Just crossed 1,000 hand-cut dovetails without even noticing

Counted them up last night while organizing my old projects and realized I never actually wanted to be a production woodworker like I thought I did back when I started the first one 12 years ago, anyone else hit a weird milestone on a road they already left?

3 comments

3 Comments

sage_green5d ago

Yeah, "where do you put that many dovetails" is exactly the question I asked myself after 300 identical spice racks.

danielnelson5d ago

Honestly, "without even noticing" is the kind of thing that sneaks up on you. I hit 500 hand-cut box joints a few years back and realized I'd spent all that time making the same few pieces over and over for craft shows, and I didn't even like the work. It felt like running a marathon and finding out the finish line was just a random spot on the trail. Ngl, it's a weird feeling when the milestone itself is a symbol of a path you already walked away from. Like, congrats on the skill, but where do you put that many dovetails when you no longer need them?

piper7794d ago

That's just life teaching you about autopilot mode, @danielnelson, where your hands do everything while your brain checks out on a coffee break.