Dovetails. I have made them by hand,using jigs,routing by eye ,etc,in the over two hundred pieces of furniture I have made over the years.At 81 I look for the easy way and as such I made the jigs Michael fortune suggested for the band saw.I have a Williams and Hussey cast iron band saw purchased second hand some 40 years ago with great results. Unfortunately, when beveled to the left,it does not shift far enough.Short of grinding away some part ,could I just change the angle? Is there something magic about the angle he suggests? Any experience with Fortune” jig ?
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Many angles are used for dovetails. Some more than others in hard and soft woods so we have a sort of de facto standard during general conversation. The fact is you can make it anything you want. Softer woods benefit from a greater angle (14 degrees is common in production) while hard woods can use those real pin-narrow pins that look so good to some folks (including me). I am a decade behind you but have already moved ot a jig and commonly use 7 degree cuts. If 6 degrees works better for your machines, go for it IMHO.
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