How long did it take?

[James Pallas]

I have an interest in knowing how long the pre- industrial woodworker took to complete tasks.I’ve found things like 6 to 9 drawers a day,(12 hour days of course). Or 400+ hours for a Secretary or similar. These tasks would be working from rough. I guessing some like Warren could shed some light on this. I’m interested and I think others may be also.
Jim

[steven c newman]

And, it wasn't just one worker in that shop....sometimes there were several working on a task, under the supervision of the shop's Master.

[Aaron Rosenthal]

I seem to remember either a blog post or article by I think Christopher Schwartz about the number of hours a skilled woodworker needed to complete a dresser and the hours needed today.
Similar times if I remember correctly.

[Richard Coers]

Pre-Industrial cabinet shops had tasks separated by skill levels. There were no thickness planers, so just making boards was a task and that was usually assigned to the apprentices. Others would just make moldings, and then the stock went to the master. I have not read anything about hours needed to complete tasks. I have read the average laborer worked a 70 hour week. https://eh.net/encyclopedia/hours-of-work-in-u-s-history/

[Luke Dupont]

I'd love to know this myself, as I suspect I work painfully slow compared to them.

A true craftsman practicing his craft for a living needed to work not just to a high standard, but also in a timely and efficient manner -- something lost on many of us hobbyist woodworkers.

This is a point that was made quite clear to me when I spoke with a Japanese sashimono-shi, still making Japanese furniture using traditional methods.

The English Woodworker wrote an interesting article on a few points to consider with regard to speed and efficiency that may or may not be relevant: https://www.theenglishwoodworker.com/gappy-joints-speed-strength/

[James Pallas]

I didn’t start out woodworking. I started as a plumbers apprentice. I would assume it would be similar. I worked under the tutelage of a journeyman. It was tough hard work. Lots of screw pipe, cast iron and lead joints. I was treated fairly but not gently. Until i had all the basics mastered I didn’t get to make up one joint. When I changed to carpentry the world had changed too if you could do it good enough you did it under a lead person. I think those apprentices from the pre-industrial era were skilled fast journeymen when turned out. I got to watch Phil Lowe take a chisel to a cabriole leg at a show it was amazing. Sorry he’s gone. Watched Klauz cut dovetails on UT. Can’t help but think that is how it was done in the past not his super speed ones, or the router aided ones, that’s just showmanship.
Jim

[James Pallas]

Was a little long winded last post. What I’m really getting at is how good the workers of the past were. Like a golfer, tennis player, or baseball player. Doing things just by hand, eye, muscle memory. Not so much with guides or jigs. I’m not saying those things are bad. It possibly just adds another task or tool to the process, which means more time and money. I’m definitely not an old tool advocate. I am a good tool advocate. Old or new, if it works it’s good. I guess I could be called a hand tool advocate. I do own and use power tools but they are usually not my first choice. Long winded again.
Jim

[Luke Dupont]

Was a little long winded last post. What I’m really getting at is how good the workers of the past were. Like a golfer, tennis player, or baseball player. Doing things just by hand, eye, muscle memory. Not so much with guides or jigs. I’m not saying those things are bad. It possibly just adds another task or tool to the process, which means more time and money. I’m definitely not an old tool advocate. I am a good tool advocate. Old or new, if it works it’s good. I guess I could be called a hand tool advocate. I do own and use power tools but they are usually not my first choice. Long winded again.
Jim


This is very much the approach and skill-set I strive towards. Nothing wrong with other approaches, of course. I guess I just like doing things the hard way? Or maybe the "self improvement" aspect that goes with it? Or the flexibility? Something like that.

[Jim Koepke]

Was a little long winded last post. What I’m really getting at is how good the workers of the past were. Like a golfer, tennis player, or baseball player. Doing things just by hand, eye, muscle memory. Not so much with guides or jigs. I’m not saying those things are bad. It possibly just adds another task or tool to the process, which means more time and money. I’m definitely not an old tool advocate. I am a good tool advocate. Old or new, if it works it’s good. I guess I could be called a hand tool advocate. I do own and use power tools but they are usually not my first choice. Long winded again.
Jim

Just sitting here thinking about this my response got "a little long winded."

One thought was like those accomplished at sports, those accomplished in other fields may also have a natural affinity for what they are doing.

Guides and jigs can be like 'training wheels' for many. Some never unbolt their training wheels, becoming dependent upon them.

