I like to take every opportunity to practice my dovetails, especially when making casual and utilitarian projects. Here is the first of four planter boxes that will hold our herb garden on our back deck. The sides and bottom are made from half-inch cedar fencing, and the ends are from an old door frame I scavenged from a neighbor’s tree lawn.

I used the “Easy Dovetails by Hand” method, explained brilliantly and succinctly John Buller on YouTube. No marking gauge, no laying out, no measuring–just eyeball everything and start sawing. Amazingly, it all turns out even and symmetrical.