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Crikey! Must have had a good teacher! YouTube, coffee and this forum is my teacher at the moment :D those look pretty much perfect though no? Their first time! Awesome.

@paulrbarnard thank you for the advice. You know what I did actually muck it up a bit because the tail didn't fit initially and I thought 'hang on, what have I done now?' because I had thought of it as a pretty clean cut along the lines (except the bottom) but the boards just didn't go together...

Attempt #2 is already feeling alot easier and less baffling. Still a long way to go but I think I can see what you all mean now when you say it will become just common practice if you keep doing it. It feels a bit like a riddle and once you figure it out you know the answer but nobody else does...

It is actually pretty sturdy to be honest. The bearers I used for the legs are 4x4 posts and I've put in 6 of them for an 8x4 surface. Not the prettiest or probably the safest but for a man in a shed trying to escape his children and Mrs.... It hold up just fine :D

Yes mine is not a fancy one I knocked it together with wooden bearers (was a forklift driver) and a bit of plywood.

Yes that is correct. My clamps were occupied. I've seen people clamp a block of wood square up to the line you're chiselling to help keep it flush. This seems like a good way to go right?

They seem good and sharp to be honest. They are new Narex things and I've been sharpening with diamond stones and then buffing with some compound. I'm quite happy with how sharp they are. Probably because they're not Uber cheap rather than my sharpening skills!

I was thinking the same thing @D_W in terms of learning. If I try to get to a level where I feel I've sort of got the knack then I reckon just dovetail everything I do for a while.

Thanks @danst96 that's really motivational to see your progress. Is that walnut?

I did find the coping saw quite a challenge. I was cutting triangles out as it doesn't seem to want to bend too much for me. Feel much more in control with the chisels just need to pay more attention to the lines I think and get the knack of chiselling straight.

Right good to know. I've got some pine left will that be sufficient? Or I've got a bit of Meranti?

Thanks @Jameshow I've totally butchered it but I'm going to keep trying! I have realised my mistakes in it and if I write them down I might just not forget them. It is in anyway and it holding together but there is a lot to be said about the cleanliness of it to say the least! Also I watched a...

I'm in the shed today finally learning to dovetail or at least trying to teach myself the extreme basics of it. I've done the tail piece I think... Took 2 attempts because the first piece I blew out the back face of the wood with the chisel. There must be a technique to avoid this right? This...

@accipiter thank you. I've seen all kinds of online tutorials on making your own fence and sled ect. Have made a VERY crude version of a mitre sled but can't see it lasting long. I think the saw itself is great for 99 quid but definitely needs fine tuning to be bearable. Thanks for the tip...

That's a great offer that I'll gladly take you up on! I was just about to tackle dovetails AND buy a live edge plank of oak (from B&Q... Is this not a good idea?), so this is really helpful for me as a learner thank you!

Awesome. No such thing as overboard :)

Yes. Going in half cocked with no experience is a great way to make loads of errors!

Ah I see! Great idea! Would glued batons be enough to hold the ply? Do you mean batons around the edges or crossing over side to side? Probably around the edge would work much better I imagine no?

Right! I've tried to achieve what was suggested here with the lip for the box. Had SOME success and a bit of a disaster. Basically I have a really cheap table saw which is hard to get accurate cuts on and I am a novice so I went a tad too deep on the far side of the lid, damaging the epoxy and...

@D_W I'm game!