re: Box clamps box

That’ll work, Devin. But I would get a cheap piece of ½” poplar, maybe 3-4 inches wide (a nominal 1x4 or 3/4x3) in whatever length they sell it. Then cut off two 2 foot long pieces. Dovetail a joint. Saw off the joint and number and date it. Repeat for a couple weeks to a month, watching your progression.

This is “30 days of dovetails” or “dovetail a day” and one dovetail a day is plenty when you’re starting out. When you start, a single joint will take you a while. Once you’ve practiced… well, I knock out all four corners of a dovetailed box in 2-3 hours, along with some other things in the shop, sometimes even resawing the wood for the box I’m working on. So 15-30 minutes for a single joint, and less dependent on the width of the joint than you might think.

I cut all of mine tails first (in gangs, so I’m doing a pair together), and do 1:4 in all woods. I used to do chunkier pins than I do now, but I definitely do not do the super-delicate pins you’ll see some do. And I almost always have all my dovetail tools right at hand, so there’s no big delay from thinking “I need a box for this thing” to cross-cutting the wood to length in my miter box, and starting in cutting the first pair of tails pretty quick. I don’t chisel waste, instead I saw it put with a coping saw and then run a rasp or a float through the wood to flatten things out (because cutting the waste with a coping saw leaves a little hump in the middle of the waste), test fit, and then tune if needed (also with the rasp or float).

Sections 3 and 4 of my bookcase build blog cover simple mitered dovetails with a rabbeted back. And The Little Things covers tips and tricks I learned doing 70 cases.