Bill Tindall, E.Tn.
What is the objective for revealing a piece was made with hand tools, entirely or partially? And related to that question whose eye needs to detect the way a piece was made?

To give someone that is not a woodworker a clue would involve leaving some obvious "defects" that would indicate hand shaping. Then again, here in the US flooring is sold with grooves machine milled into it that can be seen from 10 meters. It is called "hand scraped". When I hand scraped my floor I did it to achieve a result better than machine sanding!

I was at a craft show this weekend and a woodworker was asked if his dovetails were hand made. The person asking said he was a woodworker....of some sort. They were obviously(to me) not hand made. The furniture maker replied that if they were hand made there would be a scribe line on the drawer side. Well, as we know, that depends. From this experience we can see that advertising hand tool made from appearance is fraught with difficulty. Only a brass plate hand nailed with a cut nail to the side of the piece will ensure recognition.

Other than making it sloppy, can anyone ensure that a M&T joint will be revealed as hand made?

It seems to me that the only valid situation to flaunt "hand tool made" is where hand made is clearly superior in appearance. Inlay, complex shaping, turnings and carving done by hand is clearly more attractive even to a less than expert witness. Reserve the hand tool recognition for these operations. M&T joints, panel joints, etc.- who cares?

Personally, I don't go out of my way to tell anyone how a piece is made unless they ask. Most don't care. It is the appearance that counts.