Some do not like to take the time to build a bench hook or shooting board. My thinking on this is building guides and jigs helps one learn skills. Using them can also help lead to learned muscle memory. Making a few mallets has improved my mortising work. Making shooting boards has taught me things about assembling square and angled joinery. We learn much from merely doing.

Some guides and jigs will help to keep work accurate or progress quickly. Things like bench hooks, shooting boards and miter boxes.

Whether a tool is old or new is of no consequence as long as it does its job without impeding the user. Sometimes adding a step can save time later. In my work, using a shooting board to bring pieces to equal lengths and square saves time and frustration along the way.

There are many who prefer a minimalist approach to the craft/hobby/profession of woodworking. I have to salute them for their abilities and self restraint.

Then there are others, maybe like myself, who love to tinker. At times my thoughts drift to wondering if only I had taken metal shop in high school…

Cleaning up old metal or returning an abandoned rusty hunk of iron back into a useable tool is of great enjoyment and satisfaction to me.

So much for long winded ramblings.

jtk

[mike stenson]

I think jigs, like appliances and fixtures, have been around for a very long time. They allow you to do repeatable things easily. That's not necessarily taking the skill out of it, it's streamlining the process and making it more efficient. If I need one 60º angle cut, I'll do it by hand. Thirty, I'll make a dedicated miter and shooting board to that angle. Disregarding them as "training wheels" really, IMO, misses the point of them. Unless, I suppose, you understand that and you simply want to work harder. Personally, I like to make things.

Anyway, from the antiques I've seen many craftsmen in the past skipped a lot of work we seem to find important today. This is why I don't mind carrying my cuts past the end of a half-blind dovetail, leaving the non-show side of work with the rough planing, skipping finishing on the insides of casework, etc. The truth is, I've seen work done this way that was well over a hundred years old and still surviving. Aside from that, I never count my hours so I have no idea how long it'd take me to complete a secretary (were that a style I was interested in making). I'm not working to a clock.

[Edward Weber]

I think jigs, like appliances and fixtures, have been around for a very long time. They allow you to do repeatable things easily. That's not necessarily taking the skill out of it, it's streamlining the process and making it more efficient. If I need one 60º angle cut, I'll do it by hand. Thirty, I'll make a dedicated miter and shooting board to that angle. Disregarding them as "training wheels" really, IMO, misses the point of them. Unless, I suppose, you understand that and you simply want to work harder. Personally, I like to make things.

Anyway, from the antiques I've seen many craftsmen in the past skipped a lot of work we seem to find important today. This is why I don't mind carrying my cuts past the end of a half-blind dovetail, leaving the non-show side of work with the rough planing, skipping finishing on the insides of casework, etc. The truth is, I've seen work done this way that was well over a hundred years old and still surviving. Aside from that, I never count my hours so I have no idea how long it'd take me to complete a secretary (were that a style I was interested in making). I'm not working to a clock.

Well Said
IMO those who claim or think they're working solely by hand, without the use of jigs are fooling themselves and missing the point.
Jigs are not training wheels, they are to ensure a level of accuracy and repeatability. Wood craftsman have been utilizing jigs for thousands of years, to dismiss them as training wheels is short sighted. Do they add another task to the operation, yes but only once. After that the operation is either easier, quicker to complete and/or safer.
Some jigs or guides can be use as a learning aide until a skill becomes more proficient and the jig or guide becomes unnecessary or redundant. This does not diminish their importance.
A jig is simply a tool by another name.
Do you draw a straight line or use a writing jig, like a square?

[steven c newman]

Paul Sellers had a blog for awhile...about his life as an Apprentice...being taught by a Joiner named George..

IF you can find it, it makes for some good reading....of what a 15 year boy went through in a woodshop....lots of daily details, too...of working at a bench across from George...

The book C. Schwarz was referring to...was about the life of a young Apprentice....and all the things the boy had to go through...

They worked from sun up until sundown....maybe a break for lunch? They would take their tools back home, and sharpen them up for the next day's jobs....oh, and have to Brew-up for everyone else's Tea. And, don't be late with it.

One of the Tests I had to pass as a Freshman in High School Industrial Arts class....we were given a paper, on it were six woodworking joints....we had to lay out the cuts, and assemble all six joints, AND have them graded. Hand tools were used, and had to be "signed out" from the Classroom's Tool Crib....we also had to spent one day IN that tool crib, signing out tools to others, and keeping track of all the tools.

