Ouch!

My last couple of weeks have been very busy. I glued up the carcass of the cabinet and started to build the drawer. The drawer construction requires Half-Lap Dovetails on the front and Through Dovetails on the back. Hand cut Dovetails can be quite intimidating. This joint is very durable; it stands the test of time. Visually appealing to the eye as well. If it is done sloppy, the eye can easily pick up faults. Taking the time to get a good fit is important. Luckily the process I was shown to cut them made the task seem a lot easier to do.

The dovetails were going well, I was pleased with the result for my first attempt at them. However while I was paring one of my tails, I made a big mistake and I ended up cutting myself very badly with a chisel.



This is a special spear headed chisel that is used to get into tight corners to clean out the Dovetail. I also use it to make minor adjustments to the tails to get a good fit of the joint. I was taking a shaving that was a little bit thicker than I should have with this specific chisel. I had to use a bit of pressure to make the cut. This is the point where I mad a bad decision. The chisel slipped and I pushed it into my hand that was holding my work. I made a very large gash on my thumb. I ended up having to get seven stitches. I was very lucky, I did not damage any of my tendons. My hand will be limited but I will be able to work normally in a few days.



The picture I have here is not my best. There are some shadow lines that make my dovetails look like they have large gaps. There are a few imperfections with my dovetails that I should be able to fix with a few tricks. For the most part I am happy with my first attempt at them.

The next step is to flush the sides of my drawer and then start fitting them to the Cabinet. From there I will install the door and the project should be complete.



Even Hand Tools can Bite!