heisenbug | My First Dovetail Joint

It's been quite a while since I went through a woodworking phase. These phases usually involve spending lots of money on tools that I use to make one cool thing, then don't use again for at least a few years, if ever.

This time I'm inspired by my need for a new briefcase. A few years ago, I got a Petersen music stand, which is really cool. Unfortunately it didn't fit in my backpack (even when folded). Plus I didn't really want to be carrying my stand and music in a backpack, because my cello case is a backpack, and I can only wear one at a time. What I really needed was a briefcase that would (a) hold the stand plus oversized sheet music and a few cello accessories, (b) stand up on its own, so that a person wearing a cello as a backpack could easily pick it up without stooping too much, and preferably (c) be really light. (You might think that, when carrying around a cello, a couple extra pounds wouldn't matter, but you would be wrong.)

This briefcase didn't exist. The main problem was the size of the music stand, which is about 20" long when folded. Normal briefcases seem to max out at around 18". There are a few specialized ones that are much too big and are also heavy.

So I made a briefcase. I made it from a single sheet of foamcore, plus tape and a handle and clasps that were actually made for briefcases. It met requirement (a) reasonably well, (b) on the majority of occasions and (c) spectacularly. I considered it a prototype, just to make sure the size was good and everything, but it worked well enough that I kept using it rather than go to the trouble of building something more permanent.

That was two years ago, or maybe three. On the day of my final concert of the season last spring, it finally failed me.

I could repair it, but I had been patching it with duct tape more and more frequently. It's time to build a better one.

Yesterday I bought 6 feet of 0.5"x3.75" mahogany (one of the lighter hardwoods, mass-wise), a 32"x24" sheet of very thin plywood, a nice leather handle, brass hinges, clasps, and a dovetail jig. The dovetail jig, a tool that exists only to make dovetail joints, was a rather silly thing to buy, since it was expensive and I don't know what else I'll use it for. But I'm sure I'll want to use it again, because it's SO FREAKING COOL. I made a dovetail joint in scrap wood today, to practice.

And it was easy. So that's how the corners of the briefcase will be made. It will look even better than this because it will be glued, sanded and finished.

I guess I have to finish it next weekend, because rehearsals start the following week. I'll post pictures when it's done (obviously).