TIL I've cut over 10,000 dovetails in 8 years

I was cleaning out my shop last weekend and found a box of old sample joints I saved over the years. I started counting the dovetails from just the samples, and it got me thinking how many I've actually done since I started cabinetmaking in 2016. Rough math says I average about 25 dovetail joints per project, and I do around 50 projects a year. That puts me over 10,000 dovetails total. What surprised me is how long it took before they actually looked good. My first 500 were honestly garbage. Has anyone else hit a weird milestone like this that made you realize how much time you've actually spent on one technique?

2 comments

2 Comments

beth_mitchell8d ago

Count those samples again man. 25 per project times 50 projects a year is 1,250 per year not 10,000 over 8 years. That math gets you around 10,000 total, but only if you did 50 projects every single year since 2016. Most guys slow down or take breaks. I hit 5,000 dovetails around year 5 and that felt like a lot. Your point about the first 500 being bad is dead on though. Mine looked like a beaver chewed them until I got the saw angle locked into muscle memory.

robertsmith8d ago

Funny you mention beaver chewed @beth_mitchell, that's exactly what my first batch of dado joints looked like. Had a guy at the lumber yard tell me my router work looked like a toddler with a crayon.