Project Working Idea

Dust collectors

I made my first attempt at hand cutting a dovetail joint this weekend. It were pretty much the most pathetic looking dovetail you will ever see. Even worse, I shot a real-time video of my attempt. Shawn over at Worth the Effort Woodworking is having some guys make dovetails and then practice for a week and see how/if we improve. I think I should do better next weekend. Ill post his video when he gets it done.


It seemed like a good idea at the time.

I have a dovetail jig that works perfectly and, well, I hardly ever use it. Its something I bought a long time ago thinking that I would be making dovetail joints all the time. Mainly, its complicated and I always forget how to use it. As a result, it sits around and collects dust. So Im looking forward to learning how to hand cut dovetails. Maybe Ill be more likely to use them.

Weve all acquired tools that seemed useful at the time, but end up getting very little use. I would almost include my biscuit jointer in this category, except that I have gotten a fair amount of use out of it and I still use it for edge joining panels. But for the most part it collects dust.A lot of us jumped on the biscuit bandwagon years ago when Norm Abram seemed to use it for every project. I think pocket hole jointery has replaced it for the most part.

Do you have any tools that make you wonder why you ever bought them?

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Mere Minutes