And that was way back in 1968....Classroom's Power tools were all made and supplied by the local ( Bellefontaine, OH) Rockwell factory..

We also had to wear those blue denim shop aprons....which we kept in our lockers underneath those large, square benches,,that had a single, quick release vise at each corner...

Part of the class was also Drafting...another was Foundry....and they even tried to get ME to weld (still can't..)

Ah, the "Good old days"...

[Richard Coers]

At a lecture by Toshio Odate, he told the story of chipping a plane blade when he was an apprentice. In despair, he threw the plane blade under the house that was being built and told the master he lost the blade. Odate said he knew the beating for loosing a plane blade would be less than the beating for damaging the blade from carelessness.

[Richard Coers]

I have to find my library password, but this could be very interesting. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23405021

[Scott Clausen]

I often think about how a Victorian home was built in the time before power tools. I try to envision what was built on site and what was done in a shop. Were there five guys just sawing wood all day? Did the carpenter saw what he was going to install? I am not a very good woodworker but enjoy the feeling that using hand tools provide. I am currently building a double hung window (sashes only) using only hand tools as a way to challenge my skills.

[James Pallas]

I guess I should say that I don’t dislike jigs or fixtures. I consider bench hooks in that category its just like a knee hand or saw bench. Something that doesn’t influence the task is not a jig or fixture. Now a shooting board influences the work and adds additional tools to a task. Depending on the task a shooting board may be needed. For instance cutting a board straight and square to a squared line does not require a shooting board. Cutting a miter to match another it may be required. However a good miter box may be just fine for the cut without shooting it.
Jim

[steven c newman]

A typical House Building carpentry crew.
.476710

[Rafael Herrera]

My father was a cabinet maker. I don't know if he kept a tally of how many hours it took him to make something. It's not only the time, but the amount of wood, supplies, payroll, etc. etc. that goes into figuring out the cost of a project. He certainly had a sense of how much time it took him to deliver a project, I suppose he developed that sense over time. He had to, since he made a living making furniture. My cousin, who has a furniture making business, has a very good sense of the cost of making any particular piece.

Us hobbyists, since we are not making a living out of this, don't have an incentive to be efficient. If we were, we wouldn't be wasting hundreds of dollars in coping saws to make dovetails, or monkeying with a bunch of planes (which I do) to get a board flat.

[Jim Koepke]

"Training wheels may have been a bad analogy. My thoughts went back to my earliest attempts at cutting dovetails. A shop made guide was used to register my saw when cutting dovetails. It didn't work very well. Eventually it dawned on me learning to saw was a better way of making dovetail joints.

Bench hooks and shooting boards are definitely not "training wheels."

Miter boxes are not "training wheels" even though using mine did help me to learn to saw better.

jtk

[Edward Weber]

http://www.woodworkinghistory.com/glossary_J_jig.htm

Woodworkers use/build jigs and fixtures, it's an integral part of the craft/profession. Many times it's the first thing you do when starting a project.
I think it all depends on your own definition of a jig. They can either be a help or a hindrance like any tool, depending on whose hands they're in. I would simply say dismiss them at your own peril.

[steven c newman]

Maybe NOT a jig...but another useful tool...would a set of patterns made up, for the worker(s) to follow, to help build a project.....Sam Maloof had a few walls of patterns just hanging around....to lay out all the curves for the items he made. In the pictures(Plates) from A. Roubo...you can see all sorts of patterns hanging on the walls of the shop....

Yes, I do use jigs, as needed.....not a thing wrong with that.

[Mike Allen1010]

I think the OP makes an interesting and excellent point; if you consider "excellence " in our craft to be both a high level of precision/execution and also speed of execution, at least for me, it creates a different perspective on what we do. Personally, over the years as I've gained confidence in precision with regard to accuracy/execution, I striven for speed as well. For me it's fun, to try and build as efficiently as possible. I have to confess that approach has bitten me in the butt on numerous occasions.

I guess I feel a sense of challenge in demonstrating that hand tools can produce quality work in a timeframe that is at least comparable with power tools. I'm sure when it comes to stock preparation running love rough lumber through a jointer and thickness planer is a lot faster than what I do, but on the joinery side I think hand tools more than hold their own. Just my opinion, YMMV.

