A jig with wings

allen levine

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new york city burbs
Well, my dovetail jig doesnt have wings, but a part of it flew today.
It flew as I decided Id had enough and it defeated me, for the second straight day.
Im not that stupid, nor am I a slow learner. But my fuse can get short after 2 days doing the same task that some do in 10 minutes.
I have to put most of the blame on myself, but my dovetail jig is just too time consuming to cut 4 sets of dovetails for one thing.
AFter yesterday and the day before, I patiently reset the entire jig up, making new blocking boards and such.
Slowly. No mistakes. But I see where I went wrong the day before and it really isnt totally my fault. This jig rests on the top of the board you are dovetailing, so when you are attaching backer boards, and moving it each time to cut another dovetail, somewhere along that movement, the tiniest movement of the jig will throw things off. Even trying to keep it totally consistent today, I had a few miscuts, but I corrected them.
A couple of tails chipped at edges, again my fault.(but repairable)
I glued up white oak yesterday, while moving lights and attaching the extension tables to the 22/44.
My intention is to make one tiny little hall/front door table to throw my keys in, my own design, but use dovetail joinery for the unit and use only solid wood, leaving all the dovetail joints exposed as part of the design.(even the drawer)Its about as simple as a table can get. Even simplier.
And after I finished the first pin piece, I realized my jig would not allow me to cut the tails on each end as close as I planned, my fault ofcourse, but an oversight that pushed me to throwing the jig today, and while taking apart the simplistic box, I hit it too hard and split the side.
Tomorrow is another day, Perhaps, and Im only saying perhaps, maybe I chalk some of it up to this jig might not be the easiest way to cut a 14 inch joint. Maybe I should invest and get one that cuts both tails and pins together and once set up, moves along quickly.
I dont know. Im stuck and Im frustrated. Im going to cut the tail boards thinner, and start over again, but today I had to call it a day because my anger replaced my patience. IM sorry to vent here, my lack of woodworking skill sometimes gets to me, but Im refusing to believe there isnt an easier way to make dovetails with router, especially faster.
(the first pic is the pattern I chose for the tail board)

I was smart enough when doing glueups to make an additional tail board in case I ran into a problem and wouldnt have to glue up again.(I mark the top and outside with blue tape so I turn them correct in the jig, not for the pictures)
 

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There's a learning curve for dovetails, whether by hand or machine. You'll get it. Just takes some time and some practice. I like the design of the box.
 
Alllen,
Go to harbor freight and for $35 pick up there's it is easy to use and you will be a lot less frustrated. http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?category=&q=dovetail+jig

It was a thought originally, but I wanted a jig that can handle an 18, 20 or 24 inch width. I didnt want to go for 400-600 dollars for a leigh or porter cable yet.
The prazi checkmate, is a 100 dollar jig that allows any size width of board, so I figured as long as IM not thinking about using it for alot of drawers(its very slow moving), the prazi is good for solid wood cabinets with dovetail joints.
 
well if there is anyone here that has a prazi jig perhaps they can let allen in on some tricks to using it..sometimes these jigs are pretty fussy allen.. maybe the extra dollars for simpler to use one would have been a good buy.. if you can find anyone to show you in person how to use the one you i would go for it.. watchun and asking questions has always been my best teacher:):thumb::thumb:
 
I know the feeling Allen. Happened on the dovetails for my pull-outs under the cooktop. Three times in a row I had flipped one piece or another the wrong way:doh: and finally locked the shop up for the night:pullhair:. Other than it looks like you cut the center pins out because of clearance issues everything else in the pictures looks good to me. Am I not seeing something that you see? Cut some extra pins and cut them off and glue them in where they are missing.

If you want give me a call. I'll be home and up late working on my tile and could use an excuse for a break.:wave:
 
larry-well Im not one to dismiss any advice I get from more experienced members.nor am Im ashamed or embarrassed at my lack of knowhow or woodworking skills. I never quit.(Ive rarely purchased things without first reading here or asking questions, and Ive bothered alot of people with Pms asking questions about products,probably pm'ed you 150 times with beginners questions the past year and a half)
I believe the jig serves the purpose, but is a very time consuming thing for doing just a few joints.

Alan-I started to think maybe Ill just cut a few tails, but decided if IM cutting tails, might as well cut 2 new tail boards tomorrow with less tails. (tail boards are alot faster with this jig, and I already have all the indexing boards cut)
 
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allen, you can never ask or pm me to much!!! and i am not alone in this attitude we all have bad days and dont think your bother us at all.. we all get better threw each others help and mistakes and bad days.. so next excuse for not asking doesnt count:):D:D:rofl:
 
Geez, I just bought one this morning.:eek:

Going to try it tomorrow. I have to cut through dovetails on a 16" wide board for the chest part of the blanket case. I used my regular jig on the drawers that are only 5" wide.

Maybe I didn't read your post correctly but why use it on shorter pieces on your regular jig.
 
I dont own any other jig bob. IF youre using it on the blanket chest, a few practice boards then make sure you space the joints according to the jig and youll be fine. I made the mistake of putting some too close but didnt realize till after I made the tail boards.
my joints all came out pretty near perfect today, I just spaced them improperly.
 
IM not sure why I went ahead and made some legs.(tapered on 3 sides, just tryin some new things)
I decided to go with Alans idea and glue in the remaining 4 tails, noone would know the difference, and its an experiment piece.
I full intended on making an exposed through dovetail drawer and this was my original leg design, but I went a bit thinner since I didnt want to cut up any stock I may need in the future for something else. I had to use pieces of spanish cedar for 2 legs, and mahogany for 2 other legs. There are 2 cross pieces underneath for support that I will attach the table to in center only to hold in place, so wood could move.
When I tapped out the tail board it split twice, not on the glue up line, the wood had an internal check, I cut 8 inches down the board to avoid the check, but white oak, eh....I guess I couldnt see the check inside and when I tapped it out, the board split twice. Once yesterday, once last night.
I decided at that point not to route out a groove to put a floating panel in as a back, just will rabet it now and put a piece of ply if I keep this small table.
At least the piece familiarized me with the changing out of blades and catridge for the saw(tenons for aprons) and I also used the drum sander to even out the final thickness of the top, bottom and sides.
I havent done any sanding yet, just a bit on legs before assembly to get out saw marks.
I figured before I attempt any large solid pieces, Id start with the easiest and teach myself some things.
I learned one very important thing so far.--if ya want to make solid wood furniture, you first have to develop alot of patience when you lack the skill needed.

this was an intended piece to put at my front door, 32 inches high, just to have a tiny table to toss mail and keys.

I had to stop building shelves and rearranging the shop, I needed to smell some hardwood dust.
 

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Coming together very nicely. Instead of sanding the legs, a plane may remove the saw marks with less work, less dust and less noise. Might be worth a try. IIRC, you have a #4 that should do well.
 
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