Chessboard Made With Only Hand Tools

I just finished this chessboard and I used only hand tools to make it (about 95% hand tools).  I did use a circular saw to rip cut 72" piece off a board of cherry for the edging.  The squares are 1/4" thick and thickness planed by hand using a #4 plane.  I was amazed at the precision you can get with a shooting board, hand planes, and a sharp tenon rip saw.  This was a great learning process for me and I really like how it turned out.  The finish is 3 coats of shellac, 2 coats boiled linseed oil/lemon oil/helmsman varnish/mineral spirits mix, then finished off with furniture wax.  I used cherry and curly maple for the squares, cherry for the edge pieces and ash for the dovetail splines at each corner
For more information on how this project is made, see woodworking masterclasses with Paul Sellers.

Hand Cut Dovetails

I have been making hand cut dovetail boxes over the past 2 months.  My goal is to practice making 100 dovetail corners, so that would amount to 25 boxes.  I have 7 various boxes made so far, but I am gaining more confidence with my dovetail saw, chisel and hand plane skills.  No routers, jigs or templates used.  It is amazing what you can do with some sharp hand tools.  In many instances it is faster and much safer than machines.  No loud noise, kickbacks or dust collection.  I can do at any time also and not bother my neighbors.