Replies

1. 
   Danford_C._Jennings | Apr 09, 2001 02:45am | #1

   *
   Jared,

   Third time I've written this, so I'll just be blunt. Your first mistake was buying the cheapest you could find. You would have been much better off buying a dove tail saw and couple of chisels and you would have money left over. Did this jig come with directions? Are you saying that the tails are larger than the pins? Or did you make a half blind and the tails are larger than the sockets?

   Not being familiar with this particular jig but having learned a long time ago about Vermont American the only advice I have at this point for you is to stay away from Vermont American.

   Hand cut dove tails are not really that hard to master. Never have used a dove tail jig in 40 years of working with wood so I can't make any further comments.

   Dano

1. 
   Mike_Maines | Apr 09, 2001 04:55am | #2

   *Jared, if the jig is similar to the cheaper Porter Cable, or Sears Craftsman, or other similar products, you probably need to raise the bit slightly. That makes the dovetail smaller, while the socket stays the same width at the widest part.You also need to make sure you have the right dovetail bit for the jig, there are lots of different bits out there and the jig is made for a specific bit (and collar). 3rd--make sure the boards are perfectly square, parallel, flat, and whatever else you can think of. These jigs don't have much room for error.In the end you may be best off following Dano's advice--cutting them by hand is more fun and much quieter, and once you get the hang of it just as fast...Mike

1. 
   Jared_Horevay | Apr 10, 2001 04:08am | #3

   *Dano,Thanks for the blunt, common sense advice. The jig did come with set up directions, but no troubleshooting advice. The tails are larger than the sockets. I definitly will stay away from Vermont American products; the jig is made of plastic and will probaly break soon any way so I'll will be forced to learn by hand like you suggest.Jared

1. 
   Jared_Horevay | Apr 10, 2001 04:16am | #4

   *Mike,I have had a little more success with the jig by raising the bit. I am limited by how much I can raise it because of the collar.I am sure I will teach myself to cut them by hand soon. If you can suggest any books by a particular authur on the subject I would be grateful. Thanks,Jared

1. 
   Mike_Maines | Apr 10, 2001 02:14pm | #5

   *Frank Klautz has a video that might help--it's one of those things that's easier to show than to explain. Should be in most woodworking catalogs. For books, Tage Frid's "Book on Joinery" is good and easy to find.Mike

2. 
   CStanford_ | Apr 10, 2001 02:16pm | #6

   *I think you have two problems - your template guide size the your router bit depth setting, well possible three -your router bit may not be LONG ENOUGH to work with the template guide you have chosen.I don't own the Vermont American jig and clearly it is not the Cadillac dovetail jig on the market. But it should work. The $99 Porter Cable jig is worth it for the instructions and you can also buy the exact router bit and template guide that Porter Cable recommends. If you can move up to the Porter Cable then you really should.As mentioned above, your stock has to be cut square and needs to be almost dead flat. This is true whether you are using a jig or hand cutting the joint.Ultimately, cutting them by hand is your goal and you can do it with a $15 saw and a $5 chisel.

3. 
   Tim_Sams | Apr 24, 2001 12:28am | #7

   *Jared,A friend of mine bought that exact jig and had the exact same problem (about a year ago). He called for some help and I checked it out--you are not kidding about the horribly poor instructions! I fiddled with that jig for over 3 hours and then finally got it to work.His problems were mostly a matter of setting the defaults on the board where the tails were cut. But we also had to do a fair amount of adjusting up and down on the router bit. They give you several different depths to try. Hint: it's somewhere in-between all those!The previous posts were right on about the depth of bit--which is best measured (IMO) by a $4 depth gauge you can buy from a hardware store for setting router bit height. Also, be sure your two boards are exactly even with each other in the jig--edge to end grain. The slightest variance there can cause havock.Finally, re: Dano's advice about hand cut dovetails, I cannot second that enough. You will find a new found freedom with hand cut dovetails and it's a skill that will make you a better woodworker in many areas--measuring, marking, using the saw, chisel work, etc. My suggestion (and what I did) is to cut at least one set of dovetails a day for 2 weeks straight. Don't be discouraged by how crappy they look. Also, get someone who knows how to cut them by hand to watch you cut so they can give you some guidance. Get their opinion on cutting pins or tails first--and do it their way for a while and see if it works for you.Taunton has some good dovetail videos (and I recommend them since it's best to watch the video being cut). Frank Klausz is really good but don't be intimidated by his lack of guidelines. Tage Frid's are great but don't be freaked out by the bow saw he uses to cut them!A great book that I'd highly recommend is Ian Kirby's Complete Guide to Dovetails. It's not a Taunton Book (but it should be!) and you can find it through Amazon. Search for Ian Kirby.Finally, something that really helped me when I was to practice cutting straight lines. Duh, of course, but if you're not comfortable with the saw and can't follow a line, you're sunk. I used to go into the shop before I'd go to work and practice cutting 50 to 100 lines, just 3/4" deep, and all marked on the end grain of the board and on the face. You've got to train your hand, arm, eye, etc. I still do this once in a while. I am in the shop every evening but I am not a pro, so I need that practice. Hope this all helps.Tim

4. 
   Rob_Kutner | Jul 24, 2001 11:18pm | #8

   *Jared, I just got started on dovetails, too, and other than Tim's advice to master hand cut dovetails (which I'm working on, too!), I tried Bill Page's method of creating your own through-dovetail jig. It's in the May/June '94 issue, #106, p. 79. It's pretty neat, and all it takes is a few extra feet of stock, bearing guided dovetail and straight bits, and 20 minutes.The only drawback is you can't vary the size of the actual dovetails, so I'm learning to cut them by hand. But Bill Page's jig was a good start.Rob Kutner

5. 
   Rob_Kutner | Jul 24, 2001 11:24pm | #9

   *Tim,For practicing hand cut dovetails, what woods do you recommend starting out with? I can use red oak from a home center, but I'm wondering if there might drawbacks. Any ideas?And on a completely unrelated note, are you guys still looking for a better search engine for Taunton's sites?Rob Kutner(Atomz!)

6. 
   CStanford_ | Jul 25, 2001 12:52am | #10

   *Rob, the best wood to practice on is Honduran Mahogany. Yep, the good stuff. You won't need much. Ian Kirby in his dovetail book recommends H.M. and I've recommended his book in a few classes that I've taught. I learned on Pine and it was excruciating.