Cheers, Mike

[James Pallas]

I think the OP makes an interesting and excellent point; if you consider "excellence " in our craft to be both a high level of precision/execution and also speed of execution, at least for me, it creates a different perspective on what we do. Personally, over the years as I've gained confidence in precision with regard to accuracy/execution, I striven for speed as well. For me it's fun, to try and build as efficiently as possible. I have to confess that approach has bitten me in the butt on numerous occasions.

I guess I feel a sense of challenge in demonstrating that hand tools can produce quality work in a timeframe that is at least comparable with power tools. I'm sure when it comes to stock preparation running love rough lumber through a jointer and thickness planer is a lot faster than what I do, but on the joinery side I think hand tools more than hold their own. Just my opinion, YMMV.

Cheers, Mike
Mike That is my thinking also. My reference to sports is part of that. Those highly skilled journeymen of the past I think were like that. They did a lot without guides or lines. If you pitched 60 mph baseballs to a pro they would hit nearly perfect. I believe those journeymen were that good at least. If they could knock out 6? drawers from rough in 12 hours thats only 2 hours per. The hand and eye thing had to be there.
Jim

[Luke Dupont]

I think jigs, like appliances and fixtures, have been around for a very long time. They allow you to do repeatable things easily. That's not necessarily taking the skill out of it, it's streamlining the process and making it more efficient. If I need one 60º angle cut, I'll do it by hand. Thirty, I'll make a dedicated miter and shooting board to that angle. Disregarding them as "training wheels" really, IMO, misses the point of them. Unless, I suppose, you understand that and you simply want to work harder. Personally, I like to make things.

Anyway, from the antiques I've seen many craftsmen in the past skipped a lot of work we seem to find important today. This is why I don't mind carrying my cuts past the end of a half-blind dovetail, leaving the non-show side of work with the rough planing, skipping finishing on the insides of casework, etc. The truth is, I've seen work done this way that was well over a hundred years old and still surviving. Aside from that, I never count my hours so I have no idea how long it'd take me to complete a secretary (were that a style I was interested in making). I'm not working to a clock.

Well, they can be either training wheels and limitations, or proper tools and aides, depending on how much you rely on them. You just gave an example whereby "if I need one 60º angle cut, I'll do it by hand," meaning that you can do it by hand when you want or need to. Some people employ jigs to such an extent that they can't do any work without them, such that they become a crutch. Others employ jigs for convenience, but don't rely on them. And others still use fewer jigs than that, just out of preference or what have you. No approach is wrong per se, but there are serious limits to the "employing jigs to such an extent that they become a crutch" method, such as the often encountered woodworker who can't sharpen without a jig, and then jumps through amazing and expensive hoops to try to solve the problem of sharpening some odd or unconventionally shaped tool.

It's all about trade offs. Sometimes the jig is easier, but sometimes knowing how to do it by hand just saves a lot of time and headache that would conversely be introduced by reliance on a jig, or the necessity of making one for some special one off circumstance.

Personally, I love the times when I can throwing all jigs and even the concept of squareness and precision out of the window on occasion and just carving a spoon or kuksa or something. Or just taking a spoke shave to a bow-saw or some other shapely piece of work and letting some cool and pleasing shape emerge organically. But I also use jigs (maybe fewer than most) and appreciate them. What you need when and where you need it.

[Luke Dupont]

"Training wheels may have been a bad analogy. My thoughts went back to my earliest attempts at cutting dovetails. A shop made guide was used to register my saw when cutting dovetails. It didn't work very well. Eventually it dawned on me learning to saw was a better way of making dovetail joints.

Bench hooks and shooting boards are definitely not "training wheels."

Miter boxes are not "training wheels" even though using mine did help me to learn to saw better.

jtk

Good distinctions.

Some jigs are pretty indespensible for anyone.

Taken to the extreme you could even consider marking gauges, squares, planes, and any other number of basic tools to be "jigs" and argue based on that extrapolation, which is obviously not what anyone is talking about when postulating the value of sometimes letting go of jigs. We're talking more about your things like your dovetail example, or the flexibility that comes with being able to sharpen free hand, etc.

[Jim Koepke]

Taken to the extreme you could even consider marking gauges, squares, planes, and any other number of basic tools to be "jigs" and argue based on that extrapolation

If my memory is working Chris Schwarz published an article on making marking gauges. There were already a bunch of marking gauges in my accumulation but it gave me an idea to use with a story stick:

476741

The story stick is upper left. It comes in handy when multiple pieces of the same size are involved. It is also handy when another of the same item is to be made. Years ago potting benches, cabinets and other items were made to sell at a farmers market.

