Dovetail Joint

I made my first dovetail joint today. It was a test joint, joining a couple of piece of pine scrap, but it worked, fits together well enough (could be better, but heh, it's a hobby). On the scale of things in cabinet making, dovetail joints are pretty far up there, only hand carving Chippendale ball & claw chair legs has more prestige than doing dovetail joints by hand, at least in western cabinet making. The major trick is cutting them accurately enough so that the "tails" mate with the "pins" without too much gappiness. Tools needed are surprisingly few, try square, carpenter's bevel, back saw, coping saw and a double cut file. Joseph probably had these tools back in 1 AD.
Modern professionals will use a special jig and a router. The jig is a masterpiece and costs as much as the router.