I have a 25 yr old Elu Dovetailer which has not seen very much use – maybe a dozen drawers in total.
The bit however has not fared too well and I want to replace it. Elu have long since gone the way of the Dodo.
Looking at the Trend catalogue they do not seem to have the identical bit. Does this matter or can I use one is within a mm or two in size?
I have not managed to work out why changing the depth of cut affects the tightness of the joint. Aren’t the pins and tails equally affected? More to the point, if I can use a different replacement bit will I still rout at the manual’s depth (15mm) or will I have to find a totally different setting?
Replies
I'm not familiar with the Elu jig, but there are a couple of things to bear in mind with most jigs that have straight fingers on one side (for cutting the tails), and tapered ones on the other (for cutting the pins). The angle on the dovetail bit needs to correspond to the taper on the pin side of the template. Otherwise, your pins won't fit into the spaces between the tails. Bit and template guide diameters also correspond to the spacing on the jig template. You might get away with a slightly smaller bit diameter, but you'd need to make corresponding adjustments on both DT and straight bits.
To understand the effect of cut depth, look at an assembled through DT joint. Imagine the flat bottom of the cut moving up and down, and the effect that has on the fit.
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