A retired guy in my shop last Tuesday made me rethink my whole joinery method

There's this older fellow, must be in his 70s, who hangs around the lumber yard near my shop in Springfield. He saw me struggling with a dovetail jig and just said 'son, you're overthinking it, go back to a chisel and a sharp eye'. I spent the rest of the afternoon trying his way on some scrap poplar and it actually felt cleaner. Anyone else ever had an old timer's simple advice beat a fancy tool?

2 comments

2 Comments

jesse_green558d ago

Swear by it. Hand cut dovetails just feel different, you know? There's this connection you don't get with a jig. The old guy was right, you have to train your eye and your hands, not rely on a machine to do the thinking for you. I've thrown away more jigs than I care to count after switching to hand tools for joinery. It's slower at first but way more satisfying and honestly more precise once you get the hang of it. Have you tried it on hardwood yet?

hayes.joel8d ago

You said "train your eye and your hands" and that's the part that gets me... how long did it actually take before your eye stopped lying to you? Because I've been at it for about six months now and my dovetails still look like I cut them with a butter knife after a few beers. The pins always end up a hair off on the waste side no matter how careful I mark. Did you find any specific trick that clicked for you, like a certain way to hold the saw or a particular marking knife that made the difference?