Hey Duke
First, take the weekend off. Let the aggravation subside before you try
again.
I like to hand cut my dovetails. And your right, it's not easy to get nice
tight joints. It took me a lot of patience and practice to get them right
consistently.
However, i got one of these for Christmas this year:
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...18&cat=1,42884
Check it out. It made handcutting dovetails SO much easier. IMO, even if
your a rookie, after a few trial runs you'll be making excellent hand cut
dovetails. In addition to the jig, I'd also suggest a marking gauge (I use
the Veritas wheel gauge) a marking knife (makes nice crisp lines a pencil
can only dream about) and a good set of SHARP chisels. If you currently
have no good method of sharpening your chisels, Lee Valley has a jig for
that too:
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...=1,43072,43078
You can get it with or without a stone. I just use sandpaper from 220 to
1500 grit and then buff/polish on the flannel bench grinder wheel. Keep us
posted on your progress --dave




"Bob" wrote in message
...
After reading this, I pulled up Lee Valley and place my order :~)


"Dukester" wrote in message
...
I'm trying to build a laptop writing desk, sometimes called a desktop
writing case. Just a small box with a hinged lid that acts as the
writing
surface. I've tried learning dovetails by hand and can get close (well I
like to think so), but the fit is actually sloppy and rough looking, and
I
don't have hours on end to practice. I tried doing them on the tablesaw,
a
la Yeung Chan's "Classic Joints with Power Tools", and can get close, and
even decent on the scrap, but when the time comes to do them on the
actual
stock, I have to use it for firewood because the fit is so sloppy and
there
are ugly gaps. I can't get them all perfect, some are poor, others,
worse.
Last night I spent 2 hours just on one 6" set of dovetails that I can't
use.
And there is no more stock surfaced and ready to go. Another trip to the
store.

I've tried skipping the dovetails to use a box joint instead. I built a
jig
a la NYW, and can't even get the jig right! Just getting the key the
exact
width of a 3/8" dado cutter is not easy. Then getting the spacing over
3/8
seems even more impossible. Norm whips it out in 5 minutes. I spent 2
weekends trying to get one built and working. I gave up on this jig.
Tage
Frid amusingly writes: "It may be frustrating to get right the first
time."
Ha!

Then another book said to use a crosscut sled instead of the miter gauge
for
box joints as the miter gauge is too inaccurate. I have the hardest time
just getting a crosscut sled perfect. It seems there are too many areas
to
foul it up on. The back of the sled has to be exactly flat. The runners
have to fit the miter slots without any slop. The same runners have to
be
exactly 90 degrees to the rear fence. The fence has to be perfectly
flat.

If I can't get the sled and jigs built perfectly, how do I get the actual
joinery to work? With the money I've tossed away on the stock I've
ruined
with ill fitting joints, plywood tossed away on crappy jigs, and even
more
important, the precious time lost trying over & over to get something to
work, I could have bought a Leigh D4 and moved on. Does anyone else
ever
experience this or is it just me? Arrgh! Please help!