A few other shop helpers are in this image.

jtk

[Luke Dupont]

If my memory is working Chris Schwarz published an article on making marking gauges. There were already a bunch of marking gauges in my accumulation but it gave me an idea to use with a story stick:

476741

The story stick is upper left. It comes in handy when multiple pieces of the same size are involved. It is also handy when another of the same item is to be made. Years ago potting benches, cabinets and other items were made to sell at a farmers market.

A few other shop helpers are in this image.

jtk


I like it!

What are the really long compass / bevel looking things? Especially the one with three arms!

[steven c newman]

There was a movie, by Cary Grant....about a fellow building his Dream House.....might be work watching, if nothing else than to watch how the carpenters of that era worked.....

[mike stenson]

Well, they can be either training wheels and limitations, or proper tools and aides, depending on how much you rely on them. You just gave an example whereby "if I need one 60º angle cut, I'll do it by hand," meaning that you can do it by hand when you want or need to. Some people employ jigs to such an extent that they can't do any work without them, such that they become a crutch. Others employ jigs for convenience, but don't rely on them. And others still use fewer jigs than that, just out of preference or what have you. No approach is wrong per se, but there are serious limits to the "employing jigs to such an extent that they become a crutch" method, such as the often encountered woodworker who can't sharpen without a jig, and then jumps through amazing and expensive hoops to try to solve the problem of sharpening some odd or unconventionally shaped tool.

It's all about trade offs. Sometimes the jig is easier, but sometimes knowing how to do it by hand just saves a lot of time and headache that would conversely be introduced by reliance on a jig, or the necessity of making one for some special one off circumstance.

Personally, I love the times when I can throwing all jigs and even the concept of squareness and precision out of the window on occasion and just carving a spoon or kuksa or something. Or just taking a spoke shave to a bow-saw or some other shapely piece of work and letting some cool and pleasing shape emerge organically. But I also use jigs (maybe fewer than most) and appreciate them. What you need when and where you need it.


Well put! I was once asked, in my professional life, at what point one should decide to automate something. My response is the same as for building jigs.. When you've become tired of doing it manually. In the end, tools are just an easier means of doing something and if you think about it things like planes are just jigs for chisels (or, if you prefer knives).

One of the things I like best about hand work is seeing, or reading, about how others do it.

[Jim Koepke]

I like it!

What are the really long compass / bevel looking things? Especially the one with three arms!

The long pair was put together to measure a distance between the edge of flanges on a large wheel. They have come in handy a couple times since.

The one with three arms is a Fibonacci divider > https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?223546 < The number 1.618 (often designated by the Greek letter phi ø, I think phi actually has a vertical line through the o) is considered the golden number.

When the outer legs are set to a distance of X the top and middle leg will be at a distance of 0.618 X. If the top leg and the center leg are set to X the outer legs is be at a distance of 1.618 X.

1 divided by 0.618 = 1.618. The Fibonacci sequence: 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21 ad infinitum tends to have this ratio between the number as they get larger.

This ratio appears in nature. You have likely seen representations like this:

476754

It has been used in building design and furniture design. The ratio is considered pleasing to many without knowing it is part of the design.

It is possible to make dividers like this to find other ratios.

jtk

[steven c newman]

So..back to the original question of this post...

How long did it take the Old Timers to go from roughed out Lumber, to Finished, delivered piece

Would it be different in a Newport Work Shop...compared to one out in Kentucky, for Instance....

[James Pallas]

I already believe that in order to produce as they did they wasted little time on the unnecessary. As I said in the beginning I’ve seen enough quality of work to know it wasn’t perfect magazine front cover work to today. I’m sure there was some but not all by any means. I have guesses as to things that may have been done and why. Things like I can’t believe that every drawer side went on the shooting board before being dovetailed knowing that it most likely would be planed after. I can believe a drawer front would be fitted before being dovetailed and the dovetails be worked from a baseline. I believe a lot of work was done from a story pole (stick for some).
Jim

[Jim Koepke]

I already believe that in order to produce as they did they wasted little time on the unnecessary.

Most quality antiques built by hand didn't have the unseen surfaces smoothed or finished. Bottoms of drawers and the inside surface of chest of drawers were often not much beyond scrub planing.

Curious thought, did the machine furniture makers use this as a selling point that their furniture was better finished? Better preparation at a lower cost?


