Hi John. I made a jig for those dovetails. That tiger maple was too nice to make a mistake. I made three of the upper sections in pine as mock-ups before I cut them in the tiger maple as a means to dial it in. The reason being, there are two angles to the upper pieces. They splay outward from the bottom to the top, and the sides are angular the front section shorter than the back section. Cutting multiple angle dovetails by hand is a still a stretch for me.
The drawer however has hand cut dovetails. I was working on that when I took the picture. That cherry was harvested here in the yard.
In the end? Cutting them by hand would have been a real button bustin proud moment - and I am working up to that skill level. Practice makes perfect, as they say.
But John, what I am really needing from you is your perspective and insight. I grew up in Ohio… and not a Yankee. But since living here, I crane My neck looking at curbside throwaways , I go through the metal bin at the Town dump on Saturdays looking for throw away, when I go to Tractor Supply I lust after those new blue plastic tarps - thinking: “those have to be cheaper than a putting on a new roof!” Am I a Yankee now? and is this my purgatory born from a past life indiscretion? Can I be saved? Just yesterday I saw a refrigerator dumped in a pond and I said: “ another good eelpout smoker and lost opportunity for somebody…” I lie awake at night thinking of these great imponderables and it’s a curse that I’ll be darned is undeserved.
