On Fri, 21 Jan 2005 14:38:59 -0600, "Dukester"
wrote:

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.

((((((((((((((((((( Woodworking , especially joinery, does take
practice... hell I have been practicing for 40 years (not hours) and
am still learning....




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,

(((((((((((((((( if you can get close using scrap then use more scrap
and take the time necessary to get it right...THEN use the Good
lumber...

snip

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.

Again Practice...and patience... but cutting a pin that matches the
width of a dado cut really is not that difficult.....
Then getting the spacing over 3/8


.. I have the hardest time
just getting a crosscut sled perfect. It seems there are too many areas to
foul it up on.

Again... I is not rocket science to build a sled...


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,

No comment except that you should not have even touched the good
lumber until you mastered the joint using scrap...


I could have bought a Leigh D4 and moved on. Does anyone else ever
experience this or is it just me? Arrgh! Please help!

Well I still do not have a Leigh jig.... No real need for one !

BUT I hear your pain...just remember that it does take practice..and
it takes time.... why not but a hundred bucks worth of number 2 common
pine and "schedule" yourself for lots of practice....

Bob Griffiths.
..