To do hand cut dovetails well takes two things…mindfulness and patience. You can read about how to perform the steps and all the “tricks and tips” on other sites.
Patience is needed to learn the details of dovetail construction and move through all the gyrations needed to execute each part. Dovetails are generally done in groups of 1 to 7 or so. Each one requires its own time and they can be tedious. There is a tendency to try and execute them as fast as possible. Don’t. Be patient and execute each step on each tail and pin. You or your client will appreciate the beauty of well executed joinery for the rest of your life and after. Mistakes will show and become maker’s marks and be with you forever. That may not be a bad thing. Dovetails always provide humility.
You can find on the internet, woodworkers that execute a single dovetail flawlessly in softwood in two minutes or less. They imply if you buy their dovetail guild, their saw, or use their methods (tails first, blue tape, cheat and use basswood,) that you can be just as fast and precise. Actually you can…after cutting enough dovetails, your eye and hand and mind will understand. The key is to have the patience with yourself to learn. Any of the tools and techniques will work, you are the problem until your not. :)
Mindfulness is the second part that is absolutely required. Do the saw cuts one stroke too far and they show. Pare waste below the baseline and it will show. The challenge is staying in the moment to allow the precision required of a beautifully executed joint. Perfectly worked dovetails in photos are done by woodworkers that have mastered the moment.
The last thought I’d leave with you is this. Woodworking forces us to be patient and be mindful, to stay in the present. To do the work well does not allow us to worry about tomorrow or what someone said yesterday. We can concentrate on making something beautiful and in doing encounter the peacefulness that is so fleeting in our lives.
The little box above is in mesquite and has a touch of turquoise inlay to complement and add color. Its purpose was to serve as a funeral urn and was executed with intent, and mindfulness for someone that I knew. Patience and mindfulness are blessings returned to me in this work.