Dovetails have always been my nemesis. They wind up clunky and unrefined. I know; practice, practice, practice.
So, I decided to practice. I cut a few 6" lengths of scrap pine, maple and whatever else I had laying around and started making dovetails. Funny how practice makes perfect. A couple of things really made a difference.
1) Make sure you have enough light. If you can't see it clearly, you can't cut it cleanly.
2) Slow down.
3) Chop the majority of your waste, then put a fresh edge on your chisel prior to the final trim to your knife line. This made a huge difference. I thought I was still sharp. I wasn't. It mattered.
A few dozen more test pieces and I should have this figured out.