Dovetail Jig Suggestions

[wd4lc]

I have the PC 4216. It's the PC 4212 and also includes a mini dovetail template (for small joints). It's the only jig I have so I can't compare it to anything else.

I've enjoyed using it. I've made box joints, half blind dovetails and through dovestails (all with common board as I haven't tried any other type of wood). I've yet to use the mini template. I also have not used the dado template.

The jig is set up for 12" wide boards. There is a way to use wider boards. If I remember correctly, it requires removing the template from the jig and basically clamping it to your wood with a regular clamp. You clamp, route, remove and reclamp the template as far as you need to go down the board. The instructions are in the manual. I haven't tried this yet. It sounds like it might be tedious and potentially more room for error but at least it is possible.

A few notes. For routing through dovetails you are actually routing each end of each board individually. For half blind you are routing the two joints at one time.
So let's say you are going to make a drawer. With through dovetails you are needing to insert and route 8 different sides. With half blind dovetails you are doing two boards at once and therefore cutting your work in half with inserting the wood and routing only 4 times.
Also note that it takes two different bits and router template guides for the through dovetails (one for the pin and one for the tail). This is why some say that having two different routers is quicker. You could have one router set up with the bit and guide for the pins and the other router set up with each for the tails.

You will get chip out (for some reason I thought I magically would not) but there are ways to reduce that. Probably the most important way is to use scrap board of the same depth. The other is that there are certain cutting techniques that help.

Here are few cool little tips..

http://www.woodworkersjournal.com/re...ips/index.html

Here is an instructional video if you'd like to see how it works..

http://www.woodworkingonline.com/200...cut-dovetails/

[andyzee]

wd4lc, great links, thanks!

[luteman]

For a really inexpensive,versatile jig,do a Google search for "Stots". I love mine!!!! I think I paid under 35 bux.
Fred

[LCHIEN]

Andyzee, you keep mentioning that you are looking for a strong joint. Reread post #4 from Vaking. he mentions that dovetails were made originally to make a strong joint when glues were weak. Today's glues will give a strong joint with much simpler joints, the main reason in modern woodworking for dovetails is appearance... OK if that's your main reason but you should rethink the strong part of it-still very strong, but not necessary for strength.

[cabinetman]

Dovetail jigs are handy, but not totally necessary. I have an old craftsman jig I got several years ago. I don't use it a whole lot. I've used my box joint jig and other methods more.

Hand cut dovetails aren't that hard to do. I'm still practicing mine.

Frank Klausez's three minute dovetails using a bowsaw: http://woodwork.ars-informatica.ca/t...dovetail_video

Rob Cosman knocked 'em out in about 3 1/2 minutes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxIgNel0H_I

+1. Machine cut dovetails look like it. Why not try hand cut. A saying goes something like this..."It's not the destination, but the journey".

.

[JimD]

Personally I do not have the patience to hand cut dovetails. I think I can cut machined dovetails, half blind, about as fast as I can cut any reasonable joint. It takes a few minutes to set up the router and jig but not really much time to cut the joints. (Hint, make some setup jigs and a stand that raises the dovetail jig 6 inches or so off the bench surface (so it is easier to see what you are doing) and build a drawer into the stand for the jigs. A key one is for bit depth. About a 6"x4" scrap of 3/4 plywood or wood with a notch cut out about 1 inch wide and deep. Put a drywall screw into the center of the notch and adjust the depth of the screw so it will just touch the bit when it is at the right depth. Put the resulting jig into the drawer for the next time you do dovetails.)

My friend who never mastered his jig builds kitchen cabinets for others for a living. He uses pocket screws with the holes hidden by the drawer front. That's probably a little faster than my dovetails but I think he could get enough more for cabinets with dovetails that it would be worthwhile to at least offer the option. I need to give him a dovetail lesson, however. Mike can do a lot of stuff I can't and if he saw it work one time I think he would be able to replicate it any time he needed to. The pocket screws work fine and will probably hold up well but dovetails are just a nicer joint worth the extra time and effort, at least to me.

