One Week Fine Furniture Course: Dovetail Box Making

£650.00

Monday 24th – Friday 26th August 2026

Over five focused days, you’ll build a finely crafted keepsake box in oak and cedar, learning to cut clean dovetails by hand, make a traditional frame-and-panel lid and fit an aromatic cedar of Lebanon base. Each joint deepens your accuracy, confidence and understanding of fine handwork. Ideal for those who’ve completed our Marquetry Games Board course or already have basic chisel and joinery skills.

Monday 24th – Friday 26th August 2026

Over five focused days, you’ll build a finely crafted keepsake box in oak and cedar, learning to cut clean dovetails by hand, make a traditional frame-and-panel lid and fit an aromatic cedar of Lebanon base. Each joint deepens your accuracy, confidence and understanding of fine handwork. Ideal for those who’ve completed our Marquetry Games Board course or already have basic chisel and joinery skills.

Course Format

Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm

Level

Beginner

About this course

This five-day improvers woodworking course is designed for hobbyists and makers with some prior experience who want to refine their hand-tool skills in a calm, supportive environment. Ideal for those who’ve completed our beginner course or can already mark out, saw and pare simple joints, the week focuses on developing confident, clean dovetails and applying them thoughtfully in a handcrafted keepsake box. Teaching is unhurried and pressure-free: accuracy is demonstrated and encouraged, but the emphasis is on understanding the craft, enjoying the process, and building skills you’ll continue to practise long after the course ends — making this a natural next step towards more advanced furniture projects, such as a Shaker-style side table with a drawer.

You’ll learn

• Hand-cut dovetail joinery
• Precision marking and fitting techniques
• Traditional frame and panel construction
• Fine finishing for a professional result

Skills that stay with you. A box that can become a gift, an heirloom or the first of many you will make at home.

Practical details

• Materials included
• Bring a packed lunch
• A detailed welcome email arrives a week before your course

Who is this course for?

For makers with some hand-tool experience who want to slow down, refine their joinery, and build confidence through a calm, hands-on week of craft.