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Confession time: Phil avoids dovetails.
There it's out in the open. The reason? Cutting dovetails feels like an artificial marker of what makes a "true" woodworker. However, in his current workbench project, dovetails just seem like the best choice for joining drawer parts made from white fir. The drawer fronts are 3/4"-thick stock and the sides are 1/2" thick. Other machine-cut options can result in weak, short-grain sections that may not play well with softwoods.
On the plus side, the bench is coming along nicely. And Phil is really excited about working with this great material.
Logan has it out for dovetail jigs. Too fussy.
John gives miters wide berth.
One of the issues with all of these items is that unless you commit to continual practice and improvement, a woodworker will struggle to get the desired results.
Woodworking is a pretty wide craft and no one can master every aspect. So why not just stick to the parts that bring you joy in your shop?
How about you? What things do you avoid or that you've given a chance but just aren't that into?
