Hand-Cut Dovetails

All of the drawers in the cabinets that I’ve made use hand-cut dovetails, either half-blind dovetails on the fronts of the drawers, or through dovetails on the backs of the drawers. Hand-cut dovetails are more interesting and beautiful than machine-cut dovetails using a router.

Hand-cut dovetails are somewhat time consuming to make but very relaxing to make and satisfactory once they’re completed.

I use a custom dovetail jig that I designed to hold parts while I’m cutting the dovetails. This makes cutting the joints easier and more accurate.