Things like I can’t believe that every drawer side went on the shooting board before being dovetailed knowing that it most likely would be planed after. I can believe a drawer front would be fitted before being dovetailed and the dovetails be worked from a baseline. I believe a lot of work was done from a story pole (stick for some).

The stock prep workers probably got a lot more practice cutting square than any of us. If they were paid by the piece it was imperative they not waste a moment of productivity.

One of the first articles I read on making dovetails showed using a square to mark the baseline instead of a marking gauge. This makes working with less than square wood easier. Also in the early Americas the shops cranking out furniture for the masses were likely not trying for 'airtight' super dovetails that many strive for today.

A story pole (or stick) can save a lot of time and mistakes. Things have gotten a lot better over the last half century. During my days in the printing industry there was a customer who complained about the size of something being off by ~1/16" or so. The owner of the shop had a SAE certified yardstick and showed the customer that his tape measure was off. He also showed that different brands of tape measures (at the time) didn't agree. The owner had a tape measure that agreed his certified yardstick.

A story pole eliminates ruler read errors and mismatched measuring device errors.

It is also a great way to quickly make another piece without having to review all the measurements on a drawing.

jtk

[mike stenson]

Measurement has always simply induced error :D

[James Pallas]

Things we already know about dovetails. 1) the spacing of hand cut can be unequal. 2) The angles vary from one maker to another. 3) The size of the pins is a real variable. I have this and also found that the angle of the tails can vary on individual tails. Not a lot but +/- 5* not unusual. The conclusions I have drawn from this is tails were cut by eye often, no measured layout no markers used. Most I have seen the baseline is clearly marked. Again I have to say I’m not advocating any of this. It’s a challenge for myself to get good enough at this and other tasks in woodworking to use less tools and less tasks.
Jim

[mike stenson]

Things we already know about dovetails. 1) the spacing of hand cut can be unequal. 2) The angles vary from one maker to another. 3) The size of the pins is a real variable. I have this and also found that the angle of the tails can vary on individual tails. Not a lot but +/- 5* not unusual. The conclusions I have drawn from this is tails were cut by eye often, no measured layout no markers used. Most I have seen the baseline is clearly marked. Again I have to say I’m not advocating any of this. It’s a challenge for myself to get good enough at this and other tasks in woodworking to use less tools and less tasks.
Jim


All of my shop furniture dovetails were baseline marked and just cut by eye. It's really only when I'm showing them that I care about things like symmetry. FWIW, I find I naturally saw at about a 1:5 slope. Dovetails, I believe, were a functional joint in the past. They became a decorative one pretty much only with the 'London pattern' as far as I can see, so that's 18th century. A very long time after the joint was introduced.

[Luke Dupont]

Things we already know about dovetails. 1) the spacing of hand cut can be unequal. 2) The angles vary from one maker to another. 3) The size of the pins is a real variable. I have this and also found that the angle of the tails can vary on individual tails. Not a lot but +/- 5* not unusual. The conclusions I have drawn from this is tails were cut by eye often, no measured layout no markers used. Most I have seen the baseline is clearly marked. Again I have to say I’m not advocating any of this. It’s a challenge for myself to get good enough at this and other tasks in woodworking to use less tools and less tasks.
Jim

I think we should be doing this anyway rather than trying to make things look as if they were produced by a machine.

I personally love the organic aesthetic that comes with minor variation and inconsistancy, so long as it's subtle and doesn't negatively impact the work in a meaningful manner. Kind of like how something made by a blacksmith has a charm that a mass produced and perfectly machined piece of hardware just doesn't.

Sometimes I wonder if this rough aesthetic can even be emphasized in a tasteful way that doesn't look sloppy. Maybe I'll try cutting my dovetails at intentionally wildly inconsistent angles and widths, but fit them tightly, just to play with this concept and see how it looks... Maybe combined with some really organic shaping of the piece, this could look quite interesting, and would be something unachievable with a machine.

[Jim Koepke]

Sometimes I wonder if this rough aesthetic can even be emphasized in a tasteful way that doesn't look sloppy.

The pins can be made with different shapes:

476793

Fine WoodWorking had an article on this many years ago. Other shapes were also used.

jtk

[steven c newman]

Such as the "Bermuda" dovetails...

[steven c newman]

Another problem encountered back then...that when the piece was finally done and ready to be delivered...was getting "Me Laird" to actually PAY for it.....

And there were quite a few such "Skin-flints" back then...