Traditionally, the pins go on the front, or on the top if it’s a top to a chest. Those are done for engineering reasons, but for a small jewelry box or similar, it’s strictly what you prefer. I do think when you “stray” from tradition, the box might not “feel” right in some people’s eyes, even if they don’t know why. If he joints are being cut by hand, it’s a bit more work to make it a box joint, since then every single angle must be square. You miss a degree in a dovetail, it won’t matter if the joint is tight. If using a router, then a box joint is easier.
And to me, I don’t worry if I do pins first or tails first. I’ve done both, the interesting one is when I do a dovetail within a dovetail (I brought that joint to the last show in the demo I did). Then you are sort of doing both at the same time. It’s something that might be really good for a box, if you want to accentuate the joinery. And also make a two day project last a month.
