The woodworking I do combines machines and hand tools. I have kind of a early 20th century shop–machines for the rough stuff: table saw, band saw, jointer and planer and hand planes and hand saws for the details. I took an excellent hand cut dovetail class taught by Chris Gochnour a few years ago where we learned how to make dovetails with a hand saw, chisel and fret saw. I’ve been practicing the skill ever since. While my dovetails aren’t perfect I’ve gotten to the point where they come together almost right off the saw.

I invested in an expensive Lie Nielsen tapered dovetail saw for this purpose and it’s one of my favorite tools.

I used to use a router jig to cut my dovetails but I now prefer doing it by hand. There’s a lot less dust and noise and that router jig was a real pain to set up. Plus I’m beginning to enjoy accumulating odd, outdated hand skills just for the sake of those skills. You can make perfectly serviceable drawers entirely by machine but if you have the time and are making things for yourself not for work, I think doing it by hand is the way to go.

I’ve been spending the past few months building an elaborate reproduction of a bed designed by Harvey Ellis. The central panel features some inlay work. I cut the wood and metal for this inlay using a jeweler’s saw. My first few attempts were so bad that I considered trying to cut the material at my library’s maker space with a laser cutter. But I struggled for two days trying to learn the software I’d need to use. I just don’t like sitting in front of computers if I don’t have to.

Instead, I decided to just keep practicing doing it by hand, guided by a YouTube lecture by a marquetry expert who learned his craft working at his family’s jewelry business. I used time during a pet sitting gig to make many attempts at the central woodland scene until I understood how to use the tools.

There’s nothing wrong with using computers if you use them consciously. The Bauhaus, the architects of the International Style, and the mid-century work of the Eames all make use of a machine aesthetic that can be elegant. But in 2024 I have an intuition that we need to return to hand work, perhaps as a reaction to the excesses of our Silicon Valley overlords.

The panel above, which awaits more sanding and staining, was done with a combination of hand fret saw work and inlay facilitated by a Dremel and router.  Instead of a CNC router I did it freehand. It’s not perfect but that’s kind of the point.