Has anyone used a 12" jig to cut dovetails in 18" to 24" material?
Is it feasible to use a 12" dovetail jig to cut dovetails in wider material by
removing the stops and walking the pieces thru the jig?
As an option how difficult would it be to cut the dovetails in 6" pieces and
then join the pieces with biscuits to get the desired width.
The Keller worked for this by cutting and moving and cutting again. A
cherry blanket chest with sides 18".
On Wed, 03 Mar 2004 07:29:33 GMT, [email protected] (Steve) wrote:
>Has anyone used a 12" jig to cut dovetails in 18" to 24" material?
>Is it feasible to use a 12" dovetail jig to cut dovetails in wider material by
>removing the stops and walking the pieces thru the jig?
>As an option how difficult would it be to cut the dovetails in 6" pieces and
>then join the pieces with biscuits to get the desired width.
I am going through the same problem on a slant front desk. I need 23" on the
bottom of the case and 12" on the top and they need to be half blind
dovetails. After trying to cut them by hand with real bad results I ordered
the Veritas dovetail guide hoping this improves my accuracy. Can't afford a
Liegh just yet and don't think I will ever cut enough by hand to become real
good at it. I am thinking now a lock miter joint on the case sides would be
almost as good . But I am stubborn and keep after the dovetails, I have a
lot of scrap to practice on.
You can always do dovetails on a smaller width, say 8" and then joint the DT
boards together. I have doen a blanket chest on the Incra this way and also
using the Akeda. It is easier than you might think. I made a router table jig
to joint the sides after they were dovetailed. Here is start of story using
Incra: http://www.woodshopdemos.com/bchst-1.htm
Look a little funny where the two half tails meet, but with edge to edge
gluing of batch-cut pieces, doable.
If you've got a router table - box or drawer joint would do nicely for most
applications.
"Morris Dovey" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Steve wrote:
>
> > Has anyone used a 12" jig to cut dovetails in 18" to 24"
> > material?
>
> It should be possible to cut dovetails in less than full-width
> boards and subsequently glue them together; but getting the
> resulting pins and tails to match up would be extremely difficult
> (with or without biscuits.)
>
Steve wrote:
> Has anyone used a 12" jig to cut dovetails in 18" to 24"
> material? Is it feasible to use a 12" dovetail jig to cut
> dovetails in wider material by removing the stops and walking
> the pieces thru the jig? As an option how difficult would it
> be to cut the dovetails in 6" pieces and then join the pieces
> with biscuits to get the desired width.
Hmm. I don't think using most 12" jigs would work well/safely in
any reconfigured mode.
It should be possible to cut dovetails in less than full-width
boards and subsequently glue them together; but getting the
resulting pins and tails to match up would be extremely difficult
(with or without biscuits.)
Less difficult and much easier would be to make a new (wider)
jig. It sounds much more difficult than it really is. You might
find the presentation at http://www.woodshopdemos.com/stots1.htm
interesting. The article shows making a jig and then using it to
cut pins and tails.
--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto, Iowa USA
Mike in Mystic wrote:
> "Steve" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>> Has anyone used a 12" jig to cut dovetails in 18" to 24"
>> material? Is it feasible to use a 12" dovetail jig to cut
>> dovetails in wider material by removing the stops and
>> walking the pieces thru the jig? As an option how difficult
>> would it be to cut the dovetails in 6" pieces and then join
>> the pieces with biscuits to get the desired width.
>
> As Morris told you, the Stots dovetail template master is the
> most economical way to go, but it only does through dovetails
> - which probably is what you want (not too many 24" deep
> drawers out there). I used my Stots about 6-8 times and it
> works very well and the jigs you make hold up over time, as
> long as you take care of them. Despite this, I upgraded to a
> Leigh D4 and have never regretted it - the versatility and
> craftsmanship are well worth it. Even so, if I ever need to
> make TDs on something wider than 24" I can use the Stots.
And to be completely honest, I've never tried the Stots jig. I'm
(still) working my own - see
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/cnc_joinery.html
for photos of my evolving 48" jig that uses software templates.
By way of encouragement, a dovetail jig /isn't/ rocket surgery;
and it /is/ satisfying to build one's own. You could make single
section templates that could be used to make any size templates -
to make any size jigs...
--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto, Iowa USA
--
Morris Dovey
West Des Moines, Iowa USA
C links at http://www.iedu.com/c
Read my lips: The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
Mike in Mystic wrote:
> "Steve" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>> Has anyone used a 12" jig to cut dovetails in 18" to 24"
>> material? Is it feasible to use a 12" dovetail jig to cut
>> dovetails in wider material by removing the stops and
>> walking the pieces thru the jig? As an option how difficult
>> would it be to cut the dovetails in 6" pieces and then join
>> the pieces with biscuits to get the desired width.
>>
> As Morris told you, the Stots dovetail template master is the
> most economical way to go, but it only does through dovetails
> - which probably is what you want (not too many 24" deep
> drawers out there). I used my Stots about 6-8 times and it
> works very well and the jigs you make hold up over time, as
> long as you take care of them. Despite this, I upgraded to a
> Leigh D4 and have never regretted it - the versatility and
> craftsmanship are well worth it. Even so, if I ever need to
> make TDs on something wider than 24" I can use the Stots.
And to be completely honest, I've never tried the Stots jig. I'm
(still) working my own - see http://www.iedu.com/cnc_joinery.html
for a photo of my evolving 48" jig that uses software templates.
By way of encouragement, a dovetail jig /isn't/ rocket surgery;
and it /is/ satisfying to build one's own. You could make single
section templates that could be used to make any size templates -
to make any size jigs...
--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto, Iowa USA
As Morris told you, the Stots dovetail template master is the most
economical way to go, but it only does through dovetails - which probably is
what you want (not too many 24" deep drawers out there). I used my Stots
about 6-8 times and it works very well and the jigs you make hold up over
time, as long as you take care of them. Despite this, I upgraded to a Leigh
D4 and have never regretted it - the versatility and craftsmanship are well
worth it. Even so, if I ever need to make TDs on something wider than 24" I
can use the Stots.
Mike
"Steve" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Has anyone used a 12" jig to cut dovetails in 18" to 24" material?
> Is it feasible to use a 12" dovetail jig to cut dovetails in wider
material by
> removing the stops and walking the pieces thru the jig?
> As an option how difficult would it be to cut the dovetails in 6" pieces
and
> then join the pieces with biscuits to get the desired width.