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I still think hand-cut dovetails are overrated for most kitchen jobs | Cabinetmakers - SMM Buzz

I still think hand-cut dovetails are overrated for most kitchen jobs

Ngl, I had a guy at a lumberyard in Portland last year tell me I was "not a real cabinetmaker" because I use a jig for dovetails on plywood drawer boxes. He was probably 60 and had these giant calloused hands, and he just shook his head at my setup. Tbh I respect the skill of hand-cutting but for a $4,000 kitchen remodel that needs to hold up to dishwashers and kids, a router jig gives me the same strength in half the time. Does anyone else feel like the old school guys gatekeep techniques that don't make sense for modern budgets?

3 comments

3 Comments

anderson.david5mo ago

Man, you just hit on something bigger than just dovetails. I see this kind of gatekeeping everywhere now, not just in woodworking but in car repair, gardening, even cooking. People act like if you didn't do it the hard way, you didn't really do it at all. But the whole point of new tools and methods is to get a good result faster so you can move on to the next thing or just have time to eat dinner. A router jig dovetail is just as strong, and for a budget kitchen, that's what matters, not some old dude's approval.

lane.eric4mo ago

Wait wait, hold on - "budget kitchen"? Did you say you're building a budget kitchen with dovetail joints? I mean, I guess that makes sense for durability but I always figured dovetails were more of a premium thing. Man, whoever gets that kitchen is gonna be stoked.

tara_jones945mo ago

I get what you're saying but I kinda see it differently. That whole "old dude's approval" thing, yeah it can be annoying, but sometimes the hard way teaches you stuff you wouldn't learn otherwise. Like, I tried hand cutting dovetails once and totally messed up, but I figured out why my router jig wasn't lining up right because of it.