Synopsis: You’ve spent hours handcrafting a dovetailed box, and it’s time to choose the hardware. A search through the hardware store and catalogs turns up nothing worthy. Why not handcraft your own clasp out of wood? Fine Woodworking contributing editor Christian Becksvoort demonstrates how to custom-make wooden clasps in designs ranging from a simple tenon and open mortise to triangular teeth cut with a dovetail saw, with closing mechanisms that incorporate small wooden pins turned on the lathe or metal pins in a variety of designs.

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After spending hours building a dovetailed box, you need a clasp for the finishing touch. A search through your hardware catalogs turns up nothing distinctive. Why not create your own clasp of matching or contrasting wood, with a hand-turned pin? They’re easy to make, in whatever wood and size you choose.

The wooden clasps I often make are nothing more than…