for the Maple lip strip, done with a knife, a quarter inch chisel and a Stanley 271.

I had to use an eighth inch wide chisel for much of the work, it was difficult to control.  The box isn't pretty but it works. Took a week.

[Ronn W]

First attempt?  Not bad at all. Miter is a nice touch.  Keep it up.  I like it.

[Tom King]

To get that good by your 8th try is about as good as it gets.  The box looks great to me.

[Coop]

I would have lied and said the box was my first try but you’re much more honorable than I am! Good job dude! 

[wdwerker]

Coop operates on the " old age & treachery will overcome youth & skill " approach ! 

Beautiful results for a first attempt.  That's far better than I can do. I cheat and use a router jig, a really simple non adjustable jig .

[Jim Harvey]

2 hours ago, wdwerker said:

Coop operates on the " old age & treachery will overcome youth & skill " approach ! 

Beautiful results for a first attempt.  That's far better than I can do. I cheat and use a router jig, a really simple non adjustable jig .

Would have needed a router bit with 1/8" shank. I wonder if there's a Dremel bit like that.

[collinb]

On 6/13/2018 at 11:14 PM, Jim Harvey said:

Would have needed a router bit with 1/8" shank. I wonder if there's a Dremel bit like that.

KC8TKA