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Tried out a hand cut dovetail joint with mitered corners to hide the dovetail on top. Didn't go so well, first pair I ran my miter the wrong direction so I couldn't slide the dovetail together. Second time it got too loose. Not to mention chip out on a few tails.

Only my second time doing dovetails though. First with only a dovetail saw, and chisels. Must be a sign to knock the dust off my dovetail jig. Or maybe stick with dovetails without complicated meters as well...
Just thought I would share my experience today.

We learn from mistakes .... and if that is true, I am a scholar!

Looks like nice work to me! Hope it wasn't expensive stock!

I love dovetails, but can't imagine doing them by hand .....

dovetails by hand is an art.
takes a lot of practice and chisels need to sharp.

For an early attempt, that looks good to me. Sharp allows paring with minimal pressure.

Also hard wood minimizes 'slips'.

I tried dovetails by hand approximately one time...

Then I just bought a ShopSmith and gave up my blossoming career as a hand tool guy.

Seriously, though, it does look pretty good for hand work. It does take a lot of practice.

Well it was/is 3/4" hard maple and was certainly a process. I do need to sharpen the chisels but need to finally buckle down and but a wet stone set. They were fairly sharp to start, but I think my issue was in the mitered top and bottom. The 45 degree guide for the chisel helped get that angle right on, but following the angle of the tail while maintaining the 45 is what caused binding and eventually slop in the joint.

I'm just a glutton for difficult projects I guess. I need to try a box joint or finger joint next. All I have ever done is dovetails, miters (twice), rabbets, and a few mitered rabbets. I'm hoping box joints would be easier.

Box joints will likely be easier than mitered dovetails but don't be disappointed if your box joints don't fit. Good box joints are not easily created. Everything has to fit precisely to create good joints. It is simply a matter of experience. Be patient and just keep doing it.

This is especially true when cutting these joints by hand but it is no piece of cake with a router. Setups must be done with precision.

"With all due respect Sir, this will be our finest hour" [Apollo 13 movie]

It's really not bad, there! I went through the same thing recently. Should have known better than to choose such a challenging joint, but I did it anyway.

I just changed my mindset after the initial disappoint. I figured, I enjoy restoring stuff, so let me restore my own joints !!!

Couple of things I did...

Shimming up the gaps: I needed some shims even thinner than ordinary veneer. So I thinned-down veneer on the strip-sander: Planing the joints by hand: This always makes them look nicer.

Re-scribing: In my case I had to do enough shimming and hand-planing that I removed my initial dovetail depth markings, which made the remaining joints look a bit random. I used a decent cutting gauge and re-scribed, which tidied up the appearance somewhat: Other emphases: Same picture above shows details being added to the lower edges of the boards. This helped take the eye away from the vast boards and their beginner-level dovetail joints.

Mistakes happen; you're doing great!

Chris

Beave,

I don't agree with your subject line. You did well, and hopefully you derived some pleasure from the process.

Your joints look like the mitered dovetails I used in my favorite step-stool. 1/2" pine boards and all by hand. It's a very light and delicate step that nevertheless has withstood my weight and abuse for over 15 years, despite the amateurish dovetails. It would've looked better had I used machines and jigs, but it wouldn't have made me any happier.

David Bodner