Hand-crafted joints are always a thing of beauty. As a woodworker, I have a deep appreciation for the technical skill and understanding of the tools and materials one needs to make a clean joint by hand. Dovetails are often hailed as the pinnacle of hand-cut joinery, but what you see here brings the technique to a new level.
When Chris Fitch first drew up these plans, hand-cutting wasn’t the primary intention. He wanted to create a stripped-down project that would allow us to focus on the specifics of the joinery used. At first we thought it might be most efficient and consistent to use the table saw. However, the compound angles need to be exactly the same for these joints to work, and there was just too much inconsistency between the table saw’s tilt and a miter gauge’s angles. In the end we found the old-fashioned way was best (and a good use for the saws that will go inside).
The twisted dovetail can be a bit difficult to wrap your head around at first,
