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To make a curved dado clamp a template over your workpiece.
Is it possible to make an arched rabbet, dado or a groove without an electric router? Well.. two years ago I experimented with a hand tool technique that allowed me to create all the above and more. I discovered (although I speculate that others might have figured this out too) that by using a flexible Japanese saw arched against a template, one can cut an arched kerf. This technique can be helpful with shaping wood or producing joinery that requires a round shoulder. But it can also come in handy when you want to decorate a board with curvature geometry. Think about the lid of a box or a panel of a door. The curved kerfs can later be filled with colorful epoxy or veneer of matching thickness.
To make a curved dado or rabbet, all you need to do is to make a template (I used a convex one but a concave template might work too) of the intended curvature, flex a Japanese saw against it and saw down to the desired depth. Then, excavate the wood with a manual router plane or a chisel.
Flex the saw against the template and begin sawing.
Relocate the template and saw your second kerf.
Excavate the remaining wood between the two kerfs.
The completed dado.
Making decorative epoxies in your work is the same process.
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