Olde Tool Workshop

A Perfect Mitered Dovetail?

Is there such a thing as a bad day in the workshop? I guess if you gouge yourself with a “pig sticker” or slice yourself with a knife, these could be considered bad days. This is not what I am talking about here.

Some days, the good and the bad are not balanced, and you end up with more of one than the other. Yesterday was definitely one of those days. It all started out innocently enough. I’ve not had the opportunity to work in the shop for a few weeks…seemed like forever…but I wanted to continue with the moulding for my Saw Box. I had completed the shaping of two mouldings with my desired profile, and all I had to do was the mitered dovetails and wrap the bottom of the box - then I would be golden. As I had done this for the lid sans the molding profile, I felt pretty confident that I could do the same for the bottom skirt.

The big problem with ordinary mitre joints is they are weak and do not offer a lot of glueing area. This is the reason I chose the mitered dovetail joint. The mitre hides the groove and the dovetail gives the joint strength. I have never cut this joint before, I have only seen Roy Underhill cut these on his 2-episode show on the Woodwright’s Shop where he made a Joiner’s Tool Chest and used this type of joint for the same reason as I was going to use it. My effort was a process of trial and error; my first one was ok, but it had a few extra unnecessary cuts. Fortunately I foresaw this difficulty and planned ahead with extra long stock, which gave me a couple of tries for each piece. When it came to cutting the critical second cuts on each board, I was getting pretty good at it.

A few Saturdays ago, I attended the Midwest Tool Collector’s Association (MWTCA) tool meet, and finished acquiring all the tools listed in The Anarchist’s Tool Chest (ATC) book, yea! I can fit almost all of my tools in my traveling version of the ATC, except my saws. So I got to thinking that I currently did not have a good way to store or transport my saws. During the MWTCA tool meet, I saw an old military ammo crate that would have almost done the trick. I did not buy the crate…because I thought it would be more fun to build my own!