Compared hand-cut dovetails against my Leigh jig for a dresser last month. No contest.

I have been using the Leigh dovetail jig for years, solid results every time. But I took on a small cherry dresser for a client in Portland and decided to cut the drawers by hand for the first time in maybe 15 years. The jig gives you perfect, repeatable joints. But the hand-cut ones just looked more alive somehow. The client noticed the difference too without me even mentioning it. She said the hand-cut ones felt more like furniture and less like a product. Has anyone else gone back to hand work after getting comfortable with jigs and found it changed how you see your own builds?

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1 Comment

diana_black2h ago

Hand cut dovetails just hit different, totally get it lol.