Jim

[cwsmith]

So as I mentioned in another thread, just getting into carpentry, wish me luck. I had just purchased a router Bosch MRC23EVSK, came in today, yeaahhh!!. Next thing, I noticed this thingee called a dovetail jig. Hey, I want dovetails, they look strong right? Ok, saw the General EZ Pro at a local Home Depot, saw a video on it, great tool, right? Upon further research, nope, never realized how many options there are. I'm trying to save some money, so want to keep costs as close to $100 as possible, any suggestions?

I'm still in the "I'd love to have one, but do I need it yet?" mode. That answer of course, almost totally depends on your project visions, which if containing a lot of furniture with drawers is going to push the "dovetails" right up near the top of the list of wants.

While I will eventually get there, I've found drawer assembly (like the only "one" that I've made so far, and the "two" required in my current project simply not affordable in the way of need.

Like alluded to a few times, "dovetails" are attractive and sort of a mark of craftsmanship by probably most woodworkers. But "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", they say.

Not having the time/patience (and questioning my own abilities) to cut them by hand, and not yet feeling the real "need", my very limited "drawer" joinery said to go another way.

As I recall, it was the "Woodwhisperer" that had a program/video on the subject. After seeing that, I opted to go with dowels and I sort of liked the way that looked actually. That joint was very easy to make, with the tools that I had (I do have a drill press) and contrasting wood dowels made the joinery look nice, at least for me.

Again, absolutely nothing against "dovetails", and I will love it when I can get a jig. But, there are other ways, and they can be attractive too.

CWS

(If my camera was working, I snap a picture... [sigh!])

[greenacres2]

I got the PC kit a few months back, and the handful of boxes i've made for my wife and the 3 that she gave as gifts have justified a lot of expense in HER mind. From my limited experience with woodworking in general i offer the following:
1. What Loring (and others) has said about today's glues negating the need for the strength of a dovetail joint makes sense to me. I'm not going to do any research, but Titebond II and Gorilla Glue are tougher than me.
2. I really like the look of a dovetail joint--makes them worth doing FOR ME.
3. There is a set-up time expense, but the actual cutting time is really fast. Makes it easy to justify making something out of same "scrap" of the same thickness while it's set up.
4. Negative on the PC unit--The 7 degree dovetail isn't enough for me--the visual impact of 14 would be more appealing. I need to read back through the supplemental guide, but if i recall correctly the 7 degree is fixed but different widths are possible.
5. I also like the contrasting dowel look a lot and will be doing some as time goes by. One of the appeals of dovetail and box joints to me is the contrast that the exposed end grain gives, so contrasting dowels fits in with what i like.
6. I now know that i could have been just as happy with a simple box joint jig compared to the 7 degree dovetail.

Summary--the PC is a good jig, taken the time for a good set-up. I'm generally happy with it, but will most likely make some change or addition later.

earl

[JimD]

Here's a link to some good pictures of a dovetail jig like I use. More importantly, there is a good manual available at a link on this page. The instructions work with all jigs like this that have a moveable bar that controls how far you cut into the drawer front:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Dove...Template/H0983

I bought my 7/16 finger guide from grizzly but bought the HF jig which is very very similar to the one pictured at the above link. Here's a link to the HF jig which is apparently on sale for $30.

http://www.harborfreight.com/dovetai...ine-34102.html

You need a 1/2 14 degree dovetail bit and a template guide to go with this (and the good instructions available above) but you can be cutting dovetails for ~$50. Please note this is not an inferior cheaply made jig. The template guide is a little rough, it's cast aluminum, but the jig is almost totally metal and sturdily made. Even with a Grizzly template guide or two you should be well under $100.

Don't but a cheap router bit for this jig, however. It has to have a 1/4 shank and my experience with the cheap ones is they break where the carbide cutters transition to the shaft of the bit. I am currently using a CMT and have for several years now. It was not expensive. A whiteside should work well too.

I prefer the appearance of the 14 degree dovetails too. I agree the 7 degree look a bit like a box joint (at least at first glance). For me, the PC jig is nicer made but I object to both the 7 degree joint and the much higher price. But for those of you who have the PC, I will also add that nearly every time I've spent more to get a "nicer" tool I have been happy. Often when I buy the cheap one I buy more than once. But this HF dovetail jig is not one of those times. It is a keeper.

Jim